YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – The Erskine College baseball team (26-24, 20-13 CC) defeated No. 13 Young Harris College (35-15, 24-9 CC) by a score of 15-9 to conclude a three-game series and the regular season at Zell B. Miller Field on Saturday afternoon.

The Fleet used an eight-run explosion in the third inning as well as home runs by Danny Villafane and Stephen Kriner to jump out to a big early lead and an excellent relief outing from Brandon Fears helped them see out the final innings.

THE ESSENTIALS 
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Div. II Scores | Record Book | CC Digital Network
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Erskine got off to quick starts offensively in both games yesterday and continued on that on Saturday. Danny Villafane's three-run home run opened the scoring in the top of the first, and after Young Harris got on the board in the bottom half, the Fleet had one of their best innings of the year. After a Jack Luthren leadoff walk, Adrian Rolon singled and a YHC error brought Luthren home for the first run of the frame. The Fleet then executed a double steal that scored Rolon before Drew Potts added an RBI single. Despite back-to-back outs that followed, Erskine embarked on an impressive two-out rally that included run-scoring hits by Villafane, Luthren, and Stephen Kriner to cap an eight-run inning and open up an 11-1 lead. Villafane added another RBI double in the third and a two-run blast from Kriner as well as a Pierce Radke RBI double in the fourth helped the Fleet keep their sizeable lead, pushing the advantage to 15-3. The Mountain Lions scored in each of the next two frames, but Brandon Fears highlighted a quality bullpen performance with three excellent innings and Julien Hachem set down the side in order in the ninth to seal a ranked series win away from home for the Fleet.

THE PLAYER
Danny Villafane was one of three Erskine hitters with three hits on Saturday, going 3-for-5 at the plate with a season-high five RBIs, including a three-run home run in the first inning that sparked the Fleet's early offensive explosion in the rubber match.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Erskine turns its attention to the 2026 Conference Carolinas Baseball Championships in Gastonia, North Carolina from April 29-May 3. The Fleet will be in the play-in round on Wednesday against No. 10 seed Southern Wesleyan University (16-34, 10-23 CC) at 5 p.m. The Fleet took two of three from the Warriors in Due West in their regular-season series. 

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