CENTRAL, S.C. – The Erskine College baseball team (28-17, 13-12 CC) split a doubleheader against Southern Wesleyan University (14-32, 8-19 CC) at C. Keith Connor Field on Saturday. Erskine lost in a 16-10 shootout in Game 1, but responded with a record-breaking 40-8 win in Game 2.

THE ESSENTIALS 
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Div. II Scores | Record Book | CC Digital Network
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1: Southern Wesleyan 16-10 Erskine
Christian Rivera gave the Fleet an early lead with an RBI single in the top of the first inning, but SWU scored the next 12 runs of the game to break it wide open. Erskine attempted to rally back, starting in the fourth inning with an RBI single from Jude Littrell and a three-run home run from Ashby Smith to make it 12-5. But, the Warriors added three more runs in the bottom half of the fourth. Juan Jaime tallied an RBI double in the fifth, and Dale Francis, Jr. launched a grand slam in the sixth, but Erskine was unable to overcome a deep hole, as they were beaten in Game 1.
 
Game 2: Erskine 40-8 Southern Wesleyan
That set up a rubber match between Erskine and SWU to round out the day and it turned into a record-breaking evening for the Fleet. Christian Rivera started the scoring early again, with a three-run home run in the first inning, his 16^th big fly of the season, as part of a six-run opening frame. The Fleet put up another six-spot in the second, behind home runs from Ashby Smith and Dalton Boyd as Erskine opened up a 12-0 lead. SWU scored twice in the bottom of the second and one in the third inning, but the Erskine offense posted yet another crooked number in the fourth. Boyd and Tariq Bacon went back-to-back to start the scoring in the inning, and then Jaime joined in on the home run party before Smith launched his second big fly of the game, capping an eight-run frame and giving Erskine an eye-popping 20-3 lead. Erskine did not tally a home run in the fifth, but RBIs from Armando Becerra, Dale Francis, Jr., Boyd, and Bacon helped the Fleet score six more times and add to their lead. In the seventh, Rolando Lujo and Jaisen Randolph launched home runs, before Jaden James' grand slam capped a five-run eighth inning for the Fleet. Erskine continued to add on in the ninth as Randolph and David Hernandez went back-to-back for the team's 11^th and 12^th home runs of the game, putting a cherry on top of a 40-run offensive outburst from the Fleet in the rubber match of the series.


NOTES

• Erskine hit 12 home runs in Game 2, tying the NCAA Division II record for most home runs in a game. This was the most home runs hit by a team in any NCAA team this season.
• Erskine scored 40 runs in Game 2; the most runs scored by any Division II team this season, and the second most by any NCAA team in 2023.
• Erskine's 35 RBIs in Game 2 is tied for the most RBIs by any Division II team this season.
• Erskine set school records in Game 2 in runs (40), hits (36), RBIs (35), and home runs (12).

THE PLAYER
David Hernandez did not play in Game 1, but led the way in a historic offensive Game 2 for the Fleet, going 5-for-7 at the plate with a solo home run and three runs scored.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Erskine stays on the road for the final mid-week contest of the season, when the Fleet take on USC Aiken (28-17, 19-7 PBC) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The teams have played just twice since 2012, with Erskine picking up a pair of wins over the Pacers in the 2019 season.

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