HICKORY, N.C. – The Barton baseball team (27-16) snapped a four-game losing streak in impressive fashion with a 21-8 victory over No. 10 Lenoir-Rhyne (33-9) Tuesday evening at Durham Field.
Barton senior outfielder
Evan Harding (Clayton, N.C.) hit two home runs while junior third baseman
Yariel Diaz (Fort Myers, Fla.) added a home run, a bases-clearing double and five runs batted in as the Bulldogs defeated the Bears for the second time this year.
Harding led off the game with a round-tripper on the first pitch as the Bulldogs raced out to a 9-0 lead after an inning and a half and withstood a mini-run by the Bears to pick up the win.
Harding added a three-run home run as part of a five-run fourth frame as Barton scored at least 20 runs in a game for the fourth time this year.
Lenoir-Rhyne's Kyle Murphy (Gainesville, Ga.) hit a three-run home run as well while Eli Willen (Greensboro, N.C.) also went yard for the home team in the losing effort.
Barton sophomore
Dante Onorato (Cinnaminson, N.J.) (3-0) earned the victory after pitching nearly four innings to scoreless relief to go along with five strikeouts while Lenoir-Rhyne's Peyton Schofield (Noblesville, Ind.) fell to 4-2 after taking the loss.
Barton steps back into Conference Carolinas play on Friday when the Bulldogs travel to Mount Olive, N.C., to take on Mount Olive beginning at 4:00 p.m. Lenoir-Rhyne, meanwhile, hosts Tusculum in a South Atlantic Conference game at 6:00 p.m.
