WILSON, N.C. – The Barton baseball team (20-14, 13-7) swept a Conference Carolinas home doubleheader from Southern Wesleyan (14-24, 7-13), 13-1 and 4-2, Thursday afternoon at Nixon Field.
Game One – Barton 13, Southern Wesleyan 1
Barton junior first baseman
John McNamee (Philadelphia, Pa.) and junior outfielder
Carelle Gonzalez (Bridgeton, N.J.) both hit three-run home runs while senior
Connor Patterson (Randleman, N.C.) pitched seven scoreless innings to lead the Bulldogs to the victory. Patterson improved to 2-0 on the year after allowing just three hits while striking out 10 batters.
Both home runs were part of a seven-run fourth inning which broke the contest open for the Bulldogs. McNamee finished with four runs batted in while Cord Babcock (Lake Villa, Ill.) fell to 2-8 on the season for Southern Wesleyan. The Warriors' Dawson Gilstrap (Pickens, S.C.) drove in a run in the setback.
Game Two – Barton 4, Southern Wesleyan 2
The Bulldogs broke a two-all tie with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning led by the game-winning sacrifice fly from McNamee as Barton finished off the sweep of Southern Wesleyan.
Barton sophomore
Chase Waddell (Lucama, N.C.) hit a solo home run while junior
Tanner Halvorson (Eau Claire, Wisc.) improved to 7-2 on the season after throwing his sixth complete game of the season. Halvorson allowed just one run while striking out four batters.
For Southern Wesleyan, Cameron Mitchem (North Augusta, S.C.) hit a solo home run but Steven Mufareh (Nottingham, Md.) (3-4) was tagged with the loss.
The two teams wrap up the Conference Carolinas weekend series with a 10:00 a.m., game on Friday morning.
