MOUNT OLIVE (March 21) – Following six runs over the final three innings of the game, the University of Mount Olive baseball team completed the comeback victory over Catawba by a 6-5 margin in non-conference play on Tuesday evening at Scarborough Field.

With the win, the Trojans improve to 18-7 this season with a 9-2 mark at home. Mount Olive wins the rubber match of the season-long three-game series taking two of three games against Catawba. Meanwhile, the Indians fall to 18-10 with a 2-6 record on the road after entering play tied atop the South Atlantic Conference (SAC).

In the bottom of the seventh, the Trojans trailed by a score of 5-0 before junior Dylan Jeffries led off the frame with an infield single. A walk later placed two runners on base before graduate student Landon Choboy laced an RBI single through the right side to cut into the deficit, 5-1. Mount Olive started the bottom half of the eighth with a leadoff double down the right-field line from senior Joshua Jones. With one out, freshman Davis Halstead dropped an RBI single into right-center before Jeffries blasted a two-run homer to left field, his team-leading seventh of the year, to close the gap to 5-4.

After retiring the sides in order in the top of the ninth, Choboy and senior JT Stone hit back-to-back singles to begin the bottom half of the inning. Following consecutive outs, senior Gordon Pihl registered an RBI single to center field to tie the game at 5-5. Halstead battled in an eight-pitch at-bat before ripping the game-winning RBI single over the center fielder to earn the comeback win, 6-5.

Choboy finished the game 4-for-5 with one RBI and a stolen base, while Pihl recorded a pair of hits and one RBI. Halstead went 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run scored, while Jeffries finished 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBI, two runs scored, and one walk.

Mount Olive featured six pitchers in the comeback victory and only surrendered two hits over the final six innings of the contest. Senior Trey Deutsch earned the win (1-0) after tossing a scoreless ninth inning with two strikeouts. Junior Ethan Imbimbo made his third appearance of the season and tallied four strikeouts in 2.0 innings of relief, while senior Cole Newgaard pitched effectively with zero hits and one strikeout over 1.0 inning on the mound. Senior Jaydon Gartner tossed 2.0 scoreless innings of relief while scattering two hits with a pair of strikeouts on Tuesday.

Mount Olive returns to the field on Saturday, March 25, when they begin a three-game series versus King with a doubleheader at Scarborough Field, starting at 12 p.m.