Monday, April 3, 2006
FLYING FLEET HOLD OFF LATE BLUE HOSE RALLY FOR 7-5 VICTORY
CLINTON, S.C. — Erskine College held off a late inning comeback by the host Blue Hose of Presbyterian College to win 7-5 in college baseball action Monday afternoon at the PC Baseball Complex. The Flying Fleet improve to 29-9 on the season, while the Blue Hose drop to 15-30 on the year and had their four-game win streak snapped in the process.
Erskine took an early 6-2 lead after three innings thanks in part to a two-RBI single from senior Juan Adriatico (Daytona Beach, Fla.) in the first and capitalized on a pair of Blue Hose errors and a double from freshman Matt Long (Anderson, S.C.) in the third.
The Blue Hose trimmed the lead with an RBI-single from senior Evan Sowell (Chesterfield, S.C.) in the second and a bases loaded fielder’s choice by senior Matt Hoffner (Ellicot City, MD) in the bottom of the third which scored junior Kyle Craven (Savannah, Ga.).
In the fifth, PC plated two more runs to cut the lead to 6-4. Freshman Cory Lyda (Simpsonville, S.C.) scored off an Erskine pass ball, followed by Craven coming home after a Flying Fleet wild pitch. The Blue Hose pulled to within 6-5 in the bottom of the sixth when Sowell scored from third base. The Flying Fleet would respond with an insurance run in the top of the seventh as Adriatico doubled to leftfield scoring junior Shelton Cisson (Berea, S.C.).
Adriatico led the Flying Fleet at the plate by going two-for-five with three RBI, while Cisson added a two-for-four performance that included two runs scored. For the Blue Hose, Craven and Sowell each went two-for-four at the plate, while junior Kemper Booth (Hendersonville, N.C.) went two-for-three. Craven added two runs scored on the day.
Freshman Alex O’Quinn (Lugoff, S.C.) picked up third win of the season after going four innings, allowing four runs, three earned on seven hits and tallied a pair of strikeouts. PC’s freshman Daniel Hill (Matthews, N.C.) took the loss after going six and one-third innings allowing seven runs, three earned on eight hits, but tallied a career-high eight strikeouts.
The Blue Hose (15-30) return to action on tomorrow night with a road game in Greenwood, S.C. against Lander University starting at 6:00 pm, while Erskine returns to the field on tomorrow night against No. 1 Georgia College & State University at 6:00 pm in Milledgeville, Ga.