Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
by Kevin Buczek
ASHEBORO, N.C.-After freshman David Martin hit a walk-off homer to rally Lenoir-Rhyne University to an extra-inning win in Wednesday's opener at McCrary Park, the Barton College baseball team was able hold off another Bears comeback attempt in the nightcap to earn a season-opening split.
Lenoir-Rhyne (1-4 Overall) won the first game 5-3 in eight innings and Barton (1-1) squeaked out a 2-1 victory in the finale. The Bulldogs return the McCrary Park – the home stadium of the Coastal Plain League's (CPL) Asheboro Copperheads – for three more neutral site games over the weekend. Barton plays sixth-ranked Catawba College on Friday at 4 p.m., before playing the defending Southeast Region champion Indians again on Saturday at 2 p.m., followed by Pfeiffer University at 5 p.m.
Junior first baseman Collins Cuthrell and redshirt sophomore third baseman Mitchell Wheeler led the Bulldogs offensively with three hits apiece. Wheeler hit his first collegiate home run in the first game and Cuthrell produced an RBI in each contest including his first home of the year in the second game. Junior outfielder Phillip Cotten was the only other Barton player to hit safely in both games.
GAME ONE: Lenoir-Rhyne 5, Barton 3 (8 innings)
The Bulldogs held a late 3-0 lead but Lenoir-Rhyne scored one run in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to force extra innings before Martin stepped into the batter's box as a pinch hitter with one out in the bottom of the eighth and blasted a towering two-run shot over the right field fence to compete the comeback.
The 5-foot-11, 225-pound slugger's first collegiate home run lifted the Bears to their first win of the season.
Barton starter Kyle Norville tossed four quality innings in his first start of his senior season to put the Bulldogs in position to win. Norville allowed one run on three hits over 4 2/3 while striking out two and walk none. Norville retired 10 straight Bears at one point. An RBI-triple by junior Brandon Walker chased Norville from the game in the bottom of the fifth but the southpaw was still in line for the win as he handed the ball over with a 3-1 lead.
L-R's rally was aided by a junior Mike Gasque leadoff double off the left field wall in the sixth. Gasque then scored on a single up the middle by sophomore Ivan Vieitez to cut the deficit to 3-2 heading into the final frame.
Barton nearly added an insurance run in the top of the seventh Junior Dillon Rudio drew a leadoff walk and then advanced to second when Phillip Williams was hit by a pitch. Cuthrell next drilled a long single into the left field gap but both runners waited to see if the ball would be caught before advancing. Rudio tried scoring from second after the ball landed safely near the warning track and bounced off the fence but a good relay throw home beat Rudio to the plate. Sophomore reliever Nick Flachofsky then wiggled the Bears out of the jam.
A one-out walk to junior Frank Poerio, followed by a double to right-center field by Walker, set up the game-tying run in the seventh. Senior Dalton Hall then smacked a single up the middle that plated pinch runner Logan Senelis-Jose. Walker nearly ended the game by attempting to score from second on the play but a strong throw home by sophomore center fielder Avery Harper kept the game going eventually into extra innings.
Flachofsky struck out two Bulldogs in a scoreless top of the eighth to set up the game-winning heroics by Martin. Flachofsky (1-0) was credited with the win with two innings of scoreless work under his belt.
After three scoreless innings, Wheeler started Barton's scoring with his round-tripper to left-center in the top of the fourth. A sacrifice fly by Williams and a double by Cuthrell in the fifth knocked in the Bulldogs other runs.
GAME TWO: Barton 2, Lenoir-Rhyne 1
Senior starter Christian Oliver tossed four innings of one-hit shutout ball and Williams struck out the side in the seventh as Barton held off another Bears rally to salvage the doubleheader split.
Barton scored both of its runs in the bottom of the first before L-R starter Travis McQueen settled down. Williams' second sac fly of the day put the Bulldogs on the scoreboard before Cuthrell launched his long ball to the right-center porch to double up BC's advantage.
Oliver allowed a single to the second batter of the game but then did not allow another base knock for his final 3 2/3 innings on the mound. Oliver (1-0) issued two walks and fanned a pair as the winning pitcher.
Sophomore Ches Lamm made his Royal Blue and White debut in relieve of Oliver and he set up Williams with two solid innings. After a 1-2-3 fifth inning, Lamm hit the Bears leadoff man on a 0-2 count in the top of the sixth. The plunked batter eventually scored for Lenoir-Rhyne's only run. The Bears had runners on first and third with one out but Lamm was able to induce an inning-ending double play groundball for the hold.
Williams, who led BC in saves last season, closed out the game with a dominating seventh innings. Three consecutive Bears swung and missed on strike three as Williams (1) only needed 13 pitches including 11 strikes to record his trio of strikeouts.
McQueen gave up two runs on three hits over 5 1/3 innings. McQueen (0-2) only allowed one hit after his rocky first inning but was still tagged with the loss.
Barton had just three hits in the contest and L-R was held to two base knocks by Vieitez.
