MOC baseball completes sweep of Barton

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on March 2, 2004 1:56 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Matt Johnson's two-run double in the bottom of the fifth broke an 8-8 tie and Jason Sharp pitched four scoreless innings in relief as host Mount Olive defeated Barton 12-8 in Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference baseball Monday at Scarborough Field.

The win gives the Trojans a three-game sweep over Barton.

Mount Olive (13-4 overall, 4-2 CVAC) rallied from an early two-run deficit as Craig Hurba's two-run homer in the bottom of the first tied the game 2-2 and Johnson's second-inning RBI double, the first of his two doubles on the day, ignited a five-run second inning as the Trojans took a 7-2 lead.

Barton (5-9, 3-3) tied the game 7-7 with five runs in the top of the third, four coming on a grand slam home run by Dennis Blackmon, who also doubled home a run in the first for a five-RBI game.

Dustin Richardson broke the tie on the first pitch of the bottom of the third with a towering home run to left field.Barton tied the game again in the top of the fifth when Kevin Brosseau drew a two-out walk and scored on Travis Holloman's triple to left.

Nick Paniccia singled to lead off the bottom of the fifth for Mount Olive and Mike Mafucci reached on an infield single off Barton pitcher Glenn Jones. Richardson, who homered in his previous at-bat, executed a sacrifice bunt down the first base line to advance the runners. Johnson followed with a double to left-center to plate both runners and put the Trojans ahead to stay at 10-8.

Sharp entered the game in the top of the sixth in relief of Brett Williams (2-0), who allowed one run and two hits in 22Ú3 innings of relief. Sharp allowed only one hit in four innings to earn his second save of the year. Jones was the losing pitcher for Barton.

The three-game series, originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, had to be pushed back a day due to last week's snowstorm. Monday's win extends Mount Olive's winning streak to four.

Mount Olive travels to Florence, S.C., today to begin a two-game non-conference series against Francis Marion, ranked No. 28 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's NCAA Division II Poll. The two teams will play single games Tuesday and Wednesday. Starting time for both games is 2 p.m.

Barton plays host to Bloomfield Thursday at noon in a non-conference doubleheader.

Barton 205 010 000 -- 8 13 1

Mount Olive 251 021 01x -- 12 16 1

Leading hitters -- Barton -- Dennis Blackmon 3-5, double, triple, five RBI; Eric McInerny 2-5; Rufus Wilson 2-5, double. Mount Olive -- Allen Thomas 3-5, RBI; Stephen Nordan 2-5, RBI; Craig Hurba 3-1, double, home run, 3 RBI; Stevie Parrish 2-5, double; Nick Paniccia 1-3, RBI; Mike Maffucci 2-3, double; Matt Johnson 2-4, 2 doubles, 3 RBI.

IP H R ER B SO

Barton

Will Tyson 11Ú3 7 7 6 0 0

Glenn Jones (L) 32Ú3 5 3 3 1 1

Matt Wingo 21Ú3 4 2 2 2 0

Jason Evans 2Ú3 0 0 0 0 1

Mount Olive

Josh Clow 21Ú3 8 7 7 1 1

Brett Williams (W) 22Ú3 4 1 1 2 1

Jason Sharp (S) 4 1 0 0 1 1