Sherrer's double lifts Mount Olive

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on March 13, 2008 1:48 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- With Mount Olive's 22-game winning streak and No. 1 national ranking hanging in the balance, Jason Sherrer delivered at the right time Wednesday afternoon.

Sherrer supplied a walk-off, two-RBI double in the bottom of the seventh as the Trojans claimed a come-from-behind, 5-4 victory over Bryant (R.I.) at Scarborough Field. Mount Olive (25-1 overall) took the opener 12-4 and with the doubleheader sweep, extended its winning streak to 23 games.

After reliever Eric Polvani entered in the bottom of the sixth and retired Mount Olive in order, the Bulldogs elected to use closer Adam Vuolo in the seventh.

Vuolo, who had two saves entering the game, couldn't preserve Bryant's 4-2 lead

Shortstop David Cooper started the seventh-inning rally with a single to left. Alex Vertcnik and Josh Harrison both reached to load the bases and Erik Lovett's single plated Cooper to cut the deficit to 4-3.

Sherrer followed with a blast to left center that brought Vertcnik and Harrison around to score, and sent the Trojans dugout spilling out onto the field.

"I knew we were going to win with the guys we have," Sherrer said. "It all started with the first three hits. It wasn't just me winning it. This was one game where we had to battle all the way through the last inning."

Bryant (8-5) used a single and a Mount Olive error to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. The Trojans answered as Rich Racobaldo was a hit by a pitch with the bases loaded scoring Vertcnik from third.

The Bulldogs pushed across two more runs in the third for a 3-1 lead. Josh Harrison's solo homer in the bottom of the third brought Mount Olive back within 3-2. Taylor Ferguson's fifth-inning groundout gave the Bulldogs a 4-2 lead.

Jesse Lancaster got the start for the Trojans and allowed four runs (two earned) on four hits with one strikeout and no walks in 51/3 innings. Patrick Ball earned the win, tossing 12/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Cooper, Harrison, Lovett and Sherrer each had a pair of hits in game two.

"I didn't think we would see a new arm in the seventh, but I'm glad we did," Mount Olive head coach Carl Lancaster said. "We just don't want to lose. It has nothing to do with how many we've won straight or where we are in the polls. That was really good for us. We were defeated and we took it right away from them."

Hitting home runs seemed like the 'in' thing to do in game one for the Trojans who belted four out of the park and tallied 14 hits.

Sherrer hammered a pair of three-run homers and finished the day 4-for-6 with eight RBI and two runs scored.

"The whole day guys were in scoring position and I just had a chance to bring them in," Sherrer said. "I was just trying to drive some runs across and I got lucky today with two home runs."

Lancaster and Lovett ripped home runs in the opener. Kyle Jones got the win in relief of starter Weston Curles.

The teams conclude their three-game series today. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.