GREENWOOD, S.C. – The Erskine College baseball team (1-1) exploded for 13 runs in the 3^rd and 4^th inning on their way to a convincing 15-4 victory over Queens University (0-1) on Friday afternoon in Game 1 of their doubleheader. The Fleet struggled in Game 2, and fell 13-2 to the Royals.
 
THE ESSENTIALS 
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | CC Digital Network
 
THE SERIES
Erskine leads the all-time series 4-2, but a Queens victory ended a brief two-game winning streak for the Fleet.. The Fleet and Royals met for doubleheaders on February 1^st and 2^nd in 2019 with Erskine winning three of four games.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1: Chase Hadwin got the start for the Fleet and matched Queens' Jordan Briones with scoreless frames in each of the first two innings before the Fleet offense came to life. Livan Reinoso broke the deadlock with a run-scoring single to set up a monster third inning for the Fleet. A hit by pitch and walk with the bases loaded extended the frame before Trevor Lesane put up a crooked number in the inning with a bases-clearing double as Erskine jumped out to a 6-0 lead. Queens got a run back in the bottom half of the inning, but the Fleet offense picked up where it left off in the fourth inning. Again it was Reinoso who started the scoring, this time with a solo home run. Cody Forster followed a few batters later with an RBI double. Then, it was Armando Becerra's turn to clear the bases with an extra base hit as his three-run triple gave the Fleet an 11-1 lead. Reinoso capped the seven-run frame with a run-scoring single and the Fleet had a commanding 13-1 after four innings. The Royals got a few runs back in the fifth, but Erskine's Lesane and Tariq Bacon tallied successive RBI triples in the eighth inning to put the exclamation point on a 15-4 rout. Parker Cassell threw four scoreless innings with four strikeouts to close out the game.

Game 2: Erskine starting pitcher Justin Pacheco worked around a one-out double for a scoreless first inning, but after the Fleet went quietly in the bottom half of the inning, Queens' bats woke up. The Royals scored three runs in the second and took an early 3-0 lead. Both teams exchanged zeroes in the fourth inning, but Queens gained some breathing room by scoring in each of the next four frames and the Erskine deficit ballooned to 13-0 by stretch time. A Drew Yniesta RBI double in the seventh got the Fleet on the board, and Erskine added another run in the eighth inning, but that would be all as Queens answered an Erskine blowout in Game 1 with a convincing win of their own in the nightcap of the doubleheader. The Erskine bats were held to just four hits after an 18-hit outburst in Game 1.
 
THE PLAYERS
Drew Yniesta went 1-for-4 for the Fleet and drove in the Fleet's first run of the game with a run-scoring double. Yniesta was also responsible for the second Fleet run as he reached on an error in the eighth inning which allowed Livan Reinoso to score. Weston Kerley pitched the final two innings of the game for Erskine and allowed just one hit while striking out two batters.
 
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Fleet conclude their opening weekend invitational in Greenwood when they take on the hosts, Lander University (1-0) in the finale tomorrow afternoon at 12:00 p.m. The Bearcats beat Erskine 12-10 on Thursday in both teams' season opener.
 
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