MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The Erskine College baseball team (10-10, 3-6 CC) dropped both games of a doubleheader against the University of Mount Olive (11-5, 5-1 CC) at Scarborough Field on Saturday afternoon to wrap up a three game series.

THE ESSENTIALS 
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | CC Digital Network
 
THE SERIES
Mount Olive holds a convincing 43-11 lead in the all-time series.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1: Mount Olive 5-4 Erskine
Following a huge series opening win last night from the Fleet, Mount Olive jumped out to an early lead in game two of the series, scoring runs in each of their first three innings and taking an early 5-0 lead. But, in the fifth inning, Tariq Bacon launched a three-run home run to cut into the Mount Olive lead, and a few batters later, Armando Becerra recorded an RBI groundout to score Cal Bocchino and suddenly the Erskine deficit was just one run. The Fleet had the tying run on base in each of their final two innings at the plate but could not finish the comeback attempt, losing the first game of the day 5-4.

Game 2: Mount Olive 7-3 Erskine
Joe Alegre got the start in the rubber match of the series and set down the side in order in each of his first two innings. Although the Fleet threatened early they were unable to take the lead and Mount Olive manufactured the game's first run in their half of the third inning. But, Armando Becerra led off the fourth inning with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly from Ashby Smith. Tariq Bacon was hit by a pitch and stole second and third base before Kane Fisher singled him home to put Erskine in front, 2-1. A "strike 'em out, throw 'em out" double play helped Alegre work around a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth and keep Erskine ahead. But, the Trojans exploded for five runs in their next at-bat and took a commanding 6-2 lead. Kyle Marti drove in a run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning but the deficit was too much for the Fleet to overcome and Mount Olive won the rubber match, 7-3.

THE PLAYER
Tariq Bacon had just two hits on the day, but the first was a monster three-run in Game 1 that started Erskine's comeback attempt. Bacon also stole three bases in Game 2 and scored a run that gave Erskine a lead in the game.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Erskine has another mid-week bout with a South Atlantic Conference foe on Tuesday, March 8, this time against Limestone University (3-19, 1-5 SAC) at 2:00 p.m. at Grier Field. The teams played a thrilling three-game series in February 2020 with Erskine winning the series, but Limestone taking the third game 17-16 in Gaffney.
 
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