Box Score by Cory Guinn
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton baseball team led by two runs with just two innings to play, but the Crusaders of Belmont Abbey rallied to claim a 9-7 win over the Bulldogs in 10 innings of play at Nixon Field on Friday afternoon.
Barton (14-8, 1-6) began the game scoring six runs on just five hits and one Belmont Abbey error in the first inning. Senior Calvin Hawke, redshirt-senior Chris Davis and sophomores Ricks Dearing and Troy Maslowski each recorded RBIs in the inning.
The Crusaders (12-11, 5-5) responded with three runs in the top of the second, including a leadoff home run from Luke Cureton to cut Barton lead to a 6-3 edge.
In the fourth inning, Hawke drove in his second RBI of the game with a single to push the BC lead to 7-3. Junior right-hander Trent Fennell allowed just two hits over the fifth and sixth innings, but allowed two more runs in the seventh as the Bulldog lead was cut to two runs.
A Barton pitching change to begin the eighth inning led to a walk, a fly out and a hit by pitch before Belmont Abbey's Thomas Yoder cleared the bases with a one-out triple to right center to tie the game at 7-all.
The Bulldogs were able to get runners on the corners with two out in the bottom of the eight but both runners were left stranded after the inning ended with Maslowski being caught stealing.
In the ninth, the Crusaders got two runners on after begin hit by pitches but Barton freshman Landry Moore got two strikeouts and a pop up to end the top half. Barton's offense went down in the order in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings.
Another pitching change began the 10th for Barton and yielded a leadoff single to the Crusaders. A sacrifice bunt and an infield single put runners on first and third before a wild pitch allowed a runner to score from third and give BAC an 8-7 lead. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases as another run later scored on a balk before Barton was able to get out of the inning.
Barton once again went down in order in the bottom of the 10th inning as Crusader reliever Robert Frantzis picked up the win after a perfect 2.1 innings out of the bullpen.
Fennell allowed five runs (three earned) on nine hits with seven walks over seven innings on the mound in the no-decision. Sophomore Ryan Pifer (1-1) suffered the loss after giving up two runs on two hits with two walks in one inning of relief.
Hawke led the Bulldogs at the plate with a 3-for-5 performance, driving in two runs and scoring one of his own. Senior Tyler Garrett and sophomore Gatlin Pate were each 2-for-5 in the contest as seven different players had a hit for Barton.
Barton and Belmont Abbey will conclude the three-game series tomorrow at Nixon Field with a doubleheader scheduled to begin at Noon.
