DUE WEST, S.C. – The Erskine College baseball team (12-6, 4-4 CC) split a doubleheader against Francis Marion University (10-9, 6-3 CC) at Grier Field on Saturday afternoon to conclude a three-game weekend series. The Fleet offense broke out for 21 runs to pick up a win in the back half of the doubleheader.

THE ESSENTIALS 
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HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1: Francis Marion 13-5 Erskine
Francis Marion immediately jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after the first inning and opened it up to 9-0 after the top of the sixth. Erskine got on the board in the bottom half on home runs from Ashby Smith and Tariq Bacon, making it a 9-4 deficit. But, the FMU offense proved to be too much as they took Game 1 of the doubleheader.

Game 2: Erskine 21-2 Francis Marion
Following a slow start in Game 1, and after surrendering a run in the top of the first, the Erskine offense took over this game. Armando Becerra and Smith led of the bottom half of the opening inning, before Christian Rivera tied the game with an RBI single. Dontae Wade was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, giving Erskine its first lead of the day. Moments later, Bacon made it a crooked number with a bases-clearing double as the Fleet led 5-1 after the first inning. A Tyler Smith RBI single in the fourth canceled out an FMU run an inning prior, meaning the Fleet led 6-2 at the halfway point. Then, in the bottom of the fifth, Erskine put the game beyond doubt with its largest output in any inning this season in the bottom of the fifth. Dale Francis, Jr. started the frame with a mammoth two-run home run over the left field fence. Tyler Smith added another RBI on a sacrifice fly, scoring Juan Jaime, before Erskine embarked on a huge two-out rally. After a Becerra walk loaded the bases again, Ashby Smith cleared them with a three-run double. A few pitches later, Rivera unloaded for a no-doubt, two-run home run, making it a 14-2 game. Following another free pass, Dalton Boyd picked up an RBI single. Wade and Bacon capped the frame with run-scoring singles of their own, as Erskine totaled 11 runs in the inning and opened up a 17-2 lead. Starting pitcher, Jared Guell's day was done after five quality innings on the mound, and Daniel Vos set down the Patriots in order in the sixth. Connor Harrison struck out a pair of batters in a scoreless top of the seventh, before Erskine broke 20 in the bottom half. Daniel Hernandez roped a two-run double to start the scoring in the frame, and Jude Littrell and Logan Piedra added RBIs, making it a 21-2 Fleet lead. Ira Clifton stranded a runner in scoring position as he worked a clean eighth inning. And Daemon Woodruff sealed the win with a scoreless ninth in his Erskine debut as the Fleet routed Francis Marion to win the final game of the series.

THE PLAYER
Tariq Bacon was 3-for-7 on the day, and totaled 7 RBIs as he delivered with runners on base all weekend long in the Fleet lineup.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Erskine is on the road next week, starting with a mid-week bout at Mars Hill University (4-16, 2-4 SAC) on Tuesday at 2 p.m. Erskine downed the Lions, 9-5, in its home opener back in February.

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