FLORENCE, S.C. (March 1, 2014) – Senior designated hitter Dalton Gress hit two homeruns in the second game of a doubleheader to lead the Francis Marion University baseball team to a 5-2 victory over Georgia Southwestern State University Saturday afternoon at Sparrow Stadium. The Hurricanes won the first game 10-4.

Francis Marion increases its overall record to 8-7 overall and 1-4 in the Peach Belt Conference. FMU and GSW (4-12, 2-6) will play the rubber match of the series tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.

Sophomore lefty Daniel Barfield (3-0) took home the victory on the mound by throwing seven perfect innings after giving up two unearned runs in the top half of the first inning. He finished with three five strikeouts while he gave up two walks and three hits. GSW's Zac Wittmus (0-4) tossed a complete game, but took the loss after giving up five earned runs on eight hits.

Gress is the first Patriot to ever homer twice in the same game at Sparrow Stadium, and the first FMU player in recent history to accomplish that feat. He hit his first career homerun as a Patriot Wednesday at Wingate.

Senior shortstop Michael Wilson finished 1-for-3 at the plate with a RBI and a run scored. Senior first baseman David DeWolfe tallied three hits and an RBI, while junior second baseman Brett Fulmer recorded a base knock.

After the Hurricanes struck for two runs in the top of the first inning, FMU quickly cut the lead in half when DeWolfe singled home Wilson, who reached base earlier in the inning via a hit by pitch.

Gress tied the game in the bottom of the second with his first homerun of the day that went out of the yard down the right field line, just left of the foul pole. The Patriots took the lead for good on Gress' second homerun of the day in the fourth inning. The second shot was nearly in the exact same spot as the first homerun, 330 feet from the plate.

The Patriots increased their lead with two runs in the fifth inning. Fulmer doubled down the right field line to begin the frame. Wilson was next to bat, and nearly had the third FMU homer of the day, but his ball hit just off the top of the right field wall. He was able to hustle to third for a triple that scored Fulmer. Junior outfielder Zac Lenns then hit a sacrifice fly to left field to bring home Wilson.

After the first inning, Barfield only allowed two Hurricanes to get into scoring position until he left the game after the eighth inning. He turned the ball over to junior right-hander Jeremy Hatfield for the ninth inning.  Hatfield allowed the tying run to step into the batter's box, but he struck out Gabe Selochan to end the game.

Georgia Southwestern struck for four runs in the top of the first inning, and rolled to a 10-4 victory in game one. The Hurricanes' Matthew Suggs (1-2) pitched a complete game, and took the win on the mound after recording six strikeouts. FMU's senior righty Spencer Jordan (1-2) took the loss.

After GSW hung a four-spot in their half of the first frame, the Patriots answered with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. FMU loaded the bases on walks by Lenns and senior infielder Luke Tollison, and a single by DeWolfe. Gress scored Lenns and DeWolfe on a two-RBI single. Wilson brought home Tollison for the final run of the inning.

FMU tacked on another run in the second inning when senior outfielder Michael Keels scored on a RBI groundout by Lenns, but the Patriots trailed 6-4 after two frames. The Hurricanes would add insurance runs in the third, fifth, seventh, and eighth innings, and took the first game of the series.

Wilson was 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI, while Gress tallied the two RBI's on his hit. Senior outfielder Casey Gebhardt was also 3-for-4 from the dish.  

Ga. Southwestern St. 10, Francis Marion Univ. 4 (Mar 01, 2014 at Florence, SC) (Game 1)
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Ga. Southwestern St. 421 010 110  - 10 13  2      (4-11, 2-5 PBC)
Francis Marion Univ.    310 000 000  -  4 11  3      (7-7, 0-4 PBC)
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Pitchers: Ga. Southwestern St. - Matthew Suggs and Neal Chambless. Francis Marion Univ. -
Spencer Jordan; Cody Dix(2); Chance DuCharme(4); Austin Cox(8) and Nicholas McGee; Devin Walker
Win-Matthew Suggs(1-2)  Loss-Spencer Jordan(1-2)  T-2:46  A-571
Weather: 48 degrees, cloudy

Francis Marion Univ. 5, Ga. Southwestern St. 2 (Mar 01, 2014 at Florence, SC) (Game 2)
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Ga. Southwestern St. 200 000 000  -  2  5  1      (4-12, 2-6 PBC)
Francis Marion Univ.    110 120 00X  -  5  8  1      (8-7, 1-4 PBC)
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Pitchers: Ga. Southwestern St. - Zac Wittmus and Neal Chambless. Francis Marion Univ. -
Daniel Barfield; Jeremy Hatfield(9) and Nicholas McGee.
Win-Daniel Barfield(3-0)  Save-Jeremy Hatfield(1)  Loss-Zac Wittmus(0-4)  T-2:03  A-0
HR FMU - Dalton Gress 2 (3).
Weather: 58 degrees, cloudy