Mount Olive junior first baseman Daniel Oliver slugged his first home run of the season and four pitchers kept nationally 12th-ranked Francis Marion in check most of the way, but the Patriots limited the Trojans to four hits to post a 4-1 non-conference win Wednesday in a rematch of last season's regional championship game.

The 20th-ranked Trojans (5-4) pulled even in the top of the fifth when Oliver blasted a 2-1 pitch over the left field wall to lead off the inning. Patriot hurler Matt Broderick (1-0) settled down, however, and allowed Mount Olive just two more hits. The Trojans threatened to add more in the fifth. One out after Oliver's blast, Antonio Callaway singled and Matt Patrone walked. After a double steal, Broderick coaxed Bradon Reitano and Mike Mercurio into line drives that could not find a hole.

The only other inning the Trojans seriously threatened was the third. The game scoreless, Cameron Sherrer doubled to right-center and was sacrificed to third by Callaway. Sherrer was thown out at the plate on a grounder to short.

Francis Marion (8-4) struck first in the bottom of the third scoring an unearned run on a sacrifice fly by Brock McCallister.

The Patriots took the lead for good in the sixth, again taking advantage of a Trojan error. With one out, Will Chandler singled and took second on the miscue. With two outs, Jarrod Reed singled home the go-ahead run.

Ann inning later, Luke Tollison hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer to add insurance. That was all Broderick and reliever Jarrott Hooks needed. Broderick walked one and struck out one in seven innings, Hooks tossed two shutout innings for the save.

No one had more than one hit for the Trojans. On the mound, starter Skyler Sopotnick tossed four innings, allowing three hits and one unearned run. Josh Frederick (0-1), Ryan Poplin and Matt Dillon allowed two earned runs over the final four frames.

Mount Olive defeated Francis Marion 2-1 in last year's regional championship game as Carter Capps tossed 6-plus innings of scoreless relief. The Patriots defeated the Trojans 9-7 in the previous contest to force a winner-takes-all title game.

Mount Olive opens Conference Carolinas play this weekend as the Trojans play host to Belmont Abbey in a three-game series Friday and Saturday at Scarborough Field.