WILSON, N.C. (April 14) – The No. 10 ranked University of Mount Olive baseball program was unable to hold off Barton in a 13-12 walk-off loss on Sunday afternoon in Conference Carolinas play.
With the loss, the Trojans drop to 29-11 this season with a 17-6 record in conference action. Mount Olive suffered its first three-game sweep of the season while falling to 10-7 on the road. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs improve to 32-9 overall behind a 15-9 mark in league play.
Barton established a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning with a leadoff solo homer to left field. Following a scoreless second frame, Mount Olive scored four runs on three hits to take a 4-1 lead. Redshirt junior
Mike Kenney belted a two-run double to left field with the bases loaded before senior
Dylan Jeffries delivered a two-run single to right field.
In the top of the fourth, senior
Vito Patierno laced a solo homer to left field, his team-leading fifth of the season, to take a 5-1 advantage. The Bulldogs cut into the deficit in the bottom of the fifth after a runner scored from third on a double play, 5-2. In the bottom of the sixth, Barton continued to chip away at the lead with a solo homer before scoring on a double steal, 5-4.
In the top of the seventh, the Trojans stretched the lead to 9-4 following a grand slam by Jeffries before sophomore
Lane McLean produced a solo homer to right field, 10-4. The Bulldogs answered back again in the bottom half of the inning with five runs on two hits, highlighted by a three-run homer to left field, 10-9. After a scoreless eighth, UMO added to its lead in the ninth behind a two-run single to left field by senior
David Cucci, 12-9.
In the bottom of the ninth, Barton completed the comeback victory by scoring four runs on four hits to seal the series sweep, 13-12.
Mount Olive featured six pitchers in the game, as senior
Andrew Ledbetter suffered the loss (2-3) after yielding four runs (two earned) on four hits with one strikeout in 2.1 innings pitched (38 pitches).
At the plate, Jeffries finished 2-for-4 with a grand slam, six RBI, and one run scored, while Kenney went 2-for-4 with two RBI, one walk, and two runs scored. Patierno totaled two hits, one RBI, and two runs scored, while McLean registered a pair of hits with a solo homer and two runs scored.
The Trojans return to the field on Tuesday, April 16, for a non-conference game against Newberry in Florence, South Carolina, at 3 p.m.
