DUE WEST, S.C. – The Erskine College baseball team (24-19, 14-12 CC) swept a doubleheader to open a weekend series against Southern Wesleyan University (10-32, 2-21 CC) with a pair of late rallies at Grier Field on Friday afternoon. Dontae Wade's go-ahead, three-run home run in the eighth inning proved to be the difference in a 12-11 win in Game 1, and Armando Becerra's walk-off single gave the Fleet an 8-7 win in Game 2.

THE ESSENTIALS 
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | CC Digital Network
 
THE SERIES
Erskine still leads the all-time series 20-4.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1: Erskine 12-11 Southern Wesleyan
After a scoreless top of the first inning from Allan Saathoff, Christian Rivera opened the scoring in the game with a towering three-run home run in the bottom half of the first. SWU hit a solo home run in the top of the second inning, but it was canceled out by an Armando Becerra RBI double in the bottom half. Another Warriors home run in the top of the third made it a 4-3 game, but Tariq Bacon hit an RBI single in the bottom half to double the Fleet's lead. SWU scored twice in the top of the fifth to tie the game, but once again the Erskine offense kept punching back. In the bottom half of the fifth, Dontae Wade and Bacon hit run-scoring singles before Kane Fisher's sacrifice fly later in the frame put Erskine ahead 8-5. The Warriors fought back, scoring four times in the seventh and two more runs in the top of the eighth inning as they turned an Erskine three-run lead on its head and led themselves, 11-8. But, the Fleet offense had the final say in the bottom of the eighth inning. Rivera opened the frame with an RBI single before Wade delivered the punishing blow, a line-drive, three-run home run to put Erskine ahead for good. Johnny Hummel worked around a leadoff double in the ninth inning as he earned his ninth save of the year and closed out a 12-11 thrilling victory for the Fleet.

Game 2: Erskine 8-7 Southern Wesleyan
Erskine had the momentum heading into the back half of the doubleheader, but a pair of Southern Wesleyan solo home runs in the top of the first inning squashed that. Christian Rivera cut the Warriors lead in half with his second first-inning home run of the day, a solo shot to left center field. But, SWU answered back with another solo home run in the top of the second in a game that quickly became a slugfest. The Warriors led for a bit, but Cal Bocchino's two-run single in the third inning tied the game before Bocchino came around to score on a throwing error to put Erskine in front, 4-3. But, Southern Wesleyan responded with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth to go back on top. Their lead didn't last long this time, though, thanks to a Dalton Boyd two-run home run that landed just inside the right field foul pole and put Erskine ahead, 6-5. SWU rallied to tie the game in the top of the sixth before appearing to win the game with an RBI double in the top of the seventh inning, need just three outs for the victory. But, a resilient Erskine offense battled back and produced when needed as it did all afternoon long. Dontae Wade drew a leadoff walk before Tariq Bacon singled down the left field line and advanced to second on the throw as Erskine quickly had the tying and winning runs in scoring position with nobody out. Gregory Sanders came off the bench to pinch-hit and laid down a beautiful safety squeeze bunt to score Wade and tie the game at 7. A few batters later, Kyle Marti was intentionally walked to load the bases, setting the stage for Armando Becerra. The sophomore center fielder locked into a battle with the SWU pitcher, fighting off numerous two-strike pitches before ripping a walk-off single into right field as Erskine rallied from behind in its final at-bat to win Game 2, 8-7.

THE PLAYER
It's hard to pick against the guys who had game-winning hits for the Fleet, but Christian Rivera was a combined 5-for-7 at the plate with 2 home runs, 5 RBIs, and 6 runs scored in the doubleheader. He also had a clean game defensively in his first appearance of the season at third base in the first game of the day.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Erskine and Southern Wesleyan wrap up the weekend series with one game on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. as the Fleet look for a sweep in their home regular season finale.
 
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