No. 16 UMO completes comeback win over Catawba
MOUNT OLIVE – With six runs over the final three innings of the game, the University of Mount Olive baseball team completed a comeback victory over Catawba by a 6-5 margin in non-conference play on March 21 at Scarborough Field.
With the win, the Trojans improved to 18-7 this season with a 9-2 mark at home. Mount Olive wins the rubber match of the season-long three-game series taking two of three games against Catawba. Meanwhile, the Indians fell to 18-10 with a 2-6 record on the road.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Trojans trailed by a score of 5-0 before junior Dylan Jeffries led off the frame with an infield single. A walk later placed two runners on base before graduate student Landon Choboy laced an RBI single through the right side to cut the deficit to 5-1. Mount Olive started the bottom half of the eighth with a leadoff double down the right-field line from senior Joshua Jones. With one out, freshman Davis Halstead dropped an RBI single into right-center before Jeffries blasted a two-run homer to left field, his team-leading seventh of the year, to close the gap to 5-4.
After the Trojans retired the side in order in the top of the ninth, Choboy and senior J.T. Stone had back-to-back singles to begin the bottom half of the inning. Following consecutive outs, senior Gordon Pihl registered an RBI single to center field to tie the game at 5-5. Halstead battled in an eight-pitch at-bat before ripping the game-winning RBI single over the center fielder’s head to earn the comeback win, 6-5.
Choboy finished the game four for five with one RBI and a stolen base, while Pihl recorded a pair of hits and one RBI. Halstead went two for four with two RBI and one run scored, while Jeffries finished two for four with a home run, two RBI, two runs scored and one walk.
Mount Olive featured six pitchers in the comeback victory and only surrendered two hits over the final six innings of the contest. Senior Trey Deutsch earned the win (1-0) after tossing a scoreless ninth inning with two strikeouts. Junior Ethan Imbimbo made his third appearance of the season and tallied four strikeouts in two innings of relief, while senior Cole Newgaard pitched effectively with zero hits and one strikeout over one inning on the mound. Senior Jaydon Gartner tossed two scoreless innings of relief while scattering two hits with a pair of strikeouts.
— From University of Mount Olive Athletics
