MOUNT OLIVE– The Trojans secured the weekend series over Chowan with a 6-1 victory in the finale on Saturday afternoon at Scarborough Field to win the weekend series two games to one.
John Nelson McLamb (1-3) delivered his strongest outing of the season, tossing 6.0 shutout innings while allowing just two hits and striking out eight. The right-hander worked efficiently throughout, retiring the side in order in the second and fifth innings and erasing traffic with a pair of strikeouts in the third.
Lucas Glover followed with 2.0 scoreless frames out of the bullpen, striking out three, before
Kole Hopkins closed the door despite surrendering a ninth inning run.
Mount Olive wasted little time getting on the board in the bottom of the first.
Kayden Crawford led off with a single to left before
Rowan Watt drew a walk.
Garrett Moffett then ripped an RBI double to center field to plate Crawford and give the Trojans a 1-0 lead.
The advantage doubled in the second.
Josh Mason worked a leadoff walk, stole second, and advanced to third on a groundout.
Tanner Ferguson lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to bring Mason home and extend the margin to 2-0.
The Trojans created separation in the third inning with a three-run surge. Watt reached on a walk and moved into scoring position before
Lane McLean drilled a double down the left-field line. After the bases were loaded, Mason was hit by a pitch to force in a run.
Connor Tepatti followed with a sharp single up the middle to score two more, pushing the lead to 5-0.
Mount Olive added an insurance run in the fifth.
Ryder Hancock singled to right and later scored when Ferguson lined an RBI single to center, stretching the lead to 6-0.
Meanwhile, the Trojan pitching staff remained in control. McLamb limited Chowan to just one runner reaching third base through the first six innings, and Glover worked around a pair of baserunners in the seventh and eighth to preserve the shutout.
Chowan broke through in the ninth with a walk and a single to set up an RBI groundout, but Hopkins induced a pop up to shortstop to end the game and secure the 6-1 victory.
Mount Olive returns to action next week as the Trojans face off against Dominican on Tuesday and Wednesday.
