Princetondowns Goldsboro baseball
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on March 29, 2012 1:49 PM
Princeton jumped out to an early double-digit lead before Goldsboro mounted a rally.
In the end, the Bulldawgs' early cushion was enough as they collected a 15-5 win on the Carolina 1-A Conference baseball scene on Wednesday night.
Princeton scored two unearned runs in the first inning and added another in its second at-bat. However, the Dawgs did their worst damage in middle innings.
Blake Schultz reached on an error to lead off the third and was moved into scoring position when Tyler Craft walked. Anthony Martin plated both runners with a two-run double and scored when Jake Sullivan capped the rally with an RBI base hit that made the score 6-0.
"I was glad to see our guys come out tonight and hit the ball," Princeton assistant coach Russell Williamson said. "We have been struggling a little bit at the plate so it was big for us to get some confidence and get our first conference win."
The Dawgs added four runs in the fourth inning and one more in the fifth before Goldsboro came storming back.
Jarod Howard led off the home half of the fifth with a double before Adrian Super drew a walk. Isaiah Core and Cayce Herring both were hit by a pitch which forced in a run. A walk to Ronald Woody plated Super and a two-base error allowed two additional Cougar runs.
Woody scored on a fielder's choice to cap the five-run outburst.
"I told the guys let's just get a run so we can keep playing," Goldsboro head coach Jackson Massey said. "We scratched one across and all of the sudden that one turned into five."
Princeton put the game away in the top of the sixth with two additional runs. JD Howard reached on an error and later scored on a wild pitch. Sullivan drew a walk, stole second and third base, and raced home on a fielder's choice to make the score 13-5.
"We let that one inning kind of get away from us with the error and the hit batters," Williamson said. "But our kids didn't get their heads down and they went right back out and hit the ball in the sixth."
Princeton (3-9 overall, 1-3 CC) will enjoy a long layoff before playing host to the annual Deacon Jones Invitational over Easter break. Goldsboro (0-8, 0-3) entertains Spring Creek on April 4.