No. 16 Mount Olive sweeps doubleheader
MOUNT OLIVE – Seniors Dawson Gause and Erik Johnson combined for 20 strikeouts in a pair of starts on the mound, as the No. 16 Trojans claimed a doubleheader sweep over King on March 25 in Conference Carolinas play, registering a 5-2 win in game 1 before a 2-0 victory in game 2.
With the sweep, the University of Mount Olive baseball team improved to 20-7 overall with a 9-5 mark in league action. Following the wins, the Trojans leaped to third in the conference standings and stretched their winning streak to four in a row. Meanwhile, King dropped to 10-17 this season with a 2-14 mark in league action.
In game 1, Gause earned the win (3-0) after yielding two runs on three hits with nine strikeouts and five walks in five innings pitched. Fellow senior Jaydon Gartner pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief with one hit surrendered, while junior Hayden Myrick secured the save behind 1 1/3 innings on the mound with one strikeout.
After a scoreless first inning, senior Joshua Jones led off the second frame with a double to left field. With one out, freshman Davis Halstead laced an RBI triple to center field to take a 1-0 advantage. Following a walk, junior Dylan Jeffries registered an RBI single to left field before teammate Vito Patierno also recorded an RBI single to extend the lead to 3-0. The Tornado answered in the top of the third with an RBI double before cutting the deficit to 3-2 in the top of the fifth.
In the bottom half of the fifth, Halstead delivered again with an RBI double down the left-field line. The Trojans added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly from senior Gordon Pihl to right field, 5-2.
Halstead finished 2 for 3 with two RBI, one run scored and one walk, while graduate student Landon Choboy produced a pair of hits. Jones went 2 for 2 with two runs scored, one walk and a stolen base.
In game 2, Johnson delivered a stellar performance in a complete-game shutout to improve to 3-1 on the season. He scattered five hits with 11 strikeouts and just two walks issued over seven innings pitched.
The Trojans scored the only runs of the entire contest in the top of the third inning on a two-run homer from Jeffries, his eighth of the season.
— From University of Mount Olive Athletics
