DUE WEST, SC — University of Mount Olive split a Sunday doubleheader with Erskine College, using a late-game comeback to take Game 1, 7-4, before falling 19-6 to finish off the Conference match up.
Mount Olive showed guts in the first match up, erasing a four-run deficit with a dominant seventh-inning finish. Earlier, Erskine jumped ahead by scoring twice in the second and twice more in the fifth for a 4-0 lead.
The Trojans scored in the sixth, as
Connor Tepatti's two-RBI single cut the deficit to 4-2. Mount Olive seized momentum in the seventh, erupting for five runs on six hits.
Rowan Watt and
Ryder Hancock tied the game before
Malachi Gales put the Trojans ahead with a sacrifice fly. Tepatti's two-RBI double pushed the lead to 7-4.
Aidan Newton pitched a complete game, his second of the season, allowing four runs (three earned) over seven innings with five strikeouts. After early struggles, he held Erskine scoreless in the last two innings.
Turning to Game 2, Mount Olive again struck first, plating three runs in the second inning behind RBI walks from
Dawson Ables and
Lane McLean and an RBI single by
Garrett Moffett.
Erskine answered quickly and decisively. After narrowing the deficit to 3-2 in the second, the Flying Fleet tied the game in the third with a two-run home run over the left field fence. Mount Olive briefly retook the lead in the fourth as
Malachi Gales connected for a solo home run to right. However, Erskine shifted momentum their way with a four-run bottom of the fourth, highlighted by a bases-clearing double that put them ahead for good.
The game broke open in the fifth when Erskine scored six runs, including a three-run triple followed by a pair of RBI doubles, widening the gap to 13-4. The Flying Fleet stayed aggressive in the sixth, tacking on four more runs via a series of singles and another extra-base hit, effectively putting the contest out of reach.
Despite the deficit, late in the game, Mount Olive showed fight, highlighted by an RBI double from Gales in the seventh and a solo home run by
Lane McLean in the eighth, but the deficit could not be overcome.
With the split, Mount Olive now looks ahead to its next home competition against Coker on Tuesday. The midweek matchup is scheduled to begin at 4:00 PM.