UMO posts win over Saint Michael’s

MOUNT OLIVE – Following season highs of 21 runs and 20 hits on March 15, the No. 18 Trojans cruised to a 21-1 win over Saint Michael’s in non-conference play at Scarborough Field.

With the win, the University of Mount Olive baseball team improved to 16-5 overall with an 8-2 record at home this season. It marks the first meeting between the two programs, as Saint Michael’s was finishing a six-game road trip through North Carolina. Meanwhile, the Purple Knights dropped to 0-10 this year with losses against a pair of ranked opponents.

Sophomore Cooper George finished 3 for 4 with three RBI, four runs scored and one walk; while graduate student Landon Choboy went 3 for 4 with four RBI and one run scored. Senior Joshua Jones and freshman Davis Halstead each went 3 for 5 and combined for five RBI and four runs scored. Junior Dylan Jeffries registered a pair of hits with three RBI, three runs scored and one walk.

In the top of the first frame, the Purple Knights established a 1-0 advantage off an RBI groundout. Mount Olive answered in the bottom of the second after senior J.T. Stone and George led off the inning with back-to-back singles. The next at-bat, Choboy delivered an infield RBI single to tie the game at 1-1 before Jones posted an RBI on a groundout for a 2-1 UMO lead. UMO erupted for 12 runs on nine hits, including four triples in the bottom of the third to take a 14-1 lead. The frame was highlighted by a bases-clearing three-run triple by Halstead and a two-run opposite-field homer by senior Jack Casbarro.

The Trojans continued to add to their lead in the fourth with a pair of two-run doubles from Jeffries and Choboy to stretch the advantage to 18-1. UMO scored another run in the fifth on a wild pitch before a pair of scoreless innings by both sides. Mount Olive tallied its final two runs in the eighth off a two-run single by junior Jackson Taylor to right field to make the final score 21-1.

Mount Olive featured nine pitchers in the win on Wednesday with freshman Carson Gipson earning the win (3-0) after yielding one run on three hits with two strikeouts over three innings of work. Senior Blake Gipson pitched in relief and tossed one inning of scoreless relief with four strikeouts. Seven pitchers followed for UMO and tallied eight strikeouts and five walks while not surrendering a hit.

— From University of Mount Olive Athletics