FLORENCE, SC – Freshman catcher Cole Morris had two hits, scored twice, and drove in three runs – including a two-run single in a decisive four-run seventh-inning rally – to lift Francis Marion University to a 10-7 win over 14th-ranked University of Montevallo, Sunday afternoon (April 14), and to a sweep of their three-game Peach Belt Conference baseball series.

Francis Marion, which entered the weekend eighth in the PBC standings, is now tied for fifth with a 22-15 overall record and a 14-9 league mark.  Montevallo falls to 26-15 and 13-11. 

FMU will step out of conference play on Tuesday evening when the Patriots travel to meet second-ranked Mount Olive College for a 6 p.m. contest.

Morris, playing only his eighth game since dressing as the emergency catcher, was 2-for-3 and threw out a runner attempting to steal.  Junior left fielder Casey Gebhardt was also 2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored, and two RBIs, while junior shortstop Michael Wilson was 2-for-4 with a double, one run scored, and one driven home.  Senior third baseman Stephen Tarkenton also had two hits, scored once, and had one RBI.

Sophomore right-hander Justin Turbeville (1-1) earned his first collegiate win.  He pitched the final 3.1 innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits with one strikeout.  He retired the last eight batters he faced.

The see-saw affair saw FMU take a 3-1 advantage after five frames.  The Falcons plated five runs in the top of the sixth to chase FMU starter Gary Ashcraft.  The Patriots responded with three tallies in the bottom of the sixth to knot the score at 6-6.

Montevallo plated an unearned run off Turbeville in the top of the seventh, on an RBI-single by catcher Jackson Slaid, but Francis Marion answered with its four-run outburst in the last of the seventh.

A pair of walks opened the frame.  With one out, Wilson doubled to right pushing home the tying run. After an intentional walk, pinch hitter Dalton Gress greeted new reliever Aron McRee with an RBI single to center giving FMU an 8-7 lead.  After a force out at home resulted in the second out, Morris rapped a two-run single up the middle extending the Patriot lead to 10-7.

FMU senior first baseman Rhodes Dickerson was 1-for-3, but his sixth-inning single through the right side extended his hitting streak to a career-best 15 games, while he has also hit safely in 29 of the last 30 contests.

Corner outfielders Thomas Bradley and Michael Simmons paced the Falcons with two hits apiece.  Bradley also had a double and four RBIs.

Montevallo reliever Edward Brandsema (3-4) surrendered the go-ahead run in the seventh-inning and was tagged with the loss.  Starter Josh Clemen went six innings, allowed seven runs (five earned) on eight hits, and struck out three.