Trojans baseball faces Wingate

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on February 18, 2004 1:55 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- While most of us were eating lunch today, the Mount Olive College baseball team was taking the field for a noon doubleheader in some mid-week matinee action.

The Trojans headed to Wingate this morning for a non-conference doubleheader at Wingate University. The forecast was for sunny skies, a welcome change from the rain that canceled two of the Trojans' three scheduled games this past weekend.

Mount Olive (6-2) extended its winning streak to four Sunday with a 7-4 victory over No. 20 Shippensburg. Matt Johnson's three-run homer, his second round tripper of the year, capped a five-run first inning for the Trojans. Brian Corbett pitched four scoreless innings of one-hit ball in relief for the win. Corbett was named Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week.

The Trojans currently have four starters hitting .400 or better, including two hitting at or above the .500 mark. Stephen Nordan is batting .563 (9-for-16), while Nick Paniccia is hitting exactly .500 (11-for-22). Craig Hurba is at .455 (10-for-22) and leadoff batter Alan Thomas is hitting .429 (12-for-28). As a team, the Trojans are hitting .339 and have outscored their opponents 57-36.

On the mound, five different pitchers have recorded wins, led by Ricky Duck at 2-0. Steve Wesley leads the team with a 1.08 earned run average, followed by Josh Clow at 2.57.

Wingate (2-5) is coming off a 21-11 victory over Newberry Friday. Wingate, which split a doubleheader with nationally fifth-ranked Florida Southern two weeks ago, had all four of its games rained out over the weekend.

Today's doubleheader marks Mount Olive's fourth opponent from the South Atlantic Conference. The Trojans have a 5-2 record against SAC teams this season.