WILSON, N.C. – The Barton baseball team (25-24) opened the 2022 Conference Carolinas Championship with a 21-2 victory over Erskine (28-22) Wednesday morning at historic Fleming Stadium.
Barton, the eighth seed in the tournament, will now move into the double elimination portion of the schedule and will face second-seeded UNC Pembroke (36-13) on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. UNC Pembroke is ranked No. 24 in NCAA Division II. Erskine was the fifth seed.
Barton sophomore outfielder
Carelle Gonzalez (Bridgeton, N.J.) hit a grand slam and finished with five runs batted in while sophomore outfielder
Raymond Paniagua (Blue Springs, Mo.) added a home run and two RBI in the victory. Barton senior shortstop
Andres Machado (Coral Gables, Fla.) hit the game-winning, two-run double in the second frame. The Bulldogs finished with 21 hits for the contest.
Trailing by a 2-1 score after one inning of play, Barton plated the next 20 runs to turn the contest into a rout. Barton senior
Alex Hart (Raleigh, N.C.) improved to 9-3 on the season after earning the win on the mound. Hart struck out six batters and allowed just two runs while pitching into the seventh frame.
For Erskine, Christian Rivera (Winter Haven, Fla.) hit a two-run home run in the first inning but Erskine's Allan Saatfoff (Ridgely, Md.) fell to 5-6 after taking the loss.
