Box Score FLORENCE, SC - Junior designated hitter Jacob
Wallace drove in three runs with a homer, single, and ground out to
help 14th-ranked Francis Marion University set a school record with
its 12th consecutive win as the Patriots downed Erskine College
7-2, Monday afternoon (April 27) in non-conference baseball action.
FMU ends its regular season with a 33-13-1 record. The
Flying Fleet, who play at Armstrong Atlantic State University on
Tuesday at 3 p.m., drop to 35-16. Francis Marion will now
break for semester exams before heading to the Peach Belt
Conference Tournament, May 9-10 in Aiken, S.C.
Senior third baseman Keon Graves, honored along with three other
seniors prior to the game, was 3-for-3 with a run scored and an
RBI. Junior middle infielders Barrett Kleinknecht and Josh
Biggers each had two hits for the Patriots.
Wallace extended his hitting streak to 13 games with solo homer
in the fourth, while Kleinknecht stretch his hitting streak to 12
contests. The previous FMU record for consecutive wins was 11
set in 2006.
Junior left-hander Jeremiah Meiners (6-1) won for the sixth time
in seven decisions with 6.1 quality innings. He allowed just
one run on eight hits. Junior righty Brandon Forshee made his
team-leading 27th appearance and pitched the final 2.2 innings.
Left fielder Greg Huff and designated hitter John Bolding were
both 2-for-4 to pace Erskine. Right-hander William Buzhardt
(5-6) was saddled with the loss after allowing five runs in 4.2
innings of work.
Right fielder Bryan Fogle's RBI single to centerfield gave
Erskine a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Francis
Marion responded with seven unanswered runs over its next six
frames. Bolding drove in Erskine's other run with a
ninth-inning RBI single.
Right fielder Alex Lee tied the game at 1-1 with a sacrifice fly
in the bottom of the third inning. Wallace's home run and a
run-scoring single by Preston Shuey gave FMU a 3-1 lead in the
bottom of the fourth. The RBI groundout by Wallace and an RBI
single by Graves pushed the Patriot advantage to 5-1 in the fifth
inning.
Wallace added an RBI single in the seventh and Martin Gordon
scored on a passed ball in the eighth to account for the final two
Patriot tallies.
Going back to Sunday's doubleheader sweep of St. Andrews
Presbyterian College, Wallace is 9-for-his-last-12 with seven
extra-base hits.