Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 by Cory Guinn
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton baseball team earned a 4-3 win in extra innings of game one on Tuesday, completing the doubleheader sweep with a 9-0 shutout in game two at Hawkins Field.
With the two wins, Barton moved its record to 25-12, reaching the 25-win mark for the first time since the 2008-09 season when the Bulldogs finished 30-17 overall.
Game One: Barton 4, Chowan 3 (10 inn.)
The Bulldogs needed extra innings, but eventually took advantage of five Chowan fielding errors to game one by a run.
Barton left seven runners on base in the first three innings of play as Chowan took an early 2-0 following a two-run second inning. BC took a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning after sophomore Hunter Pearre, junior Jacob Willis and freshman Gatlin Pate drove in back-to-back-to-back RBIs with just one out.
Chowan's Jack Downum scored from third on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 3-3 and force extra innings.
The two teams combined for just one hit in innings eight and nine as Barton was able to record the winning run without getting a hit in the top of the 10th inning.
After freshman Ricks Dearing reached base on a fielding error by the Chowan second baseman and advanced to second on a wild pitch, Calvin Hawke reached first following a dropped fly ball by CU's right fielder. The error allowed Dearing to score from second and put BC ahead 4-3.
Freshman Blake Helms earned his first career save with a scoreless ninth inning, striking out one batter in his ninth appearance of the season.
Junior Justin Evans got the start for Barton and allowed two runs on five hits with five strikeouts over five innings, before senior Ricky Jernigan (2-1) picked up the win after giving up one unearned run on one hit with three strikeouts in four innings of relief.
Hawke, Pate, Pearre and Willis each had two hits, while freshman Charlie Vaughan also had a two-hit game as the top four spots in Barton's lineup combined to record all eight hits in the win.
Game Two: Barton 9, Chowan 0 (7 inn.)
Barton's pitching staff held Chowan to just three hits in the second game of the day while the BC offense scored nine runs on 16 hits, including a 4-for-5 performance for Vaughan out of the lead off spot.
Freshman Jordan Ramos (2-0) carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning before the Hawks broke it up with a one-out single to the left side. The left-hander allowed one hit with five strikeouts over five innings of work in his second start of the season.
Redshirt-sophomore Benjamin Brann struck out two and allowed one hit in an inning of relief, while fellow redshirt-sophomore Josh Mims allowed one hit with a strikeout in a scoreless seventh inning to complete the shutout.
Barton got the scoring started early in game two with a first inning RBI single from Pearre. Senior Ben Youngblood drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to put BC ahead 2-0 through two innings of play.
The BC lead grew to a 4-0 advantage in the fourth inning following an RBI double from Youngblood and an RBI single for Vaughan. A single from redshirt-junior Chris Davis brought two runs home before Pearre scored on a throwing error by the Chowan catcher to put Barton ahead 7-0 after six innings.
The Bulldogs finished the scoring with back-to-back RBI singles from Vaughan and Hawke in the seventh inning to seal the nine-run win.
Hawke, Davis and juniors Landon Dunlap and Shawn Montren were each 2-for-4 in the contest, while Youngblood was 1-for-1 with two walks, two RBI and three runs scored.
Barton travels to Belmont, N.C. for a three-game series against No. 16 Belmont Abbey College beginning on Friday, April 8.
