GASTONIA, N.C. – The No. 8 seed Erskine College baseball team (27-24, 15-14 CC) defeated the No. 9 seed Francis Marion University (18-30, 9-21 CC) by a score of 12-2 in the play-in round of the 2024 Conference Carolinas Baseball Championships at CaroMont Health Park on Wednesday afternoon.

After a bit of a slow start offensively, the Fleet exploded down the stretch and advanced to the double elimination portion of the tournament with a run-rule victory behind a pair of home runs from Adrian Rolon.

THE ESSENTIALS 
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | CC Digital Network
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Pitching on just three days rest, Erskine turned to Joe Alegre in the single-elimination play-in round of the Conference Carolinas Tournament, and the junior worked around a leadoff error to post a scoreless first inning. In the bottom half of the opening frame, Erskine went two-up and two-down, but a Christian Rivera double followed by a David Hernandez RBI single gave the Fleet an early 1-0 lead. FMU responded with a run in the second, but Alegre settled in and kept the Patriots off the board through the next four innings. With the game still tied at one in the bottom of the sixth, Josean Sanchez and Jorge Pascual hit back-to-back singles as the Fleet threatened to go back in front. Rivera was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and then Hernandez delivered again, this time with a sacrifice fly to put Erskine ahead again. Moments later, Smith dropped down a beautiful safety squeeze to make it a 3-1 game. Jared Guell took over on the mound to begin the seventh and set down FMU in order. In the bottom half of the seventh, Carlos Gonzalez hit a leadoff single, before Adrian Rolon doubled the Fleet's lead with one swing, a two-run home run over the left field wall. Doubles from Sanchez and Jorge Pascual followed as the Fleet tacked on another run, and then a two-bagger from Smith brought home Pascual as Erskine led 7-1 heading into the eighth inning. Guell ran into some trouble in the top of the eighth, but a huge double play helped him limit the damage to just one run. And the Fleet offense stayed hot in the bottom half of the inning. Rolon got the scoring started with his second home run of the afternoon to make it 8-2. Hernandez and Smith each drew bases-loaded walks and then a two-run double from Daniel Hernandez meant the Fleet reached the 10-run rule, sealing a 12-2 win to begin the week.

THE PLAYER
Freshman Adrian Rolon shined in his first postseason game of his collegiate career, recording his first multi-home run game and driving in three runs as he catalyzed a late onslaught for the Fleet.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Erskine advances to the double-elimination portion of the tournament and have a quick turnaround, taking on the top seed in the event, North Greenville University (40-10, 24-6 CC), on Thursday at 11 a.m. NGU swept the Fleet in Due West this past weekend to close out conference play in the regular season.

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