MOUNT OLIVE (March 29) – Behind homers by redshirt junior
Case Kermode and fifth-year
David Cucci, the No. 16 Trojans offense pushed past Chowan by a 14-5 margin on Friday night at Scarborough Field in Conference Carolinas play.
With the win, the University of Mount Olive baseball team stretches its winning streak to eight in a row and improves to 22-8 overall behind a 12-3 mark in league action. The Trojans have won 14 of the previous 15 meetings in the series and move into sole possession of first place in the conference standings. Meanwhile, Chowan drops to 6-24 this season with a 2-14 record in league play.
The Trojans had five players record multi-hit performances with graduate student
Landon Choboy finishing 3-for-5 with one RBI and two runs scored. Cucci tallied two hits, one RBI, one walk, three runs scored, and two stolen bases against the Hawks. Senior
Dylan Jeffries went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and one run scored, while Kermode totaled two hits, three RBIs, and two runs scored. Senior
Joshua Kabayama also finished with two hits and an RBI in the win.
In the top of the first, Chowan jumped ahead by a 2-0 margin behind three hits, including a pair of doubles down the left-field line. The Trojans countered in the bottom half of the inning, as Jeffries delivered an RBI single through the left side to cut the deficit to 2-1. After a scoreless second frame, Mount Olive erupted for six runs on six hits, highlighted by a three-run blast to left-center by Kermode, to take a 7-2 advantage in the third. Redshirt junior
Mike Kenney added to the lead in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single to center field.
The Hawks trimmed the deficit in the top of the fifth with a solo homer to left field before UMO tallied five more runs in the sixth to take a significant 13-3 lead. Choboy and junior
Cooper George each recorded an RBI while sophomore
Lane McLean laced a two-out, two-run single to left field. Chowan recorded a run in the top of the seventh, but Cucci answered with a solo homer to right field to hold a 14-4 advantage. The Hawks brought across the final run in the top of the eighth, as the Trojans sealed the win, 14-5.
Graduate student
Ethan Imbimbo improved to 6-0 on the mound after yielding three runs on five hits with six strikeouts and one walk in 6.0 innings pitched (90 pitches). Mount Olive featured four pitchers over the final three innings, as junior
Witt Branham and senior
Brian Robertson closed out the final frame.
Mount Olive continues its three-game series tomorrow, Saturday, March 30, against Chowan with a doubleheader at Scarborough Field, starting at 1 p.m.
