MOUNT OLIVE (March 12) – The University of Mount Olive baseball team recorded a season-high 20 runs behind three homers, six doubles, and one triple, in a 20-2 victory over Saint Michael's in non-conference play at Scarborough Field on Tuesday evening.
With the win, the Trojans improve to 14-7 this season with a 7-2 mark at home. The two sides met for a consecutive year with the Trojan totaling at least 20 runs in both contests. Meanwhile, the Purple Knights fall to 1-8 overall while playing all nine games on the road.
Sophomore
Lane McLean went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with a solo homer, three RBIs, and one run scored, while graduate student
Landon Choboy finished 3-for-4 with a home run, four RBIs, three runs scored, and a walk. The Trojans had 13 different players record a hit in the contest and tallied 10 extra-base hits.
In the top of the second, Saint Michael's jumped ahead by a 1-0 margin after scoring on a wild pitch before Mount Olive countered with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the frame. Graduate student
Gordon Pihl registered an RBI on a ground out before junior
Cooper George laced a single up the middle, 2-1. In the third inning, McLean belted a leadoff solo homer to left field before Choboy followed up a two-out three-run blast to left field to stretch the lead to 6-1.
The Purple Knights responded with a solo homer to right field in the top of the fourth to trim the deficit to 6-2, but the Trojans countered with four runs on four hits in the bottom of the fifth. Senior
Vito Patierno led off the inning with a double to left-center before senior
Alden Cottle laced an RBI double past the third baseman. The next at-bat, senior
Dylan Jeffries recorded an RBI single to right-center to extend the advantage to 8-2. With two outs, McLean produced a two-run single to right field to take a significant 10-2 edge.
In the bottom of the sixth, UMO brought across five more runs, highlighted by a grand slam from redshirt freshman
Jon Howard, his second of the year, to hold a 15-2 lead. In the seventh frame, the Trojans scored the final five runs with redshirt freshman
Blake Freeman delivering a pinch-hit RBI triple and redshirt sophomore
Garrett Moffett blasting a two-run double to right field, 20-2.
Mount Olive featured seven different pitchers in the contest, as graduate student
Cade Anderson (1-0) earned the win after tossing 1.0 inning of scoreless relief. Senior
Brian Robertson, junior
Witt Branham, junior
Thomas Hill, and senior
Carson Hinnant combined for eight strikeouts and zero runs on eight hits over the final four innings of work.
The Trojans will host Coker in a Southeast Region contest tomorrow, March 13, at Scarborough Field with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
