GASTONIA, NC – Ninth-seeded Francis Marion University fell to Erskine College 12-2 in the "play-in" round of Conference Carolinas Baseball Tournament on Wednesday (May 1) afternoon.
FMU junior right fielder
Tanner Cannon registered one hit and the lone RBI for Francis Marion, while sophomore left fielder
Caleb Oakley, senior centerfielder
Zack Summerville, and junior second baseman and Darlington native
Owen Taylor also recorded one hit.
After a scoreless half inning from FMU, Erskine was the first to get on the board as catcher Daniel Hernandez drove in a two-out run for a 1-0 lead.
Taylor began the second inning with a base hit to right field and advanced to second as Erskine starter Joe Alegre (5-3) threw a wild pitch. Senior first baseman
Kollin Crepeau followed with a groundout to second that gave Taylor enough time to move to third. The following batter, Cannon, singled through the left side to score Taylor and tie the game at 1-1.
Innings three, four, and five went scoreless for both teams, as Alegre and Patriot junior right-hander
Josh Adams matched zeros. Adams allowed just the one run on two hits with a strikeout in his five innings of work.
Erskine (27-24) loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth inning after senior righty
Danny Leo (1-3) relieved Adams. The Flying Fleet plated two runs on a sacrifice by Hernandez and a squeeze bunt by shortstop Tyler Smith to take a 3-1 lead before being retired on a double play by FMU.
Erskine's Adrian Rolon hit his fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot, to ignite a four-run seventh as the margin grew to 7-1.
Leading off the top of the eighth inning, Oakley drove a shot into left field for a base hit. Summerville, a second-team All-Conference selection, advanced Oakley to third base with a single to center field. Oakley then cross home on a double play grounder to trim the deficit to five runs.
However, a five-run outburst from Erskine in the bottom of the eighth frame activated the 10-run run-rule, and advanced the Flying Fleet to the double-elimination portion of the tournament tomorrow.
Alegre finished with six strikeouts in his six innings of work.
Francis Marion finishes its season 18-30.
Erskine 12, Francis Marion 2 (May 01, 2024 at Gastonia, NC)
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Francis Marion...... 010 000 01 - 2 4 1 (18-30)
Erskine................. 100 002 45 - 12 12 1 (27-24)
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Pitchers: Francis Marion -
Josh Adams;
Danny Leo(6);
Dylan Wiegel(7);
Connor Kirkley(7);
Jack Hegan(7);
Malik Frails(8);
Tyson Hall(8) and
Hunter Looper. Erskine - Joe Alegre;
Jared Guell(7) and David Hernandez.
Win-Joe Alegre(5-3) Loss-
Danny Leo(1-3) T-2:32 A-50
HR ECBSB24 - Ben Maskin (8); Adrian Rolon (4).
Weather: 77, clear, wind NNE 5 mph
Leo faced 1 batter in the 7th. Frails faced 4 batters in the 8th. Hall faced 1 batter in the 8th.
