DUE WEST, S.C. – The Erskine College baseball team (22-20, 13-11 CC) defeated Barton College (32-10, 15-10 CC) by a score of 4-2 at Grier Field on Friday to begin a massive three-game weekend series in conference play.

THE ESSENTIALS 
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | CC Digital Network
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Two of the first three Barton batters tallied a hit as the Bulldogs took an early 1-0 lead, but the game quickly turned into a pitchers' duel between two of the premier arms in the conference. Freshman starter Alex Heintz settled in after a shaky start and kept the Fleet within a run through his first three innings on the mound. In the bottom of the third, Tyler Smith led off with a line-drive single into center field for the first baserunner of the game for Erskine. Adrian Rolon dropped down a sacrifice bunt to advance Smith into scoring position, and after an error allowed Smith to move to third, Josean Sanchez's sacrifice fly brought him home, as the Fleet executed "small ball" to tie the game. Heintz continued to pitch effectively through the middle innings, allowing just two singles from the fourth through the sixth innings to keep the game tied at one. Barton broke through in the top of the seventh to regain the lead, but it did not take long for Erskine to answer. David Hernandez led off the bottom half with a home run just instead in the right field foul pole to draw the Fleet level again. Juan Jaime followed with a single through the left side, and after a sacrifice from Smith, Carlos Gonzalez beat out an infield single to put runners on the corners with just one out. Sanchez was due up next, and after falling in an 0-2 hole, roped a double into the left field corner to score Jaime and give Erskine its first lead of the afternoon, 3-2. Heintz gave way to Jared Guell on the mound to start the eighth inning, and the southpaw used a double play to get through a scoreless frame to begin his outing. Then, on the first pitch of the bottom of the eighth, Christian Rivera obliterated a solo home run over the batter's eye in center field, doubling Erskine's lead and giving Guell some insurance for the ninth. Guell surrendered a one-out single that brought the tying run to the plate, but induced a pair of groundouts to preserve the win, earning his third save of the year in a 4-2 Erskine win to start the weekend.

THE PLAYER
Freshman starting pitcher, Alex Heintz, went toe-to-toe with the reigning Conference Carolinas Pitcher of the Year on Friday afternoon and came out on top. Heintz tossed seven innings en route to his seventh win of the season, allowing just two runs on six hits, while recording six more strikeouts to bring his NCAA Division II-leading total to 87 punchouts on the year.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Erskine and Barton conclude their series with a doubleheader on Saturday, starting at noon.

MORE ABOUT THE ERSKINE COLLEGE FLYING FLEET

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