WILSON, N.C. – The Barton baseball team (19-18) continued its unprecedented run through the 2021 Conference Carolinas Championship with an 11-10 victory over Erskine (23-19) Friday evening at Fleming Stadium.
The Bulldogs, the sixth seed in the league tournament, will either play at 3:30 p.m., or 7:00 p.m., on Saturday in another winner's bracket contest. Erskine, the third seed, will face second-seeded North Greenville (30-11) in an elimination game on Saturday beginning at Noon.
Barton senior catcher
Brayden Olson (Spokane, Wash.) hit a three-run home run for the Bulldogs, who held on to beat the Flying Fleet after jumping out to a 10-1 advantage after three innings of play Olson also hit a round-tripper for the second straight contest. Junior shortstop
Andres Machado (Coral Gables, Fla.) added a pair of hits and an RBI in the victory for the Bulldogs.
Erskine used a seven-run fourth inning to climb back in the contest and got to within one run in the eighth frame but couldn't get any closer. Cody Forster (Okinawa, JAPAN) hit a solo home run and finished with three runs batted in despite the setback for the Flying Fleet.
Barton freshman
Michael Yuille (Boyds, Md.) (3-2) earned the victory after pitching over four innings of relief while striking out nine batters and senior
Colby Warren (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his third save of the year.
Erskine's Landon Dennis (Indian Trail, N.C.) fell to 3-4 after suffering the loss. The Flying Fleet also lost despite holding a 14-9 advantage in hits in the contest.
