FLORENCE, SC – A two-out, three-run rally in the bottom of the first inning jump-started Francis Marion University to a 6-3 win over the University of Mount Olive, Friday night (April 8) in Conference Carolinas baseball action.
 
FMU won its fifth straight game to improve to 22-12 overall and took sole possession of fourth place in the conference standings with an 11-8 mark.  UMO drops to 20-14 and 10-9.
 
The two teams will conclude their three-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. on Cormell Field at Sparrow Stadium.
 
Graduate student second baseman Tanner Wakefield continued his hot hitting with a 3-for-4 night.  He extended his hitting streak to 18-game hitting streak, during which he has registered 14 multi-hit games, including three-hit games in six of his last nine outings.
 
Graduate student first baseman Darius Nobles had a pair of hits, scored once, and drove in one run, while graduate student left fielder Lex Tuten had an RBI-single and three walks. Six different Patriots recorded a run batted in.
 
Sophomore right-hander Halton Hardy (4-1) earned the win with six innings of work. He allowed only one earned run on five hits, while walking two and striking out five.  Senior righty Reece Kleinhelter pitched the final three innings, including ending the game with the bases loaded, to earn his second save of 2022.
 
The first-inning outburst began with senior third baseman Todd Mattox drawing a two-out walk.  That extended his streak of safely reaching base to 77 games, 11 shy of the NCAA Division II record.  Senior designated hitter Leniel Gonzalez followed with a run-scoring double down the left field line.  Nobles plated Gonzalez with an RBI-single to right, and after a Wakefield base hit, Tuten drove in the third run with a single to right.
 
In the fourth frame, the lead expanded to 5-0 as senior center fielder Bill Hanna registered an RBI ground out and senior right fielder Will Hardee drilled an RBI-double to right field.
 
The two teams traded runs in the fifth inning.  Francis Marion's tally came home on junior catcher Isaac Schuck's two-out run-scoring single through the right side.
 
A pair of sacrifice flies by Cooper George and Vito Patierno in the sixth and seventh innings respectively trimmed the margin to 6-3.
 
The Trojans stranded a runner in scoring position in the eighth, and left the bases loaded in the ninth as Mattox caught a foul pop-up for the final out
 
Hardee and junior shortstop Naphis Llanos both extended their hitting streaks to 12 and 10 games respectively.

 
 
Francis Marion Univ. 6, Univ. of Mount Olive 3 (Apr 08, 2022 at Florence, SC)
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Univ. of Mount Olive  000 011 100  -  3  8  0      (20-14, 10-9 CC)
Francis Marion Univ. 300 210 00X  -  6 10  2      (22-12, 11-8 CC)
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Pitchers: Univ. of Mount Olive – Joe Barberio; Jay McKenzie(5); Cole Newgaard(6); Trey Deutsch(7) and Gordon Pihl. Francis Marion Univ. - Halton Hardy; Reece Kleinhelter(7) and Isaac Schuck.
Win-Halton Hardy (4-1)  Save-Reece Kleinhelter (2)  Loss-Joe Barberio (2-5)  T-2:53  A-133
Weather: cloudy, 67, 14 mph winds NE
 
GAME NOTES
» Tanner Wakefield compiled three base hits in the game for Francis Marion.
» Halton Hardy struck out five Trojans hitters.
» Francis Marion's highest scoring inning was the first, when it pushed three runs across.
» Francis Marion grabbed a 3-0 lead in the bottom half of the first and didn't surrender that lead for the remainder of the game.
» Halton Hardy put together six innings of two-run ball for the Patriots.
» The Patriots out-hit the Trojans at a 10-8 clip.
» Francis Marion went 4-for-9 (.444) with runners in scoring position.
» Francis Marion pitchers limited Mount Olive to just 2-for-14 (.143) with runners in scoring position.
» Francis Marion pitchers faced 42 Mount Olive hitters in the game, allowing six ground balls and 14 fly balls while striking out seven.
» The Patriots drew six walks from Mount Olive pitching.
» Lee Tuten led the Patriots at the plate, going 1-for-1 with an RBI.
» Mount Olive was led offensively by sophomore Alden Cottle, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
» Junior Cole Newgaard led the Trojans pitching staff, throwing 1.1 scoreless innings.