UMO baseball team clinches 7th straight trip to NCAA D2 Southeast Regional

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on May 2, 2016 1:49 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

BURLINGTON -- Glory gold.

It's a timeless tradition at the University of Mount Olive.

Whenever the Trojan baseball team is playing with high stakes on the line, you can best bet they'll put out those vibrant jerseys that have proven to be good-luck charms over the years.

Sunday afternoon was no different.

Bruce Zimmerman tossed a brilliant eight innings as University of Mount Olive claimed the Conference Carolinas tournament championship -- and automatic Southeast Regional bid -- with a 10-5 conquest of Pfeiffer U at Burlington Athletic Park.

"I'm on top of the world," said Zimmerman, who threw opening-round eight-inning game against Belmont Abbey on Thursday and earned MVP honors. "I was not expecting (MVP). I'm humbled that I was chosen for that award. There were a bunch of my teammates who had outstanding performances all throughout the weekend."

The fourth-seeded Trojans (29-19 overall) launched their improbable title with run with back-to-back victories over Belmont Abbey (7-2) and archrival Barton (3-2).

Pfeiffer handed UMO an eye-opening 10-4 loss on Saturday evening.

"That humbled us," Trojans infielder Zak Orrison said. "That made us realize we had to get back to who we were -- a scrappy team that could put it on somebody every inning. We had to get back to our original roots."

Orrison and his teammates regained their swagger during an 8-6, elimination-round win over Belmont Abbey early Sunday afternoon.

Next came a rematch with Pfeiffer.

And Zimmerman knew he'd get the call from the bullpen.

Working on three days rest, the junior Division I transfer from Towson University warmed up on the rubber and felt like it was opening day of the season.

Against Belmont Abbey, Zimmerman employed a biting slider that silenced the Crusaders. His strategy changed against sixth-seeded Pfeiffer, an aggressive-minded team that had the capability to explode.

Zimmerman, for the first five innings, painted the corners with his fastball that moved in and outside against Pfeiffer's hitters. His changeup induced several soft ground balls and an occasional harmless seeing-eye single.

"I was able to throw the change-up to the right-handers because they didn't know what to do with it," said Zimmerman. "I wasn't trying to get strikeouts...wanted to go as deep as I could into the game because our pitching was really short."

Pfeiffer led 1-0 before Mount Olive's offense clicked with the precision of a well-oiled machine during a three-inning stretch.

Orrison started a third-inning rally with two-out single up the middle and stole second base. Jack Sherrill plated Orrison with a single and moved into scoring position on Brett Lang's single to left center.

Sherrill touched the plate on Stephen Wallace's double to right field. David Mayo capped the four-run surge with a two-RBI single to center field.

An all-tournament team selection, Sherrill provided a two-RBI single in the fourth inning. Joe Koehler boosted UMO's advantage to 7-1 with a sacrifice RBI in the fifth inning.

"Once they gave me a cushion, it was 'game over' in my mind," said Zimmerman, who yielded five runs (two earned) on 10 hits and posted six strikeouts.

Brighton Hudson took the hill in the ninth and retired Pfeiffer in order to give Mount Olive its 13th tournament title during the program's Division II era. The Trojans secured their seventh straight trip to the regional and 15th overall since 1996.

Orrison, Day, Brett Lang and Austin Hutchinson each received a nod on the all-tournament team.

"Everyone knows that Mount Olive has been the big horse, the guys who beat up Conference Carolinas (teams) every year, but this year people weren't afraid to play us," Orrison said. "(This championship) is probably one of the most satisfying wins I've had."

And UMO can owe it to glory gold.