FLORENCE, S.C. (April 18) – In a neutral site top-10 nationally-ranked contest, the No. 9 University of Mount Olive baseball team featured eight players with multi-hit performances in a 19-3 victory over No. 5 Newberry in non-conference play on Tuesday afternoon.

With the win, the Trojans improve to 29-10 overall with a 4-1 record against nationally-ranked opponents. Mount Olive holds a 35-9 record in the series dating back 1992 with UMO boasting an 8-2 mark over the last 10 meetings versus Newberry. Meanwhile, the Wolves drop to 33-9 overall after entering the contest in first-place in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) standings.

In the top of the first inning, senior Jack Casbarro launched a two-run homer to left field, his sixth of the season, to take an early 2-0 advantage. The Trojan offense continued to build on their lead in the top of the second with five runs on five hits. Senior JT Stone led off the frame with a double down the right-field line before junior Mike Kenney delivered a one-out RBI single up the middle, 3-0. Following a two-out walk, junior Vito Patierno and Casbarro ripped consecutive RBI singles to take a 5-0 edge. After a pitching change, graduate student Landon Choboy dropped a two-run double into right field to extend the advantage to 7-0.

Mount Olive stretched its lead to 13-0 in the top of the third after scoring six runs on seven hits. The inning was highlighted by an RBI double to left field from junior Zach Zoltoski while junior Dylan Jeffries, Patierno and Choboy all delivered RBI singles. The Wolves got on the board in the bottom half with a leadoff solo homer to left-center to trail by a 13-1 margin. In the top of the fourth, Casbarro collected an RBI on a bases-loaded walk to regain the 13-run advantage, 14-1. Newberry trimmed the deficit in the bottom of the fifth after scoring on a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch, 14-3. UMO responded in the top of the sixth with RBI singles from Casbarro and senior Joshua Jones, while Choboy produced a two-run sacrifice fly to deep center field, 18-3. The Trojans tallied the final run of the game in the seventh with an RBI single through the right-side by Choboy, 19-3.

Patierno finished 3-for-4 with two RBI, three runs scored, and three walks, while Casbarro tallied three hits, five RBI, four runs scored, and two walks. Choboy went 3-for-5 with six RBI while Kenney finished 3-for-5 with one RBI and two runs scored.

Junior Justin Koehler earned the start and yielded three runs on four hits with five strikeouts over 4.0 innings pitched. Senior Blake Gipson improved to 2-1 on the season after tossing 1.0 inning of relief with one strikeout. The Trojans featured four additional relievers in the contest while not surrendering a hit and recording a pair of strikeouts over the final 4.0 innings.

The Trojans return to Conference Carolinas play on Friday, April 21, when they begin a three-game series at Scarborough Field against Francis Marion with a single nine-inning contest, at 6 p.m.