BRISTOL, Tenn. (March 16) – Behind a pair of solid pitching performances from graduate student
Ethan Imbimbo and redshirt senior
Erik Johnson, the University of Mount Olive baseball earned a doubleheader sweep at King on Saturday afternoon in Conference Carolinas play.
With the sweep, the Trojans improve to 16-8 this season behind an 8-3 record in league play. Mount Olive has won the last five meetings in the series while recording a pair of shutouts. Meanwhile, the Tornado drops to 7-17 overall with a 2-8 mark in conference action.
In Game 1, Imbimbo improved to 4-0 on the mound after surrendering two earned runs on two hits with five strikeouts and one walk over 5.1 innings pitched (74 pitches). Redshirt senior
Greyson Linderman secured his third save of the season after tossing 3.1 innings of scoreless relief with an impressive seven strikeouts against 13 batters faced.
Following five scoreless innings, the Trojans loaded the bases in the top of the sixth on an error and a pair of walks. With two out, redshirt junior
Mike Kenney drew another walk to record an RBI and take a 1-0 advantage. The next at-bat, fifth-year
David Cucci belted a three-run triple down the right-field line to extend the advantage, 4-0. Cucci would later score in the inning on a balk after a pitching change, 5-0.
In the bottom half of the sixth, King rallied with a pair of RBI singles to cut the deficit to 5-2 before redshirt junior
Case Kermode laced a solo homer to left field in the seventh, his first of the season, to hold a 6-2 edge. The Tornado left zero runners on base over the final three frames, as the Trojans claimed the Game 1 win.
In Game 2, Johnson delivered his third complete-game shutout of the year to improve to 3-1 overall. He allowed zero runs on just five hits with seven strikeouts and no walks in 7.0 innings (89 pitches). Johnson retired the side in order three times while forcing eight fly outs and four ground outs on Saturday.
The Trojans jumped ahead in the top of the first after Cucci produced a three-run double to left-center to take a 3-0 lead. Despite the early run production, both sides were held scoreless over the next five frames. In the seventh, Mount Olive loaded the bases with one out before Kenney recorded a two-run double to left-center to stretch the advantage to 5-0. Johnson retired the sides in order in the seventh to complete the sweep.
The Trojans return to Scarborough Field on Tuesday, March 19, for a single nine-inning contest against Catawba at 4 p.m.
