Mount Olive claims series win at Chowan

MURFREESBORO – The University of Mount Olive baseball team rallied by scoring nine runs in the final two innings to secure a series victory at Chowan by a 13-7 margin on March 12 in Conference Carolinas action.

With the win, the Trojans collected their third straight league series and improved to 15-5 this season and 7-3 in conference play. Dating back to 2019, UMO holds a 13-1 record against Chowan, including eight games with double-digit runs scored. Meanwhile, the Hawks dropped to 3-17 overall with a 2-10 mark in league action.

In the top of the first, the Trojans managed to take a 2-0 advantage despite not recording a hit. With two outs, UMO drew back-to-back walks before a runner advanced into scoring position with a passed ball. During the next at-bat, the Hawks threw a wild pitch, which allowed a pair of runs to cross the plate. In the bottom half, Chowan tied the game at 2 after capitalizing on a wild pitch and a throwing error. The Hawks took the lead in the bottom of the third by scoring three runs, highlighted by an RBI triple to right-center and led 5-2. After a pair of scoreless frames, Chowan tacked onto the lead following a fielder’s choice and error, 6-2.

In the top of the seventh, junior Dylan Jefferies belted a solo homer to left-center, his team-leading fifth of the season, to close the gap to 6-3. A walk and an error placed runners into scoring position before junior Jackson Taylor laced a sacrifice fly to left field to trim the deficit to 6-4. Mount Olive rallied in the eighth bringing across five runs on four hits after senior Joshua Jones led off the inning with a double down the left-field line. A single placed runners on the corners before junior Mike Kenney delivered an RBI single through the right side to cut the deficit to 6-5. After a walk loaded the bases, senior Jack Casbarro registered a two-run single to left-center to take a 7-6 advantage before UMO later scored on a wild pitch and sacrifice fly to lead 9-6.

The Trojans scored four more runs in the top of the ninth with Kenney delivering a sacrifice fly to right field before senior Vito Patierno and Sophomore Cooper George each posted RBI singles through the right side to put UMO ahead 13-6. Chowan tallied one run in the bottom half of the frame, as UMO recorded a 13-7 win.

Junior Hayden Myrick improved to 2-1 overall after tossing 1.2 scoreless innings of relief with two strikeouts and zero walks issued. Junior Andrew Ledbetter secured the save after yielding one unearned run on one hit with two strikeouts over 2 innings pitched.

— From University of Mount Olive Athletics