UMO baseball completes sweep of Barton

By UMO Sports Information
Published in Sports on April 5, 2014 11:47 PM

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UMO Sports Information

WILSON -- The streak continues.

No. 27-ranked University of Mount Olive plated 31 runs during 16 innings of action handed and completed a three-game sweep of in-state Conference Carolinas archrival Barton College at Nixon Field on Saturday afternoon.

Jay Gonzalez homered, drove in two runs and finished with four hits in the Trojans' 9-1 decision earlier Saturday afternoon. Rob Shipman's two-RBI homer put UMO ahead to stay in the nightcap, which turned in a 22-2 thrashing and gave the Trojans their 19th consecutive win over the Bulldogs since 2009.

UMO won Friday's game, 11-5.

Twelve Barton pitchers combine to give up 49 hits, including six home runs, during the three-game series. The Trojans (28-11 overall, 13-2 CC) scored in 15 of 25 innings, including a 13-run outburst in the top of the ninth in game three.

Kodi Whitley, Derek Justice and Gunner Kines each emerged victorious on the bump for UMO. Whitley (4-1) surrendered two earned runs on seven hits and fanned two Bulldog batters in a seven-inning stint on Friday. Josh Frederick and Deshorn Lake combined for two innings of four-hit relief.

Justice (6-1) threw a complete-game seven-hitter in Saturday's opener. The right-hander surrendered a home run on seven hits and logged four strikeouts.

Kines (6-1) worked 5 1/3 innings in the final game of the series. He permitted two earned runs on seven hits and logged five strikeouts. Brody McDonald and Zach Bernard combined for 2 2/3 innings of one-hit, three-strikeout relief.

Gonzalez's fourth-inning HR helped solidify the victory in game two. Gonzalez batted 7-for-15 with five RBI in the three-game set. Teammate Bradon Reitano went 7-for-14 with five RBI.

Reitano and Shipman each went yard in game one. Reitano, Gonzalez and Chase Edwards each belted a home run in game three. Edwards concluded the series 5-for-14 with five RBI.

Mount Olive wraps up its nine-game road swing with a doubleheader at Wingate on Tuesday. The Trojans play their final home Conference Carolinas series April 11-12 against in-state rival Belmont Abbey.

Virginia State visits UMO on April 14 and the Trojans conclude regular-season play with a three-game conference series at North Greenville (S.C.) University on April 18-19.