Saturday, April 19, 2003
BEARS
WIN TWO FROM BLUE HOSE IN SAC TRIPLEHEADER
CLINTON,
S.C. — The Lenoir-Rhyne College Bears spoiled Presbyterian
College’s chances of winning a share of the 2003 South
Atlantic Conference regular season title by winning the last
two games of today’s tripleheader at the PC Baseball
Complex.
PC (23-24, 12-8 SAC)
entered today’s action one-half game behind Wingate
University in the final weekend of league play. Lenoir-Rhyne
(21-24, 7-14 SAC) won the second game 11-4 and third game 8-5
after PC took the first game 5-3.
GAME #1 — PC 5, LENOIR-RHYNE 3
Presbyterian College senior
pitcher Richard
Barkley
(Sumter, S.C.) picked up his eight win of the season after
throwing his seventh complete game of the season and redshirt
freshman third baseman Matt
Bodie
(Aiken, S.C.) keyed a fifth inning Blue Hose comeback as
the Blue Hose prevailed 5-3 in the first game.
Barkley (8-2) went seven
innings allowed three earned runs on nine hits while walking
one and striking out six batters. Lenoir-Rhyne’s starting
pitcher freshman Adam Cooper (Belmont, N.C.) took the loss to drop to 2-3 on the
season after going six inning allowing five runs, three earned
on six hits while striking out two batters.
PC led 2-0 in after the
first inning highlighted by a RBI single from junior
centerfielder Kevin
White (Spartanburg, S.C.). L-R answered with a pair of runs in the second
on RBI singles from freshman outfielder Matt Wiley (Charlotte, N.C.) and junior second baseman Jason
Bridges (Kings Mountain, N.C.). The Bears took the lead at
3-2 in the third on a RBI single from sophomore first baseman J.R.
Hopf (Tampa, FL).
In the fifth inning, PC’s
Bodie hit a two-RBI single with the bases loaded followed by a
Bear error which scored the third run of the inning as the
Blue Hose retook the lead at 5-3. Barkley closed the door down
the stretch to lead the Blue Hose to the victory.
At the plate, White led the Blue Hose by going two-for-three while Bodie went one-for-three with three RBI. The Bears were led at the plate by Hopf and freshman outfielder John Pugh (Asheboro, N.C.) who each went two-for-three.
GAME #2 — LENOIR-RHYNE 11, PRESBYTERIAN 4
In the second game,
Lenoir-Rhyne pounded out 11 runs on 15 hits and PC committed
three errors as the Bears won 11-4. The Bears starting pitcher
sophomore Bobby Kenneth
(Englewood, FL) won his third game of the season against
five loss after throwing seven innings allowing four runs,
three earned on seven hits while striking out four batters.
PC took a 1-0 lead in the
first on a RBI-double by senior second baseman Davis
Rice
(Clinton, S.C.) before the Bears exploded for eight runs
in the second to pull ahead 8-1. The Bears’ second inning
was keyed by four hits including a three-RBI double by Bridges
and a two-RBI triple by Wiley to go along with three Blue Hose
errors.
The Bears pushed the lead
to 9-1 in the fourth on a RBI-double by freshman catcher John Verdinek (High Point, N.C.). PC was able to trim the lead to
9-3 in the fifth inning highlighted by a RBI sacrifice from
designated hitter redshirt junior Heath
McCutcheon
(Newberry, S.C.). Lenoir-Rhyne added two insurance runs in
the sixth to go ahead 11-3 on RBI-singles from Bridges and
junior shortstop Ronnie Davis (Barnwell, S.C.). The Blue Hose could manage only one
run in the seventh as they lost 11-4.
Lenoir-Rhyne was led at the
plate by Verdinek who went three-for-four with three runs
scored and two RBI while Wiley went four-for-five with two
RBI. Bridges was two-for-three with four RBI on the day for
the Bears as well.
PC’s starting pitcher junior Travis Hill (Rock Hill, S.C.) took the loss to drop to 3-4 on the season after going one and two-third innings allowing eight unearned runs on four hits while striking out four batters. At the plate, Rice was two-for-four with one RBI and White was two-for-three with one run scored.
GAME #3 — LENOIR-RHYNE 8, PRESBYTERIAN 5
Lenoir-Rhyne’s freshman
first baseman Craig
Gesslein (Charlotte, N.C.) and junior third baseman Dustin
Day (Lincolnton, N.C.) each hit a homerun to lead the
Bears to a 8-5 win in game three of the tripleheader.
Gesslein staked the Bears
to a 3-0 lead in the second on a three-run homerun, but PC
fought back and cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the
inning on a RBI-double from junior outfielder Phillip Hauserman
(Decatur, Ga.). The Blue Hose went on to tie the game at
3-3 in the third on a RBI-single from McCutcheon.
Lenoir-Rhyne exploded for
five runs in the fifth to break the tie and go ahead 8-3. The
Bears keyed the inning with a two-run homer from Day while two
Blue Hose errors and a RBI-single from Davis scored the other
three runs. In the bottom of the inning, PC cut the lead to
8-5 on a two-run homer by senior first baseman Matt Warren (Lexington, SC). The Blue
Hose would fail to take advantage of anymore scoring
opportunities down the stretch and fall 8-5 in the final game
of the day.
The Bears relief pitcher
junior Derek Slaughter (Hickory,
N.C.) picked up the win go improve to 5-2 on the season after
going four innings allowing three earned runs on six hits
while striking out two batters. PC’s freshman starter Robert
Cole
(Clinton, S.C.) took the loss to drop to 2-5 on the season
after going four and one-third innings allowing eight runs,
five earned on seven hits while striking out three batters.
At the plate, L-R’s Gesslein went one-for-three with three RBI while Day went one-for-three with two RBI. For the Blue Hose, White went three-for-four with two runs scored while Warren was two-for-four with two RBI and McCutcheon went two-for-four with one RBI and one run scored.
The Blue Hose and Bears will await the final regular season games in the league played later today and tonight to find out their seeding in next week’s 2003 Food Lion/South Atlantic Conference Tournament. The tournament will be a part of the 2003 SAC Spring Sports Festival co-hosted by Presbyterian College and Newberry College next weekend, April 23-28.