MOUNT OLIVE (April 20) – The No. 19 ranked Trojans bounced back on Senior Day to capture the series victory over Belmont Abbey in a doubleheader sweep in Conference Carolinas action at Scarborough Field, posting a 15-1 win in Game 1 before claiming a 6-4 victory in Game 2.
With the sweep, the University of Mount Olive baseball program improves to 32-12 overall with a 19-7 record in league play. Following the results on Saturday, the Trojans hold sole possession of third place in the conference standings entering the final week of conference play. Meanwhile, Belmont Abbey drops to 22-21 this season behind a 14-13 mark in league action.
In Game 1, the UMO offense exploded for 15 runs on 16 hits, as senior
Joshua Kabayama delivered a four-for-four performance with three RBI and two runs scored. Fellow senior
Vito Patierno finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored while senior
Alden Cottle tallied two hits, three RBI, and one run scored. Senior
Dylan Jeffries also finished 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored.
In the bottom of the first inning, the Trojans brought across five runs on five hits, as Cottle produced a two-run double to left-center with the bases loaded to take a 2-0 edge. The next at-bat, redshirt junior
Mike Kenney recorded a sacrifice fly to center field before sophomore
Lane McLean and Kabayama hit back-to-back RBI singles, 5-0. Mount Olive added two more runs in the bottom of the second after graduate student
Landon Choboy recorded a sacrifice fly to center field and Cottle laced an RBI single to right field, 7-0.
Kabayama helped stretch the lead to 8-0 in the bottom of the third with an RBI single to left field before the sides went scoreless in the fourth frame. In the top of the fifth, the Crusaders trimmed the deficit to 8-1 with a sacrifice fly before UMO totaled three runs on three hits in the bottom half. Redshirt sophomore
Anthony Mitta launched a leadoff solo homer to right field, his third of the season, 9-1. Kabayama delivered once again with an RBI double to left field while Jeffries registered an RBI single to left field to build an 11-1 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, redshirt senior
Zach Zoltoski laced a pinch-hit RBI single to left field before McLean received an RBI on a groundout to third, 13-1. With two outs, junior
Cooper George recorded a two-run single up the middle to hold a 15-1 lead.
Senior
Erik Johnson earned the win (6-2) after surrendering one earned run on three hits with three strikeouts and two walks in 6.0 innings (78 pitches).
In Game 2, the Trojans once again grabbed the early lead following a two-run single up the middle from Choboy, 2-0. After two scoreless innings, Belmont Abbey scored three runs on two hits after capitalizing on two hit-by-pitches and one walk, 3-2.
In the fifth, Choboy drove in two more runs with a double to left-center before Cottle hit an RBI double into right-center to extend the lead to 5-3. The Crusaders trimmed the deficit to 5-4 in the top of the seventh, but UMO recorded an insurance run in the eighth with a sacrifice fly from Kabayama, 6-4.
Choboy finished 2-for-4 with four RBI, one run scored, and two walks, while McLean went 2-for-4 at the plate.
Senior
Hayden Myrick captured the win (2-1) after allowing one earned run on two hits in 2.0 innings of relief. Fellow senior
Andrew Ledbetter secured his sixth save of the season after recording 1.1 innings of scoreless relief with one strikeout and one walk.
Mount Olive is set to play its final non-conference game on Monday, April 22, against Virginia State at Scarborough Field with the first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m.
