TIGERVILLE, S.C. – The Barton baseball team (2-5, 0-1) fell to No. 1 North Greenville (8-0, 1-0), 19-3, in the opening game of a Conference Carolinas weekend series Friday afternoon at Ashmore Park and Ray and Bea Dillard Field.
The Crusaders, the defending NCAA Division II national champions, opened the scoring with a four-run second inning and never looked back in remaining unbeaten on the season.
North Greenville's Bryce Roddey (Greer, S.C.) broke a scoreless tie with the game-winning two-run single in the second frame while the home team hit four home runs in the victory.
North Greenville scored 11 runs combined in the seventh and eighth innings while Zach Zarra (Bethpage, N.Y.) rounded out the scoring with a three-run round-tripper in the bottom of the eighth. Zarra drove in a game-high four runs.
Barton junior pinch hitter
Corey Walters (Williamsport, Md.) hit an RBI double while sophomore
Andrew Simone (Vineland, N.J.) (1-1) was tagged with the loss. For North Greenville, Noak Takac (Macon, Ga.) (1-0) was credited with the victory.
The two teams wrap up the league weekend series with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at Noon.
