GASTONIA, N.C. – The No. 8 seed Erskine College baseball team (28-24, 15-14 CC) defeated the No. 2 seed Young Harris College (39-13, 22-8 CC) by a score of 8-2 in an elimination game of the 2024 Conference Carolinas Baseball Championships at CaroMont Health Park on Saturday.

After falling behind early, David Hernandez's two-run single in the sixth inning tied the game, and his twin brother, Daniel, launched a go-ahead home run in the seventh to give Erskine its first lead. The Fleet added five runs in the ninth to avoid elimination.

THE ESSENTIALS 
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | CC Digital Network
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Facing elimination on Saturday, Erskine turned to redshirt freshman Ryan Cole to contain the seventh-ranked team in the country. Cole posted three scoreless frames to begin his outing, and after YHC took the lead in the middle innings, the Fleet cashed in on a second chance in their half of the sixth. A two-out error from the Mountain Lions allowed Ben Maskin to reach base, and Josean Sanchez followed with base hit. After a wild pitch, Jorge Pascual was intentionally walked to load the bases, and David Hernandez made it count, lining a two-run single into center field to tie the game. Jared Guell took over for Cole on the mound to start the bottom of the sixth and promptly set down Young Harris in order. Then, on the first pitch of the seventh, Daniel Hernandez cranked a leadoff home run over the left center field wall, firing the Fleet in front for the first time in the game. Guell surrendered a pair of singles to begin the bottom of the seventh, but struck out the next three hitters to escape the threat unscathed. Caleb Dix relieved Guell to begin the eighth and recorded a pair of strikeouts in scoreless inning, preserving Erskine's lead heading into the ninth. Clinging to a one-run lead in the final inning, Erskine looked for insurance, and got off to a perfect start to the frame with a Christian Rivera infield single followed by a double from Daniel Hernandez. Carlos Gonzalez then had a long at-bat and won the battle with a base hit into center field, scoring Rivera and Hernandez to give Erskine some cushion. And the Fleet weren't done there, as Ben Maskin added a two-run single of his own, and Tyler Smith crossed the plate a few moments later to cap a five-run ninth for the Fleet. Dix went back out to the mound to seal the win and did just that with another scoreless inning as Erskine rallied past Young Harris to stave off elimination, 8-2.

THE PLAYERS
Erskine got an offensive explosion late to pull away, but the trio of Ryan Cole, Jared Guell, and Caleb Dix stifled a nationally-ranked Young Harris offense all afternoon long. Cole, making just his third collegiate start, posted five innings and allowed just two runs before giving way to the bullpen. Sophomore Jared Guell followed with four strikeouts over two scoreless innings, earning the win. Then, senior Caleb Dix earned the save with two scoreless frames of his own.

WHAT'S NEXT?
With the tournament field down to just four teams, Erskine will be in another elimination game on Sunday against the No. 3 seed University of Mount Olive (36-15, 20-9 CC). First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at CaroMont Health Park.

MORE ABOUT THE ERSKINE COLLEGE FLYING FLEET

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