Box Score by Kevin Buczek
WILSON, N.C.-The Bulldogs will visit a pair of regional powers during the week as the Barton College baseball team plays at defending Southeast Region champion Coker College on Tuesday (Feb. 18) at 2 p.m., before competing against NCBWA third regionally-ranked UNC Pembroke on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 3 p.m. (venue change).
BC was scheduled to host UNCP on Wednesday but the contest has been moved to Pembroke, N.C., due to wet field conditions. BC's regular-season finale against the Braves scheduled on April 22 will now be played in Wilson.
Coker sports information will provide Live Stats and Live Video for Tuesday's clash and UNC Pembroke will provide Live Stats and for Wednesday's showdown.
Barton baseball fans can follow the Bulldogs throughout the season on www.BartonBulldogs.com and via social media including Twitter and Facebook.
Barton College Baseball
The Bulldogs have had nine days to enjoy their last outings, a doubleheader sweep at Armstrong Atlantic State University on Sunday, Feb. 9 as inclement weather has cancelled BC's next four games. Barton is 3-2 overall and on the road.
Junior catcher/relief pitcher Snooter Merryman is the only Bulldog batting over .300 at .308 but Barton still has four players with on-base percentages over .400 by drawing 28 walks in five games. Senior shortstop Dillon Rudio (.455), junior outfielder JT Bunce (.455) and senior first baseman Collins Cuthrell (.429) have joined Merryman (.400) on the base paths frequently. Rudio and Cuthrell – a two-time All-Conference selection – have both drawn six walks.
Rudio leads BC with three runs scored and two doubles. Freshman third baseman Andrew Webster has three of the Bulldogs seven RBI on the season.
Barton only has a .194 batting average but boasts a winning record behind a 2.25 pitching staff ERA. Junior transfer Zach Breen is 2-0 and has yet to allow a run in five innings of work. Merryman has a pair of saves in two chances and has recorded four strikeouts in his two innings on the mound. Junior Duncan Everett (1.69 ERA), junior Kyle Rufer (2.70) and sophomore Ricky Jernigan (2.84) have combined for all five starts and all showcase ERA's under 3.00.
Barton lost three 1-run games at Coker last season in the Cobras last year in Conference Carolinas. The Bulldogs led in all three contests before Coker rallied back each time in a storybook season for that program.
BC split a pair of games with UNCP in 2013 with the home team winning each time. Barton first knocked off the Braves when they were ranked No. 15 nationally by a score of 5-3 in Fleming Stadium. UNCP later avenged the loss with a 12-3 win in Pembroke.
Coker College Baseball
The Cobras are coming off arguably the programs most successful season by going 38-16. Coker won the 2013 Conference Carolinas Tournament before advancing to the NCAA Division II "World Series" by winning the very difficult Southeast Regional.
Coker – now a member of the South Atlantic Conference – started the season ranked No. 25 nationally by Collegiate Baseball but has dropped out of the first regular season poll after beginning the season 4-3.
The Cobras feature a veteran lineup that includes five seniors in its usual lineup headlined by corner infielder Fico Kondla (.333 batting average in 2014), who was an NCBWA All-Region honoree last season. Other seniors that were influential in last year's run include outfielder Ernie Kirkwood (.385), third baseman T.J. Giczkowski (.304), outfielder Sammy Song (.286) and shortstop Shea Bell (.231).
Junior transfer shortstop Jarren Donato has made an immediate impact for CC with a .280 batting average and a team-high eight RBI. Kondla paces the Cobras with seven runs scored and seven stolen bases while Kirkwood has produced a team-high four extra-base hits.
However, Coker has lost three All-Conference pitchers including All-American Zach Loraine, who was drafted in 2013.
Senior Andrew Goot anchors the Cobras staff in 2014 after earning All-Conference attention last year. Goot has struggled to an 8.53 ERA in his first three appearances. Sophomore Matt Prosser has been the early ace going 2-0 with a 1.15 ERA in his first two starts going 15.2 innings. Freshman Ben Brown (1-1, 2.70 ERA) is the only Cobra to pitch more innings so far (16.2). Freshman Adam Webb (5.40) has Coker's other win.
Coker is 3-1 at home, winning its last three at Tom J. New Field including a 13-6 victory over Limestone on Sunday.
UNC Pembroke Baseball
The Braves ranked just above Coker in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll at No. 23 nationally but UNCP also dropped out of the ranking in the first poll announced Monday despite starting the campaign 7-2 overall.
UNC Pembroke is ranked third in the current NCBWA Southeast Region poll. The Braves won their first seven games before losing a pair of contests to Columbus State University to lose its first Peach Belt Conference weekend series.
UNCP boasts a .356 batting average and is led by 2013 unanimous All-American third baseman Jordan Edgerton, who has hit safely in seven of the Braves first nine games. Edgerton is batting .475 with 15 RBI, 14 runs, nine doubles and two home runs.
Shortstop Zade Denton (2013 All-PBC) and catcher Max Gagnon (2013 PBC All-Tourney) join Edgerton batting at least .400 on the season at .400 and .467, respectively. Denton (12 RBI) and designated hitter Dalton Knight (14) and outfielder Ben Schmacker (10) all average at least one RBI per game for a Braves squad that is averaging nearly 10 runs per contest.
Sophomore Logan Cook (4.86 ERA) and juniors Garrett Hickman (0.47) and Connor Pratt (4.91) are all 2-0 to headline the Braves pitching staff that returned nine hurlers from last season.
UNCP is 3-0 at Sammy Cox Field.
