Trojans sweep Saturday DH from Le Moyne

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on February 18, 2013 1:47 PM

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By ANDREW STEVENS

News-Argus Sports Writer

MOUNT OLIVE -- Carl Lancaster has enjoyed numerous milestone moments during his tenure as head baseball coach at Mount Olive College.

Saturday ranks toward the top of the list.

The No. 1-ranked Trojans swept a doubleheader from 24th-ranked Le Moyne at Scarborough Field as Lancaster reached the 900-win plateau.

"It is kind of exciting to get 900," Lancaster said. "That's pretty awesome. Not everybody gets to stay in the game that long to see that many games. I give all the credit to the kids that have been through here over the years.

"It is very fulfilling to get 900 wins."

Luke Berry's two-out, walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted Mount Olive to a 7-6 win in game one. The Trojans won game two 6-0 behind a complete-game shutout from sophomore left-hander Alex Regan.

In the opener, the Dolphins picked up a run in the top of the first as Matthew Ciraco singled and later scored on a wild pitch.

Jermaine Berry and Daniel Oliver each delivered RBI singles in the bottom of the fourth to put the Trojans in front 2-1. Will Bynum followed with a two-run double that extended the lead to 4-1.

Le Moyne added a single run in the top of the fifth inning. The Dolphins tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the seventh on Ryan Mahoney's run-scoring groundout and a wild pitch.

Oliver's two-run homer to left field in the home half of the seventh gave Mount Olive the lead  at 6-4.

Le Moyne pulled to within 6-5 on Pat Wise's RBI groundout in the top of the eighth. Matthew Ciraco's RBI single tied the game at 6-6.

The Dolphins threatened in the top of the ninth inning with a runner on third and no outs. Trojans' reliever Chris Orphanos retired three straight batters to work out of trouble.

"Orphanos is throwing really good," Lancaster said. "They got a runner on third with two outs and finally we said, 'the heck with it we're going with the fastball.'  That was big for us to go into the bottom of the ninth tied instead of down one."

The Trojans (9-0 overall) jumped on top 1-0 in the bottom of the third inning of game two on Zak Orrison's run-scoring ground out. Berry tacked on an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth inning and Oliver followed with a sacrifice fly.

Matt Patrone supplied a sac fly in the home half of the fifth to increase Mount Olive's lead to 4-0. Geno Escalante hit a solo home run to right field in the bottom of the sixth inning and the Trojans added another run on a bases-loaded walk.

Mount Olive finished the day with 15 hits.