Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 by Cory Guinn
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton College baseball team earned wins in both games of Saturday's doubleheader against Emmanuel College to secure a series sweep at Nixon Field.
Barton moved its record to 17-6 overall and 7-2 in Conference Carolinas play while the Lions fell to 2-23 on the season with a 1-11 mark in the league. The Bulldogs swept Emmanuel in a three-game series last April in Franklin Springs, Ga.
Game One: Barton 8, Emmanuel 1 (Seven Inn.)
The Bulldogs rallied behind the pitching performance on sophomore Trent Fennell, who threw a shutout through the first five innings of play, to earn the win in game one.
Fennell (3-2) allowed just one run on eight hits with five strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work for his third win of the year. Junior Justin Evans pitched the final 1.2 innings of relief, allowing just three hits while striking out two batters.
Barton scored three runs over the first two innings of play on three separate RBI singles from junior Shawn Montren, sophomore Hunter Pearre and freshman Jacobey Dolesh for an early 3-0 lead.
The BC lead grew to a 5-0 advantage in the fourth inning with back-to-back sacrifice flys from Andrew Webster and Chris Davis before Calvin Hawke and Tyler Garrett put Barton ahead 7-0 with consecutive RBI singles in the fifth inning of play.
Emmanuel plated its first and only run of the game in the top of the sixth inning as Barton answered in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice fly from Dolesh to end the scoring.
Dolesh was 2-for-2 in the game with two RBI and a run scored, while Garrett, Hawke Montren and Pearre also had two hits and one RBI apiece.
Game Two: Barton 15, Emmanuel 13
Barton and Emmanuel combined for 28 runs on 35 total hits in the final game of the series as both offenses scored early and often.
The Lions were off and running with an RBI triple in the first inning before senior Ben Youngblood tied the game at 1-1 with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the third inning. Webster gave Barton a 2-1 lead just four batters later with an RBI single to score Garrett from third.
Emmanuel scored an unearned run in the top of the fourth to tie the game as Youngblood once again came up big with an RBI single to give Barton the lead in the bottom half. EC scored four runs in the fifth and another in the sixth to build a 6-3 lead with just a few innings remaining.
However, Barton erupted for eight runs on just five hits in the bottom of the sixth to retake the lead at 11-6. The innings was highlighted by a one-out grand slam from Montren over the left field fence that broke a 7-7 tie and put BC ahead for good.
After the Lions scored twice in the top of the seventh, Garrett, Hawke Jacob Willis and Montren each drove in a run in the bottom half to move the Barton advantage to a 15-8 lead. Emmanuel added four runs over the final two innings of play but could not overcome the Bulldogs' lead.
Starter Kerry Walker allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits with three strikeouts over the game's first 4.2 innings. Sophomore Andrew Davis (1-0) was credited with his first win of the season after allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits with four strikeouts in 2.1 innings of relief.
Freshman Troy Maslowski allowed three runs on two hits with two strikeouts in one inning of relief work, while Evans earned his first career save after allowing one run on two hits with two strikeouts in the final inning.
Montren was 3-for- 5 in the game with a double, a home run two runs scored and five RBI. Hawke finished 3-for-4 at the plate with a double, two runs scored and an RBI, while Garrett was 3-for-6 with a triple, three runs scored and two RBI. Youngblood had two hits of his own, including his first home run of the season, to go along with two runs scored and two RBI.
Barton will have a few days to rest before hosting Erskine College in a three-game series beginning on Friday, March 18 in Wilson.
