DUE WEST, S.C. – The Erskine College baseball team (10-6, 8-2 CC) swept Emmanuel College (5-9, 4-8 CC) on Saturday afternoon and won all four games against the Lions this weekend. Erskine won Game 1 8-5 and overcame an early 10-run deficit to win Game 2 by score of 18-14.
 
THE ESSENTIALS 
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THE SERIES
Erskine now leads the all-time series 14-4, and ended a stretch where the Lions won four of the previous five meetings with a sweep this weekend. Erskine won the first nine games against Emmanuel in their history.

HOW IT HAPPENED
GAME 1: Both teams were kept off the board in the first inning, and Ira Clifton escaped a big jam with a strikeout and a pop out as the Lions left two runners in scoring position in their half of the second inning. In the bottom half, Dalton Reeves and Dayan Reinoso singled with one out, and Kane Fisher began his monster day at the plate with a three-run home run to left field to give the Fleet an early 3-0 lead. Emmanuel got a run back in the third inning, but Tariq Bacon answered right back with a two-run blast to extend the Erskine lead to 5-1 after three innings. The Fleet added to their lead in the fourth inning, starting with a Fisher RBI double and then he scored on a Trevor Lesane single who came around to score moments later as the Fleet held an 8-1 lead. The Lions responded with three runs of their own to cut the Erskine lead to 8-5 after four innings. Emmanuel added another run in the sixth and had two chances with the tying run at the plate in the seventh inning. But, Weston Kerley finished off a Game 1 win with a strikeout and a groundout, earning his first save of the season as the Fleet won Game 1 8-5.

GAME 2: The final game of the series was an offensive shootout. Emmanuel blitzed the Fleet with a five-spot in the top of the first inning as they jumped out to an early lead of their own in Game 2. Fisher got the Fleet on the board with his second home run of the day; a solo shot to make it a 5-1 game after two innings. But, Emmanuel scored six more runs in the third inning and took a commanding 11-1 win lead. But, Erskine did not go quietly. Dalton Boyd started the rally with a solo home run in the bottom of the third, his first of the season. Drew Yniesta followed with a run-scoring single before Fisher capped the frame with a two-run blast, his second of the game and third of the day as the Fleet trimmed the lead to 10-5. Toshawn Drew put up a scoreless fourth inning, and a Lesane groundout made it a 10-6 game. Michael Kay worked around a one-out double to keep the deficit at four runs, and the Erskine offense exploded in the bottom of the fifth. Yniesta led off the inning with a home run to straightaway left field and then Tariq Bacon followed a few batters later with a sacrifice fly. After Lesane reached on an error to extend the inning, Boyd delivered with a RBI single to make it a one-run game. Cody Forster tied the game moments later with a run-scoring single of his own, and Livan Reinoso gave Erskine their first lead as he followed with another RBI single as the Fleet overcame a ten-run deficit and took an 11-10 lead after five innings. And the Fleet were not done yet. Kay put up another zero in the top of the sixth, and Erskine added to their lead in the bottom half. Another Bacon sacrifice fly doubled the Erskine lead. Then, with two outs, the Fleet tallied four straight run-scoring singles as part of a seven-run inning capped by a Fisher single to left field, and Erskine led 18-11, having scored 17 unanswered runs in Game 2. Emmanuel scored a run in the seventh and two more in the ninth, but Harry Bernard pitched the final two innings to secure an 18-14 win in Game 2.

THE PLAYER
GAME 1: Kane Fisher was a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs scored and four runs driven in. Fisher opened the scoring with a three-run home run in the second inning and added a fourth-inning RBI double.

GAME 2: Drew Yniesta was 4-for-6 with three runs scored and three driven in. Yniesta had a solo home run to lead off the Erskine fifth inning and tallied RBI singles in the third and sixth innings as well. Fisher was also 3-for-4, scored four runs and drove in four runs as well as he launched a pair of home runs in the Game 2 victory.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Fleet have the mid-week off and will travel to Anderson University (6-6, 5-5 SAC) to take on the Trojans for a doubleheader on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Erskine has dominated the rivalry, leading the all-time series 39-18, but Anderson has won the last two meetings including a 7-2 victory back in February 2020.
 
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