ROME, GA – Francis Marion University scored seven runs with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to rally for an improbable 13-9 road win over Shorter University, Friday afternoon (March 28) in Conference Carolinas baseball action.
 
Francis Marion captures its fifth consecutive win and improves to 24-9 overall and 13-6 league play, momentarily taking sole possession of second place.  The two teams will conclude their weekend series with a doubleheader on Saturday at noon.
 
Senior second baseman Owen Taylor and senior shortstop Rayth Petersen both collected three hits to pace FMU.  The bottom third of the Patriot line-up contributed six hits and six RBIs as senior right fielder Austin Bunn, junior catcher Dariel Villaran Goundis and junior third baseman Jimmy Koza each went 2-for-4.
 
Francis Marion trailed 9-6 entering the ninth.  The Patriots loaded the bases with one out.  Senior Caleb Oakley hit a sacrifice fly to right field to trim the lead to 9-7, but there were now two outs.  It was Francis Marion's 28th sacrifice fly of the season, which leads the country.
 
The two remaining runners on base both moved up one base on a balk by lefty Tanner Folds (3-3).  Senior designated hitter Noah Stout lined a 2-run single up the middle to knot the game at 9-9.  Bunn then walked to put runners on first and second.  Freshman outfielder Adrian Nina followed with a ground ball to third, but the throw to first was wild allowing Stout and Bunn to cross home, and then when the return throw to the infield was wild to third, Nina came all the way around to score. 
 
Koza also walked, stole second, and then stole third and scored when the catcher's throw to third was wild to account for the final run of the inning.
 
Senior southpaw Rijnaldo Euson came in to pitch a perfect three-up, three-down bottom of the ninth to secure the victory.  Senior right-hander Danny Leo (2-0) was credited with the win as he pitched 1.1 scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
 
Bunn gifted FMU a 2-0 advantage with a line-drive two-run homer over the left field wall in the top of the second.  The Hawks answered with an RBI-double by Griffin Clark in the bottom half of the frame to cut the deficit in half.
 
Villaran Goundis restored the two-run margin with a one-out run-scoring single through the right side in the fourth inning.   Koza followed with his first homer as a Patriot, a three-run shot to left, that upped the margin to 6-1.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, Shorter rallied to tie the game at 6-6 thanks to a grand slam by outfielder Will Fincher.  A failed pick-off attempt in the bottom of the fifth help lead to a pair of runs as the Hawks overtook FMU for an 8-6 lead.
 
Shorter (19-12, 8-8) added what seemed to be an insurance run in the seventh to lead 9-6 before the late FMU rally.