FLORENCE, SC – Junior outfielder Noah Stout came off the bench to homer twice and drive in six runs, including a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the 13th inning, to give Francis Marion University an 11-9 win over 12th-ranked Newberry College, Friday evening (Feb. 2) in the season opener for both baseball squads.
 
The two teams will continue the Pepsi Opening Series with a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, again at FMU's Cormell Field at Sparrow Stadium.
 
Stout, senior outfielders Zack Summerville and Alex Elliott, junior outfielder Tanner Cannon, and junior shortstop Peyton Wilson led FMU at the plate with two hits apiece as the Patriots outhit the Wolves 16-12.  The marathon game lasted four hours and five minutes.
 
Stout's hit came on the first pitch he saw from Newberry reliever Keillor Osbon (0-1) and sailed high over the right field wall, scoring sophomore catcher Hunter Looper, who led off the inning with a double.
 
The Patriots had rallied from five runs down in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings.
 
Summerville tied the game at 2-2 with a two-out, two-run double in the third inning.  The Patriots took a 3-2 lead in the sixth when senior third baseman Blake Falor walked with the bases loaded.
 
Newberry rallied from the one-run deficit by scoring six unanswered runs over the next three innings to lead 8-3 heading to the bottom of the ninth.  In the bottom of the frame, Stout lined a three-run pinch-hit homer just inside the left field foul pole to trim the margin to 8-6.  Wilson followed with a single through the left side forcing a pitching change by Newberry with still no outs in the inning.
 
Summerville then lined a pitch off Osbon's foot putting runners on the corners with no outs.  Junior first baseman Aidan Bisbano plated Wilson with a fielder's choice grounder. On the next pitch, a balk was called on Osbon sending Bisbano into scoring position with the tying run.  After a foul out, Cannon dribbled an RBI single through the right side to tie the score at 8-8.
 
In the top of the 10th, Newberry's Jomar Lugo laced an RBI-single up the middle to give Newberry a short-lived 9-8 advantage, but FMU sophomore second baseman Jake Hardee scored all the way from second base on a fielder's choice grounder by Stout in the bottom of the fame to again knot the score (9-9).
 
FMU reliever Jack Hegan left the bases loaded in the top of the 11th, but the Patriots were retired in order in the bottom of the frame.  Neither team scored in the 12th inning.
 
In the 13th frame, Cannon ended the top half by throwing out a Newberry runner trying to advance on a fly out.  That set the stage for Stout's heroics in the bottom half.
 
Senior righty Brennan Murphy (1-0) tossed two scoreless frames to earn the win.  He was the final of eight Patriot hurlers to visit the mound.
 
Third baseman Jesse Free led the Wolves with three hits, while Lugo drove in three runs.

 
 
Francis Marion Univ. 11, Newberry College 9 (Feb 02, 2024 at Florence, SC)
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Newberry College.... 101 000 213 100 0 -  9 12  1      (0-1)
Francis Marion Univ. 002 001 005 100 2 - 11 16  3      (1-0)
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Pitchers: Newberry College - Tyler Chinpire; Colm O'Shea(6); Keillor Osbon(9) and Rhett Jolly.
Francis Marion Univ. - Chas DeBruhl; Josh Adams(5); Tyson Hall(7); Dylan Wiegel(7);
Parker Henderson(8); Braxton Elms IV(9); Jack Hegan(10); Brennan Murphy(12) and Nick LaVigne; Hunter Looper.
Win-Brennan Murphy (1-0)  Loss-Keillor Osbon (0-1)  T-4:05  A-233
HR FMU - Noah Stout 2.
Weather: Fair,69,Winds E@5 mph
DeBruhl faced 1 batter in the 5th.
C. O'Shea faced 4 batters in the 9th.