DUE WEST, S.C. – The Erskine College baseball team (22-15, 11-11 CC) swept a doubleheader over No. 6 University of Mount Olive (24-10, 12-8 CC) in a shortened two-game series at Grier Field on Thursday afternoon. Ashby Smith's second-inning grand slam fueled a 7-3 win for Erskine in Game 1, and then Jude Littrell played hero with a walk-off for an 11-10 victory in Game 2.

THE ESSENTIALS 
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | CC Digital Network
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1: Erskine 7-3 Mount Olive
Erskine starting pitcher Joe Alegre walked a pair of batters in first inning of work but also struck out a pair to hold the Trojans off the board in their first at-bat. And the Fleet offense wasted no time getting Alegre run support, loading the bases for Ashby Smith, who slapped an RBI single into left field to open the scoring in the bottom of the first. Moments later, Dalton Boyd's sacrifice fly made it a 2-0 game after just one inning. Alegre worked around a one-out error for a scoreless top of the second and the Fleet lineup poured it on in the bottom half. Armando Becerra ripped an RBI single the other way to start the scoring in the frame, and following a Tariq Bacon single, Dale Francis, Jr. was intentionally walked to load the bases for Ashby Smith. And the senior made Mount Olive pay with a mammoth grand slam over the left center field fence as Erskine led 7-0 after just two innings. UMO scored twice in the third to get on the board, but Alegre pitched into the sixth inning, giving the Fleet another quality start. Harry Bernard relieved Alegre in that sixth inning and limited the damage to just one run, keeping Erskine's lead at 7-3 heading into the seventh. Bernard worked a scoreless seventh and Kevin Heinrich followed with an impressive eighth, bridging the gap for the Fleet to hand things off to Johnny Hummel. And the Erskine closer did the rest, setting down Mount Olive in order and handing Erskine a Game 1 win.

Game 2: Erskine 11-10 Mount Olive
The Fleet picked up right where they left off in the back half of the doubleheader, and started this one with a bang. Armando Becerra's leadoff home run gave Erskine an early lead, before Tariq Bacon hammered a double into the left center field gap and scored on a base knock from Dale Francis, Jr., handing the Fleet a 2-0 lead after the first once again. However, the sixth-ranked Trojans responded with a three-run top of the second to take their first lead of the day. But, it was short-lived as the Erskine offense went right back to work in the bottom half. Dalton Boyd led off the frame with a walk and came around to score on a Bacon sacrifice fly to tie the game. Moments later, Christian Rivera smacked an opposite-field two-run double, putting Erskine back on top, 5-3. A walk and a single after that loaded the bases for Jude Littrell, who was hit by a pitch, scoring Rivera and making it a 6-3 game. After a scoreless top of the third from reliever Caleb Dix, the Fleet continued to pile it on in the bottom half. Becerra tallied an RBI single, meaning the Fleet scored in each of their first three innings at the plate, and then Rivera added a run-scoring hit of his own, as the Fleet opened up an 8-3 lead. But, UMO took advantage of a few Erskine errors in the top of the fourth and scored seven times to flip the game on its head, with Erskine suddenly trailing, 10-8. However, Erskine responded well and got back into the game almost immediately as a wild pitch followed by an RBI groundout from Becerra tied the game at 10 after four hectic innings. Both bullpens settled into the game after that with Dustin Scoggins and Cooper Guest putting up much-needed zeroes for the Fleet to keep the game tied. After another scoreless frame from Guest in the top of the seventh, the Fleet had a chance to walk it off. And Tariq Bacon wasted no time getting the inning started, banging a leadoff double off the left center field wall, putting the winning run in scoring position. Rivera and Francis, Jr. each drew walks to load the bases for Jude Littrell with a chance to be the hero. And the sophomore outfielder laid down a perfect safety squeeze bunt, scoring Bacon as the Fleet won in walk-off fashion, 11-10, to seal a doubleheader sweep over the sixth-ranked Mount Olive Trojans.

THE PLAYER
Jude Littrell put down a beautiful walk-off safety squeeze bunt, as he was the hero in Erskine's 11-10 win in Game 2.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Following a grueling stretch of six games against top-30 teams in the past five days, the Fleet will enjoy some much-needed rest and get ready for a home bout against Augusta University (17-17, 10-12 PBC) on Tuesday at 2 p.m. Erskine held on for a 7-6 road win at Augusta back in early February of the season.

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