No. 5-ranked Trojans split twinbill with Francis Marion
By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on March 31, 2010 1:46 PM
FMU
Sports Information
FLORENCE, S.C. -- Senior right-hander Barrett Kleinknecht moved from shortstop to the mound and tossed a complete-game, three-hitter as No. 14-ranked Francis Marion shut out No. 5-ranked Mount Olive 4-0 in the second game of a baseball doubleheader Tuesday afternoon.
Trojan southpaw Curtis Hudson threw a six-hitter as MOC took the opener, 4-0.
Kleinknecht (2-0) threw 93 pitches in just his second-ever start for the Patriots. He walked three and fanned three Trojans, who endured their first shutout in 152 games since the 2007 NCAA South Atlantic Regional.
The Patriots scored twice in the second inning on an RBI double to deep center field by catcher Logan Bland and a run-scoring single through the right side by second baseman Josh Biggers.
The margin was augmented by single runs in the third and fourth innings.
First baseman Preston Shuey drove in the third run with an RBI-double to deep center field and senior right fielder Alex Lee plated the final run with an RBI-single to center.
Left-hander Craig Beasley (1-1), the first of five Mount Olive pitchers, allowed FMU's first two tallies.
The Patriots were blanked themselves for the first time in nearly two seasons by Hudson (5-1) in game one. He needed only 83 pitches as he struck out two and issued only one base-on-balls.
FMU senior righty Zane Petty (1-2) allowed three runs in five innings.
Mount Olive (30-6 overall) scored three times in the fifth frame on an RBI single up the middle by second baseman Ryan Faison and a two-run single through the right side of the infield by left fielder Jesse Lancaster. The Trojans' advantage climbed to 4-0 when Airlon Vinson stole home in the top of the sixth inning.
Bobby Leeper, Jeremy Nowak, and Vinson all had two hits for the Trojans in game one. Vinson had one of the three hits in game two. However, Nowak was hitless in game two to end his 35-game hitting streak, the second-longest in NCAA Division II history to start a season and tied for 10th-longest overall in Division II history.
The Trojans return to action Friday and Saturday for a three-game, Conference Carolinas series at Limestone (S.C.). First pitch is noon for Friday's twinbill and noon for Saturday.