FLORENCE, SC – Senior designated hitter Leniel Gonzalez delivered a run-scoring field's choice line drive to left field in the bottom of the ninth to give Francis Marion University a 1-0 win over Belmont Abbey College, Friday evening (Feb. 18) in the Patriots' inaugural Conference Carolinas baseball game.
 
Francis Marion (6-1, 1-0) and Belmont Abbey (7-3, 0-1) will conclude their weekend series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.  Admission to the twinbill in the Griffin Athletic Complex is free on Saturday.
 
Sophomore Halton Hardy (2-0) earned the complete-game win for Francis Marion. The right-hander from Athens, Ga., went nine shutout innings, throwing only 95 pitches, giving up nine hits, one walk and striking out six.
 
FMU did not place a runner in scoring position until the ninth, and that was the first frame that saw multiple Patriots reach base.  Senior center fielder Bill Hanna led off the decisive frame with a double just inside the third base bag.  Senior right fielder Will Hardee was walked intentionally and senior left fielder Lex Tuten moved both runners up a base with a sacrifice bunt. 
 
Senior third baseman Todd Mattox was walked intentionally to load the bases with one out.  That extended his consecutive games streak of safely reaching base to 50 games, although his hitting streak was snapped at 18.  Gonzalez then stepped to the plate and rifled an 0-2 pitch into left field to plate Hanna with the winning run.  On the play, Mattox was ruled out for not touching second base and thus the fielder's choice instead of a base hit to end the contest.
 
The Patriots were held to four hits: the double by Hanna and singles by Hardee, senior second baseman Tanner Wakefield, and junior shortstop Naphis Llanos.
 
Tuten aided in the shutout win as he threw out the go-ahead run at home plate to end the top of the ninth following a two-out single.
 
Hardy stranded Belmont Abbey runners at first and third in the top of the second with an inning-ending strikeout.  Another strikeout ended the fourth with runners on first and second.  The Patriot defensive backed Hardy with two double plays.
 
Belmont Abbey junior righty Jason White (3-1) was the hard-luck loser as he allowed only the four hits, fanned four, and issued two walks.  Sean Johnson and Connor Tucker led Belmont Abbey with two hits apiece.
 
GAME NOTES
» Hardy tossed a nine-hit shutout for the Patriots.
» Hardy struck out six Crusaders hitters.
» Francis Marion's highest scoring inning was the ninth, when it pushed one run across.
» Hardy put together nine innings of scoreless ball for the Patriots.
» Francis Marion pitchers faced 34 Belmont Abbey hitters in the game, allowing 10 ground balls and eight fly balls while striking out six.
» Hanna led the Patriots at the plate, going 1-for-3 with a double.
» Belmont Abbey was led offensively by senior Sean Johnson, who went 2-for-4.
» Junior Jason White led the Crusaders pitching staff, throwing 8.2 innings of one-run ball.
 
Francis Marion Univ. 1, Belmont Abbey Coll. 0 (Feb 18, 2022 at Florence, SC)
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Belmont Abbey Coll.. 000 000 000  -  0  9  0      (7-3, 0-1 CC)
Francis Marion Univ. 000 000 001  -  1  4  0      (6-1, 1-0 CC)
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Pitchers: Belmont Abbey Coll. - Jason White and Zach Aehlert; Avery Short.
Francis Marion Univ. - Halton Hardy and Isaac Schuck.
Win-Halton Hardy(2-0)  Loss-Jason White(3-1)  T-1:59  A-127
Weather: sunny, 77, 16 mph winds east