WILSON, N.C. – The Barton baseball team (2-4) fell to No. 12 Mount Olive (2-1) in a doubleheader Saturday in a non-conference affair at Nixon Field.
Game One – Mount Olive 2, Barton 0
The Trojans' Caleb Irwin (Marble, N.C.) (1-0) pitched six scoreless innings to earn the win on the mound while Dawson Gause (Lake Wylie, S.C.) held the Bulldogs without a run over the final three innings of work to pick up the save. Irwin struck out seven batters while Gause fanned six Bulldogs in the victory.
UMO's Landon Choboy (Raleigh, N.C.) had an RBI triple in the top of the ninth inning to give the visitors some breathing room. Barton senior
Tanner Halvorson (Eau Claire, Wisc.) (0-1) was the hard-luck loser, allowing just one unearned run over seven innings of work while striking out five batters.
Game Two – Mount Olive 9, Barton 6
The Trojans jumped out to a 9-0 advantage through the middle of the sixth inning and were able to hold on for the victory and complete the sweep of the Bulldogs.
Mount Olive's Joshua Jones (Charlotte Court House, Va.) hit a solo home run in the first inning to get things going while Jack Casbarro (Mount Olive, N.C.) and Dylan Jeffries (Nakina, N.C.) added two-run singles in the fifth and sixth frames, respectively, to key the Trojans' offensive attack.
Barton tried to rally with a four-run ninth inning but the deficit was too great. Barton junior outfielder
Luke Pritchett (Greensboro, N.C.) finished with a pair of hits and three runs batted in despite the loss. Junior
Ian Asken (Apex, N.C.) fell to 1-1 after taking the loss for the Bulldogs.
On the mound, Erik Johnson (Rush, N.Y.) (1-0) earned the win after allowing just two runs over five innings of work while Blake Gipson (Pikeville, N.C.) registered the final out for the save.
Barton opens Conference Carolinas play on Friday against top-ranked and defending NCAA Division II national champion North Greenville in Tigerville, S.C., beginning at 3:00 p.m., while Mount Olive travels to Hartsville, S.C., to take on Coker Tuesday at 3:00 p.m.
