HICKORY, N.C. – The Barton baseball team (3-2) surrendered a walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning in a 9-6 loss to Lenoir-Rhyne (4-1) Tuesday afternoon at Durham Field.
The Bears' heroics were provided by Anthony Porrino (Locust Valley, N.Y.), who's round-tripper came with one out in the frame ended the contest. Lenoir-Rhyne's Wade Cuda (Orlando, Fla.) and Nick Clarno (Grayson, Ga.) added solo home runs for the Bears, who rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the sixth inning to take the win.
Barton senior shortstop
Andres Machado (Coral Gables, Fla.) and sophomore outfielder
Carelle Gonzalez (Bridgeton, N.J.) both added a pair of hits and two RBI for the visitors despite the loss.
The Bears held a 15-9 edge in hits while Braden Houston (Iowa City, Iowa) (1-0) struck out the final two batters for the Bulldogs to earn the win while Barton senior
Colby Warren (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) (0-1) suffered the loss.
Barton will look to bounce back on Saturday when the Bulldogs host East Stroudsburg in a doubleheader beginning at 11:00 a.m., while Lenoir-Rhyne hosts Goldey-Beacom in a doubleheader Friday beginning at 2:00 p.m.
