MOUNT OLIVE (March 25) – Seniors
Dawson Gause and
Erik Johnson combined for 20 strikeouts in a pair of starts on the mound, as the No. 16 Trojans claimed a doubleheader sweep over King on Saturday afternoon in Conference Carolinas play, registering a 5-2 win in Game 1 before a 2-0 victory in Game 2.
With the sweep, the University of Mount Olive baseball team improves to 20-7 overall with a 9-5 mark in league action. Following the wins, the Trojans leaped to third in the conference standings and stretched their winning streak to four in a row. Meanwhile, King drops to 10-17 this season with a 2-14 mark in league action.
In Game 1, Gause earned the win (3-0) after yielding two runs on three hits with nine strikeouts and five walks in 5.0 innings pitched. Fellow senior
Jaydon Gartner pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless relief with one hit surrendered, while junior
Hayden Myrick secured the save behind 1.1 innings on the mound with one strikeout.
After a scoreless first inning, senior
Joshua Jones led off the second frame with a double to left field. With one out, freshman
Davis Halstead laced an RBI triple to center field to take a 1-0 advantage. Following a walk, junior
Dylan Jeffries registered an RBI single to left field before teammate
Vito Patierno also recorded an RBI single to extend the lead to 3-0. The Tornado answered in the top of the third with an RBI double before cutting the deficit to 3-2 in the top of the fifth.
In the bottom half of the fifth, Halstead delivered again with an RBI double down the left-field line. The Trojans added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly from senior
Gordon Pihl to right field, 5-2.
Halstead finished 2-for-3 with two RBI, one run scored, and one walk, while graduate student
Landon Choboy produced a pair of hits. Jones went 2-for-2 with two runs scored, one walk, and a stolen base.
In Game 2, Johnson delivered a stellar performance in a complete-game shutout to improve to 3-1 on the season. He scattered five hits with 11 strikeouts and just two walks issued over 7.0 innings pitched.
The Trojans scored the only runs of the entire contest in the top of the third inning on a two-run homer from Jeffries, his eighth of the season, as UMO secured a 2-0 win.
The Trojans return to action on Sunday, March 26, when they host King for Game 3 of the series at Scarborough Field at 9 a.m.