Like Francis Marion Athletics on Facebook!

MOUNT OLIVE, NC – Junior right-hander Spencer Jordan pitched seven strong innings and senior second baseman Brock McCallister collected three hits and a pair of two-out RBIs to lead fourth-seeded and sixth-ranked Francis Marion University to an 11-2 win over third-seeded and seventh-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State University, Thursday morning (May 17) in a first-round game at the 2012 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Baseball Tournament.

The six-team, double-elimination tournament is being hosted by Mount Olive College on its Scarborough Field.

Francis Marion (38-16) advances to face the Tusculum/Catawba winner on Friday at approximately 9 p.m.  FMU snaps string of tournament-opening losses as the Patriots had dropped their first game in each of their past five post-season tournaments dating back to the 2009 NCAA regional at USC Aiken.

Armstrong (40-15) will meet the Mount Olive/Lander winner on Friday at approximately 6 p.m.

McCallister finished the game 3-for-6 with a run scored and the two driven in.  He led a Patriot line-up that all saw every starter get at least one hit and seven different player record RBIs.

Sophomore shortstop Michael Wilson, junior third baseman Stephen Tarkenton, junior catcher Jacob Golliday, and senior designated hitter Brian Paulhus all had two hits.

That 16-hit attack backed the pitching of Jordan (10-4) who allowed only one earned run on four hits in seven innings.  He struck out four and walked three.  Junior righty Don Sandifer finished the contest with two hitless and scoreless frames.

Armstrong southpaw Chandler Hall (9-3), who beat the Patriots during the regular season in Savannah, took the loss on Thursday.  He surrendered six runs (four earned) on eight hits in six innings.

FMU took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning.  Tarkenton singled up the middle with one out.  Golliday followed with a double to left field that advanced Tarkenton to third, and both runners continued around to score when the relay throw was wild and rolled all the way to the right field line.

The advantage increased to 3-0 in the fifth when Paulhus was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a bunt single by Luke Tollison, and crossed home plate on McCallister's first two-out base hit.  Jordan did not allow his first hit until R.J. Dennard led off the bottom of the fifth with a single to left center.

Three consecutive run-scoring singles by Golliday, Tyler Boyd, and Paulhus expanded the Francis Marion lead to 6-0 in the top of the sixth.  Armstrong loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the frame, but Jordan escaped by allowing only one run – that on an RBI groundout by catcher John Roberts.

Francis Marion plated four runs in the top of the eighth, started by junior Rhodes Dickerson's first extra-base hit as a Patriot, a double to left center that drove home Paulhus.  Altogether, FMU was 8-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

The first two Pirate batters in the bottom of the eighth reached and that forced Jordan from the game in favor of Sandifer.  Third baseman Drew Walker drove home Armstrong's second tally with a groundout to first, but that was all the damage the Pirates could inflict.

"We played well today," said FMU head coach Art Inabinet in the post-game press conference.  "We talked about being more aggressive offensively and the need to score more runs if we wanted to be around on Sunday (last day of the tournament).

"We have a low-key team. They don't get too high or too low. We played near-perfect baseball today, but it's just one game and the most important game is now tomorrow. We will need to continue to excel in all three phases: pitching hitting, and fielding."

Jordan commented on his outing by saying, "I was able to locate my fastball today, and then I could make use of my change-up.  It also helped that the team got me a lead. It is a lot easier to pitch with the lead.  After we went up 3-0, they got a few hits but I was able to bear down and contain the damage."

"In the bullpen before the game I had all four pitches working. I was able to mix in my off-speed pitches, then (catcher) Jacob (Golliday) helped me spot my fastball. I knew my change-up would have to be big for me today if I was going to have success."

His battery mate Golliday added, "Spencer got ahead of the batters today and really pitched well."

On playing after a car accident earlier this week in which he was hit in the driver's side door, Golliday said, "It's funny. This is the second straight season I have been in a car accident a couple of days before regionals. (On Monday) I expected to wake up the next day and be really sore. As bad as it looked, I really only had a small bruise on my leg."

McCallister added, "It means a lot getting into the winner's bracket. We do have a laid-back team, but this is the regionals. If you can't get up for this game, you can't get up for anything."

Concerning his two-out clutch hitting, he added, "I try to keep my approach the same and just try to put the ball in play and hit it hard.