FLORENCE, SC – Senior right-handed closer Jeffrey Stoner was near-perfect in a 3.1-inning stint that allowed Francis Marion University to capture a 10-3 win over Young Harris College, Thursday  evening (May 1) in Peach Belt Conference baseball action.  The victory assures the Patriots of a berth in the conference tournament, May 10-11 in Aiken.

Francis Marion improves to 26-20 overall and 11-16 in the PBC with its fourth win in its last five outings.  Young Harris sees its overall record fall to .500 at 24-24, while its conference mark drops to 12-16.  The two squads will conclude their three-game series with a doubleheader on Friday afternoon at 2 pm on Cormell Field at Sparrow Stadium.

Stoner entered the game with two outs and two Young Harris runners on base in top the sixth inning and the Patriots clinging to a 5-3 lead. He retired 10 of the 11 batters he faced, including six by strikeout to earn his seventh save of the season.  The only batter to reach against him was when Stoner himself threw wildly to first on a come-backer to the mound in the eighth inning.

FMU junior righty Jordy Santak (5-5) earned the win with five innings of work.  He allowed the three runs (two earned) on four hits while fanning three and not issuing any walks.

Right fielder Zac Lenns, shortstop Michael Wilson, third baseman Luke Tollison, and designated hitter Casey Gebhardt all recorded two hits apiece for the Patriots.  Wilson and Tollison each drove in two runs.

Mountain Lion southpaw Justin Cooper (4-6) took the loss as he allowed eight runs, although only three were earned as Young Harris committed six errors in the field.

Sophomore second baseman Cole Morris plated the Patriots' first run in the second inning on an RBI fielder's choice grounder to first.  The margin grew to 5-0 in the fourth as Lenns and Wilson delivered run-scoring hits, one run scored on a throwing error, and another scored on a wild pitch.

The Mountain Lions scored once in the fifth and twice in the sixth to draw within 5-3 before Stoner entered the contest.

Designated hitter Jack Morrow (2-for-4) was the only Young Harris player with multiple hits. One of his safeties was a 355-foot solo home run, his 10th of the year, over the left field wall.

Following Stoner's entrance into the game, FMU answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth, including a two-run single through the right side by Tollison.  FMU added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth.