MOC baseball, softball sweep doubleheaders

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on April 5, 2009 2:00 AM

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Hartsville, S.C. -- Mount Olive's baseball team claimed a pair of wins on Saturday, defeating the Coker Cobras 14-3 in game one and 4-2 in game two. The wins improve the Trojans to 22-16 overall, and 8-6 in the conference, while Coker falls to 17-19 on the year and 4-11 in the conference.

Dominate pitching and hitting led to a 14-3 win for the Trojans of in game one. Mount Olive starter Ryan Williams held the Cobras hitless through his six innings of work, while striking out six and earning his second win of the season (2-2).

Helping Williams at the plate were all of the Trojans hitters, as they combined for 14 runs off 19 hits.

Leading the Trojans at the plate was Alex Vertcnik going a perfect 5-for-5 with a double, a triple, two RBIs and a run scored, while Kevin Kearney was 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored.

Game two was a pitchers duel, between Coker's Jesse Hatchell and Mount Olive's BJ Dail and Paul Novicki with the Trojans winning thanks to four runs in the first two innings.

Mount Olive plated four runs in the first two innings, before Hatchell (2-4) found his groove and shut the door, but it was Dail's (6-0) four innings of three hit baseball and Novicki's (1) three innings of one hit ball that led to the Trojan win. Dail earned his sixth win of the season, allowing just two runs on three hits with three strikeouts, while Novicki picked up his first save of the season with three innings of work with three strikeouts.

Coker and Mount Olive will complete their threegame series on Sunday; at 1:00 p.m. Coker will honor their nine seniors with a ceremony prior to the game.

Softball

MOUNT OLIVE -- Sarah Saunders tossed a five-hit shutout and recorded a collegiate-high eight strikeouts as Mount Olive posted a five-inning 8-0 win over Anderson in game of one of a Conference Carolinas softball doubleheader Saturday at Nancy Chapman Cassell Field. Saunders preserved the shutout and run-rule win with a strikeout with the bases loaded for the final out of the game.

The Trojans completed the sweep with a 5-2 victory in game two as Kat Cahoon went 3-for-3 and Morgan Whaley drove in three runs. Kristin Ware went the distance, retiring the final 11 batters she faced, including a three-pitch inning the fifth.

Mount Olive (19-16-1 overall, 9-5 Conference Carolinas) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on Jenny Jackson's two-run homer. Kat Cahoon reached on a one-out infield single and one out later, Jackson drove a pitch high over the left field fence for her fourth home run of the season and second in her last three games.

Saunders (5-5) struck out one batter in the first, two in the second and three in the third to match her previous collegiate high. She allowed only three hits through the first four innings.

Mount Olive took advantage of fielding miscues to score four unearned runs in the third inning. Jessica Velasquez led off with an infield single and advanced to third when Cahoon reached on an error on a sacrifice attempt. Both runners scored when Kelly Minshew's ground ball was thrown away. Minshew advanced to third on Whaley's bunt single and scored on Robbin Kennedy's sacrifice fly. Whaley came home on Katie Nalley's single to extend the lead to 6-0.

Mount Olive celebrates Senior Day today as the Trojans play host to Chowan in a non-conference doubleheader. Game time is 1 p.m. at Nancy Chapman Cassell Field.

Seniors Kat Cahoon, Jenny Jackson, Karen Thornton, Anna Turvin and Morgan Whaley will be honored prior to the start of game one.