Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 by Benny Benton
BELMONT, N.C. – The Barton College baseball team produced its finest offensive performance of the season on Sunday, collecting 28 hits and scoring 23 runs in recording 13-9 and 10-6 victories over host Belmont Abbey College in a Conference Carolinas doubleheader Sunday at Abbey Yard.
With the sweep, the Bulldogs improved to 10-21 overall and moved into fifth place in the league standings with a 5-6 conference mark. The Crusaders slipped to 13-21 overall and 4-8 in the conference.
Barton, which had scored more than three runs in a game just three times in its first 25 games, has now posted six or more runs in five of its last six. The Bulldogs recorded a season-high 13 runs in the opener against the Crusaders, and came back with a season-high 17 hits in the nightcap.
The top of the batting order, senior Dillon Rudio and junior Mitchell Wheeler, led the attack in game one. Rudio went 3-for-3 in the leadoff spot, scoring three times and driving in three runs. Wheeler, hitting behind him, went 3-for-5 and drove in four runs.
They were in a position to drive runs thanks to the efforts of freshmen at the bottom of the order. Calvin Hawke went 2-for-4 with two RBI hitting eighth, and Tyler Garrett singled and walked twice, scoring all three times, batting in the No. 9 slot.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning when Rudio delivered a leadoff double, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a one-out single by Andrew Webster.
Barton added three more runs in the second frame on consecutive two-out doubles by Rudio and Wheeler. The Bulldogs, which had particularly struggled with clutch hitting, got another two-out, two-run hit from Wheeler as part of a four-run third inning that put Barton up 8-2.
The Bulldogs tacked on two more runs in the fourth on an RBI single by Hawke and a sacrifice fly by Garrett to extend the advantage to 10-2, but the Crusaders stormed back with a five-run fourth inning to make things close again.
Belmont Abbey produced four hits in the inning off Barton starter Kyle Rufer (3-2), three of them doubles. Ian Vazquez drove in two runs with his double to left and later scored on a wild pitch.
Barton got back into the scoring column with three runs in the top of the sixth, two of those coming home on an RBI double by Hawke and an RBI single by Rudio.
However, the Bulldogs gave two of those runs back with their only error of the game, a two-out miscue at short that led directly to one run and left the door open for another on Anthony Dimino's RBI single.
Although it was not a save situation in the most literal sense, it might have been in terms of Barton's season, so the Bulldogs sent closer Snooter Merryman out to pitch the seventh and final inning. Merryman, as he has done virtually all season, retired the side in order to close out the win.
In game two, the middle of the Barton lineup got in on the act. Webster and Avery Harper, hitting third and fourth in the order, each had three hits, while Jacob Willis and Merryman followed them in the lineup and produced two hits each. Hawke also added three more hits to his total.
The Bulldogs again jumped on top first, striking for a pair of runs in the top of the second. Singles by Merryman and Garrett set the table for Rudio to drive in one run, and the other scored on a Belmont Abbey error.
The Crusaders got one run back off Barton starter Brandon Warren in the bottom of the inning, as Levi Wright led off the frame with a solo homer to left field, his third of the year.
Barton responded with two more runs in the top of the third. Singles by Harper and Willis put runners in position for an RBI fielder's choice by Phillip Cotten, and a second run came home on a wild pitch by BAC starter Cody Stull (1-5).
Belmont Abbey scored a run in the bottom of the third on three hits, including a double by Lorenzo Wright and an RBI single by Weston Clarke. They would add another run in the bottom of the fourth to chase Warren by collecting four hits.
Between those two runs for the Crusaders, however, the Bulldogs added three more of their own in the top of the fourth. Merryman had the big blow in the frame, a two-run double to center field.
Barton extended its lead to 10-3 and ended Stull's day with a three-run sixth inning that included five hits, one of them a two-run homer by Willis, his second of the season. Stull was touched for 14 hits and nine earned runs in five-plus innings of work.
The Bulldogs were held scoreless on three hits over the final four innings by two Belmont Abbey relievers, and the Crusaders pulled closer with two unearned runs in the sixth inning off Barton reliever Zach Breen (5-1) and a single run in the eighth off Jackson Pardue on a Lorenzo Wright RBI double.
However, Barton still took a four-run lead into the ninth, and again called on Merryman to close out the contest in a non-save situation. He once more retired the side in order, sealing the doubleheader sweep for the Bulldogs.
Barton will attempt to complete the series sweep when it squares off against the Crusaders again on Monday at 2:30 p.m.
