MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – Dan Hayduk’s walk-off infield single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh lifted nationally third-ranked Mount Olive to a 3-2 victory over Erskine in game two of a Conference Carolinas baseball doubleheader Saturday at Scarborough Field. With the win and a pair of losses by second-place Belmont Abbey, the Trojans clinch the regular season title and No. 1 seed in the conference tournament for the fourth time in the last five years. The Trojans also reach the 30-win mark for the sixth year in a row.
Erskine won the opener 5-4 as reliever Atlee Pearson broke an NCAA Division II record with his 33rd career save.
Mount Olive’s “magic number” was three to clinch the regular season title as the Trojans entered their final regular season series. Mount Olive won Friday’s game 3-0 and Belmont Abbey was swept by Limestone in a doubleheader Saturday.
Game two of the doubleheader, scheduled for seven innings, was tied 2-2 as Mount Olive (30-6 overall, 16-4 Conference Carolinas) came to bat in the bottom of the seventh. Ryan Faison drew a two-out walk, stole second and advanced to third on Jason Simone’s infield single up the middle. Erskine second baseman Cameron Yost kept Faison from scoring with a diving stop behind the second base bag.
After Erskine’s second pitching change of the inning, Simone advanced to second to take away the force. Hayduk then pulled a 3-1 pitch deep in the hole at short and easily beat the throw to first to drive in the winning run.
Hayduk scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first as he drew a two-out walk, stole second and scored on Jacob Rogers’ single. Rogers went 8-for-10 in the three-game series.
Erskine (26-16, 10-11) tied the game in the top of the third as Shawn Glover singled with one out and stole second. Brian Laznik brought him in with a single to right and Zach Smith followed with an infield single. But Trojan starter Pete Levitt got out of the inning with a 4-6-3 double play.
The Flying Fleet took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth on Smith’s rbi-double, but Mount Olive tied the game in the bottom half of the inning on Faison’s sacrifice fly.
Levitt worked around a one-out walk in the sixth, but came out in the seventh with two outs and two runners on. David Combs took over on the mound and Trojan centerfielder Antonio Callaway made a long running catch in left-center to end the inning and set the stage for Hayduk’s heroics.
Combs (5-1), who earned a save in Friday’s 3-0 victory, picked up the win. Levitt struck out seven, walked one and scattered seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.
Erskine starting pitcher John Bolding had thrown only three innings this year, but pitched into the fifth inning Saturday in his first start of the season. Carton Watts (4-1), the second of four Flying Fleet pitchers, took the loss.
In game one, Mount Olive took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Jason Simone singled and scored on Dan Hayduk’s rbi-double. The Trojans had runners on the corners with one out, but Erskine pitcher Andrew Guest got out of the inning with a rundown and a groundout.
Erskine tied the game in the top of the second on back-to-back doubles by Drew Willingham and Casey Winckowski and the game stayed tied until Zach McCarthy’s two-run homer in the top of the seventh gave the Flying Fleet a 3-1 lead.
Joseph Westbrook’s two-out rbi-single in the bottom of the seventh pulled the Trojans within a run, but Erskine added two runs in the top of the ninth. Willingham and Winckowski led off with consecutive singles and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out. A walk and a sacrifice fly extended the Flying Fleet’s lead to 5-2. Keith Spinner, the Trojans’ third pitcher of the game, got out of the jam with a strikeout and an infield popout.
Rogers led off the bottom of the ninth with a double and went to third on a wild pitch. Daniel Coffey drew a one-out walk, but Pearson recorded his second strikeout of the inning. Nick Gaeta beat out an infield single to third and two runs came home on an errant throw to first.
The game appeared to be over when Callaway swung at strike three, but the ball got away from the Erskine catcher and the Trojans had runners on the corners again. But Pearson earned his fourth save of the season when backup Yost made a diving catch on a foul ball in the Flying Fleet bullpen.
Trojan starter Curtis Hudson (5-1) struck out seven and walked only one, but suffered his first loss of the season. Hudson had retired 14 of 16 batters before giving up McCarthy’s home run. Jeremy Hall took over to start the ninth inning.
Guest (6-1) pitched 6 1/3 innings for Erskine, allowing five hits overall and only two after the first inning. One of the two runs he gave up was unearned.
By virtue of its split against Mount Olive and Pfeiffer’s doubleheader sweep against Coker, Erskine will be the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament and will face either Belmont Abbey or Limestone Thursday at 3 p.m.
