Box Score FLORENCE, SC – Senior catcher Jacob Golliday drove in three runs with a triple and an infield grounder as seventh-ranked Francis Marion University pulled away late for a season-opening 9-1 win over Claflin University, Friday afternoon (Feb. 1) in the first game of the Carolinas Hospital System Baseball Classic.
Francis Marion will face King College (Tenn.) on Saturday at 3 p.m. The opening game on Saturday will have Belmont Abbey College facing Claflin at noon on FMU's Cormell Field at Sparrow Stadium.
Belmont Abbey beat King 11-1 in Friday's nightcap.
Golliday finished the day 2-for-5, while senior third baseman Stephen Tarkenton was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Golliday's two-run triple that sailed over the head of the Claflin center fielder in the bottom of the fifth inning snapped a 1-1 deadlock. Several pitches later, Golliday scampered home on a wild pitch to increase the Patriot advantage to 4-1. Senior designated hitter Will Chandler followed with a triple to right center field and scored on an RBI single by senior Jarrod Reed.
FMU plated a single run in the sixth frame on a run-scoring single to left field by Tarkenton. The Patriots added three insurance runs in last of the eighth with the help of three Claflin errors.
FMU senior righty Gary Ashcraft (1-0) picked up the win as he allowed eight hits and one earned run in five innings. He struck out six and walked two. He improved to 7-0 in his two-year stint as a Patriot.
Freshman reliever John Rossi tossed one scoreless frame before freshman righty Trevor Hutto pitched three innings of one-hit ball to secure his first collegiate save.
Senior southpaw Darryl White absorbed the loss for Claflin (0-1).
FMU took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when lead-off man Michael Wilson walked, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, advanced to third on an infield ground out, and crossed home plate on a two-out passed ball.
Claflin tied the score in the top of third when Donald Smith laced a two-out RBI single to right field.
FMU head coach Art Inabinet captured his 498th career victory as a college head coach with the win as the Patriots improve to 7-0 all-time against the Panthers.
#7 Francis Marion Univ. 9, Claflin University 1 (Feb 01, 2013 at Florence, SC)
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Claflin University 001 000 000 - 1 9 4 (0-1)
Francis Marion Univ. 100 041 03X - 9 9 1 (1-0)
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Pitchers: Claflin University - Darryl White; Demitrius Bryant (6) and Julio Iglesias.
Francis Marion Univ. - Gary Ashcraft; John Rossi (6); Trevor Hutto (7) and Jacob Golliday.
Win-Gary Ashcraft (1-0) Loss-Darryl White (0-1) Save-Trevor Hutto (1) T-2:18 A-592
Weather: Clear, Cool, Windy, 53 degrees
Jacob Golliday
