FLORENCE, S.C. (April 16) – Redshirt junior
Case Kermode had a career day at the plate behind three homers with eight runs batted in, as the Trojans battled to a 13-11 victory over Newberry on Tuesday afternoon in non-conference action at Carolina Bank Field.
With the win, the University of Mount Olive baseball team improves to 30-11 overall and sweeps the season series with the Wolves in a pair of neutral site contests. The Trojans have seven games remaining in the regular season with six in league play. Meanwhile, Newberry drops to 21-22 this season after claiming a series victory over Limestone in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) last weekend.
Kermode finished 3-for-3 with a trio of home runs while driving in eight runs and crossing the plate three times on Tuesday. Graduate student
Landon Choboy went 2-for-5 with one run scored and senior
Dylan Jeffries totaled two hits, one RBI, and three runs scored.
Newberry established an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning before UMO capitalized on three errors in the bottom half of the frame to cut the deficit to 3-2. After the Wolves increased their edge to 4-2, senior
David Cucci laced a two-run double down the left-field line to tie the game at 4-4 in the second inning. In the third, Jeffries put UMO ahead with a sacrifice fly to left field before Kermode belted a two-run homer to left field to take a 7-4 advantage. Newberry responded in the top of the fourth with three runs on three hits to tie the game at 7-7.
In the bottom half of the fifth, Kermode blasted his second home run of the game and totaled three RBI to claim a 10-7 lead. Following a scoreless sixth, Kermode once again delivered a three-run homer to left-center, his team-leading seven of the season, to build a 13-7 edge. The Wolves rallied with four runs in the eighth to trim the deficit to 13-11. The Trojans closed out the ninth to secure the non-conference win on Tuesday.
Senior
Hayden Myrick earned the win (1-1) after tossing 3.0 innings of scoreless relief with zero hits and four strikeouts (42 pitches). Fellow senior
Andrew Ledbetter captured his fifth save of the season after yielding one unearned run on no hits with one strikeout in 1.2 innings pitched (36 pitches).
Mount Olive begins a three-game series in the Conference Carolinas on Friday, April 19, against Belmont Abbey at Scarborough Field, starting at 5 p.m.
