MOUNT OLIVE (April 5) – Despite scoring four runs in the final three innings, the Trojans ultimately fell by an 8-5 margin to No. 11 North Greenville to close out the three-game series in Conference Carolinas play on Saturday at Scarborough Field.
With the loss, the University of Mount Olive baseball team drops to 20-16 overall with an 11-10 mark in league action. The Trojans will return to action with a neutral site contest scheduled for Tuesday, April 8, against Newberry in Florence, South Carolina. Meanwhile, North Greenville improves to 32-8 this season behind a 17-7 record in conference action.
NGU grabbed the early 1-0 lead in the top of the second with a two-out RBI single to left field with the runner scoring all the way from first base on the play. Mount Olive would tie the game at 1-1 following an RBI double to left-center from redshirt sophomore
Jon Howard in the bottom of the third. North Greenville quickly regained its advantage following a sacrifice fly to right field in the fourth, 2-1. The Trailblazers broke open the contest in the top of the fifth, scoring six runs on four hits to go ahead by an 8-1 margin.
The Trojans rallied in the bottom of the seventh, as junior
Kayden Crawford hit an RBI double to right field before juniors
Lane McLean and
Garrett Moffett registered back-to-back RBI singles, 8-4. UMO would bring another run across on a wild pitch in the ninth but fell short by an 8-5 final score.
Crawford finished 2-for-5 with one RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base, while McLean tallied two hits, one RBI, and one run scored.
Junior
Lucas Glover suffered the loss (1-2) after yielding two earned runs on three hits with four strikeouts and two walks over 4.0 innings pitched (95 pitches). The senior trio of
Aiken Minton,
Trey Deutsch, and
Gavin Wilson tossed 4.0 combined scoreless frames with four strikeouts to finish the game.
UMO will face Newberry on Tuesday, April 8, in a non-conference midweek matchup in Florence, South Carolina, at 3 p.m.
