Trojans stay hot; sweep Chowan

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on March 22, 2007 2:47 PM

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MURFREESBORO -- Phillip Pennington allowed only two hits in six scoreless innings and Patrick Ball recorded his fourth save of the season as nationally 20th-ranked Mount Olive defeated Chowan 3-0 in game one of a non-conference baseball doubleheader Wednesday.

The Trojans completed the sweep and extended their winning streak to nine with a come-from-behind 9-7 victory in the nightcap. Josh Carter's two-run single ignited a three-run seventh inning and put the Trojans ahead to stay.

Mount Olive (27-8) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning of game one as Stephen Nordan scored on a double steal and Dustin Richardson singled in a run.

That would be all the runs Pennington (3-1) would need as he retired the first six batters he faced and held Chowan (16-13) hitless until allowing back-to-back singles with two outs in the fifth inning. Pennington got out of the inning on a force out and retired the side in order in the sixth. He struck out five and walked two.

Ball allowed a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh, but clinched the save on a game-ending 5-4-3 double play.

Nordan, David Cooper and Scott Houin collected two hits apiece for the Trojans. Houin had an RBI-single in the fourth.

Chowan freshman starter Spencer Fagan (2-2) went the distance for the Hawks.

In game two, Chowan jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead as Mike Kellett's two-run double highlighted a four-run first inning.

The Trojans pulled within a run in the top of the second as Graham Wooten, Anthony Williams and Cooper all connected on RBI singles. Nate Mitchell led off the bottom of the second with a home run to extend Chowan's lead to 5-3.

Mount Olive tied the game in the third as Carter singled with two outs and Jason Sherrer followed with his third home run of the season. The Trojans took their first lead of the game in the fourth as Nordan hit a leadoff double, went to third on Houin's single and came home on Richardson's sacrifice fly to make the score 6-5.

Casey Hodges (2-1) entered the game in relief of Trojan starter Ted Pelech to start the top of the third and retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced before Chowan struck for two runs in the sixth. Pinch-runner Brian Estes scored off a throwing error on a stolen base attempt and Mitchell doubled in the go-ahead run to put the Hawks back on top 7-6.

Mount Olive answered in the top of the seventh, putting runners on second and third with nobody out. Richardson led off with a double and advanced to third on a single by Erik Lovett, who went to second on the throw. Both runners came home on Carter's single to center as the Trojans regained the lead 8-7. Pinch-runner Jackson Massey scored an insurance run on a single by Williams.

Hodges allowed a baserunner with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but stuck out the final two batters to end the game. Hodges, who had an 11-strikeout performance last week and was named Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference Player of the Week, finished with six strikeouts and no walks while allowing four hits.

Mount Olive returns to action this weekend as the Trojans travel to Wilson to face Barton in a three-game CVAC series. The two teams play a doubleheader Saturday and conclude the series with a single game Sunday.