GAFFNEY, S.C. – The Barton baseball team (16-11) split a regional doubleheader with Limestone (10-18) Saturday afternoon at Founders FCU Stadium. The Saints won the first contest by a 3-2 score while the Bulldogs rallied for a dominant 17-1 victory over Limestone in the nightcap for the split.
Game One – Limestone 3, Barton 2
The Saints' Zach O'Malley (Greenville, S.C.) broke a two-all tie with the game-winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning to secure the victory for Limestone.
Limestone's Clark Burroughs (Swan Point, Md.) hit a two-run home run while junior outfielder
Raymond Paniagua (Blue Springs, Mo.) drove in both runs for Barton.
On the mound, Hunter Potzner (Gainesville, Ga.) improved to 2-0 for the Saints after holding the Bulldogs scoreless from the fifth inning on. Junior
Brett Anderson (Milford, N.H.) (2-1) was tagged with the loss for the visitors.
Game Two – Barton 17, Limestone 1 (seven innings)
The Bulldogs split the doubleheader in an emphatic fashion spearheaded by a 10-run sixth inning which was keyed by a grand slam from Paniagua. Barton junior outfielder
Carelle Gonzalez (Bridgeton, N.J.) added a two-run home run and scored three times to lead the Bulldogs.
Barton junior
Tanner Halvorson (Eau Claire, Wisc.) (5-2) earned the win after allowing just one run over six innings of work to go along with five strikeouts. Halvorson leads the squad with a 1.53 earned run average so far this season. Meanwhile, Limestone's Andrew Dye (Boone, N.C.) fell to 1-5 after taking the loss.
The two teams wrap up the weekend series Sunday beginning at Noon.
