Mt Olive, NC (April 6, 2021) - Early on in this one, Virginia State University (3-6) proved to be ready to take on their ranked opponent as the Trojans came out swinging.
Cecil Henderson would landed the first blow in this one as he would come around to score from second, thanks to a hard hit single through to left side off the bat of the RBI machine that is,
Joshua Tayman. This would make the score 1-0 heading into the bottom of the first inning.
The University of Mt. Olive University (25-6), showed why they are one of the most disciplined teams in the nation as Vito Patiero and Joe Mason drew consecutive walks and would eventually advance on a wild pitch. Gunner Tolson put one deep enough in left center field to allow Mason to tag up from third to make the score 1-1 at the end of the first inning.
VSU would continue to swing a hot bat at the top of the second inning as
Darius Holeman and
Tayvon Dawson collected back - to - back singles with one out.
Carl Granderson would then take advantage of the RBI opportunity with a single down the left field line that would make the score 2-1. This would force the UMO pitching staff to go to the bullpen early which proved to be effective as Virginia State would not see another run in the game. VSU would leave three on base to end the top of the second inning.
UMO would take the take the lead 2-4 in the bottom half of the second frame as Blake McLean would take advantage of having runners in scoring position with his single through the right side that would score the runners from second and third base. McLean would later score thanks to a double hit by Mason.
Mt. Olive scored two runs over the third and fourth innings thanks to a single by way of Zack Smith and a sacrifice fly ball from McLean that would stretch the UMO lead out to 2-6 heading in to the top of the fifth inning.
The bottom of the fifth inning is when the home team found their stride as Stephen Baughman hit a two - run homer into left field that would push the lead out to 2-8. The Mt. Olive Trojans would capitalize on a couple mistakes from VSU as they were able to score off of a wild pitch and a bases loaded walk to make the score 2-10 headed into the top of the sixth inning.
Over the next three innings, Mt. Olive would go on to score seven unanswered runs that would make the final score 2-17.
Securing the win for Mt.Olive was Justin Koehler as he put Virginia State's hot bats on ice allowing no hits and striking out four in 2.1 innings of work. VSU got almost all their work done against Blake Gipson as they earned four hits against him before he was relieved at the top of the second inning. When Gipson left, VSU would only see one hit for the rest of the game. UMO's bullpen would strike out 10 while walking six in the contest.
Jeremiah Hardy took the L on the mound yesterday as he allowed seven hits and walked three in four innings of work.
Top Performers
Tayvon Dawson: 2-3
Carl Granderson: 1-2 RBI
Joshua Taymman: 1-3 RBI, Walk
Darius Holeman: 1-3 Run, Walk
Up Next
The Trojans will be back at home, Tuesday, April 13 in a mid - week against Barton College at 1 p.m.
Next Five Opponents
- April 13th vs. Barton College
- April 17th vs. Salem International (DH)
- April 18th vs. Salem International (DH)
- April 25th at Salem International (DH)
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