Box Score
by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C.-Dillon Rudio's single to right field drove home Clay Martin with the game-winning run as Barton College rallied from four runs down in the ninth inning to edge St. Andrews University, 9-8, in a non-conference baseball meeting Tuesday at Fleming Stadium.
Most of the scoring took place while the Bulldogs were down to their final out. J.T. Bunce opened the inning by getting hit with a pitch, and Phillip Williams followed with an RBI triple into the right-field corner. However, St. Andrews (20-18) then recorded consecutive outs to put the Knights on the verge of victory.
Even after Mitchell Wheeler blasted a two-run homer to left to cut the deficit to 8-7, the Knights appeared they would escape with the win. But a rushed throw from third base on Spiers Miller's high-hop grounder went into right field and kept alive the Bulldogs one more time. Miller went to second on the error, and Martin greeted St. Andrews closer Michael Durig (1-2) with a double to right-center to tie the game at 8-all.
Rudio followed with a single to right. St. Andrews right fielder Jeremy McDowell fielded the ball cleanly and made a perfect one-hop throw to the plate, but Martin was ruled safe by the umpire on a bang-bang play to end the game.
The Bulldogs, who improved to 16-19 on the season, survived despite getting out-hit 18 to 10 in the game and trailing by six runs with just three innings to play.
St. Andrews, which fell to 20-18 on the year, produced three hits and a run on a sacrifice fly off Barton starter Will Flynn in the top of the first. Barton, starting the game with a reserve lineup, tied the game at 1-all in the bottom of the second when Alex Brann doubled and scored on Seth Breasseale's single up the middle.
From there, however, Barton produced little else offensively over the next several innings against St. Andrews starter Max Everingham. The Knights' lefty went six innings, scattering five hits, walking four and striking out eight.
St. Andrews grabbed a 3-1 lead in the third on a two-run homer to left by Daniel Whitecavage, his fifth of the season. The Knights added two more runs in the fourth on a two-out, two-run triple by Matt McCue, and increased their lead to 7-1 with two runs on four hits in the sixth.
Everingham finally left the game in the seventh, at the same time that Barton's usual starting lineup was entering the game. The result was that the Bulldogs finally got going offensively off St. Andrews reliever Mathew Beauchemin. Rudio was hit by a pitch, Ben Williams drew a walk, and both scored when Bunce tripled into the gap in right-center. Two batters later, Brann lifted a fly ball to deep center, easily scoring Bunce with the third run of the frame to cut the deficit to 7-4.
St. Andrews struck one more time in the top of the eighth, using a leadoff double by Ryan Harrold, a groundout and a passed ball to add what it hoped would be an insurance run. However, the Knights' bullpen was unable to stop the ninth-inning heroics by the Bulldogs.
The rally made a pitching victor of Christian Oliver (5-3), who worked a scoreless ninth, allowing two hits and striking out one.
Bunce had two hits, two runs and two RBI to pace Barton offensively. Whitecavage went 4-for-5 with three RBI for St. Andrews, while Harrold, McCue and Harold Jordan each added three hits in a losing cause for the Knights.
Barton returns to Conference Carolinas play this weekend with a three-game set at North Greenville University beginning Friday, Apr. 12. The Bulldogs have one more home series remaining, that one beginning Apr. 19 against Belmont Abbey.
