March 04, 2006

Game 1; Game 2

LAURINBURG, NC—Senior Will Clark (Laurinburg, NC) led the Knights with four hits and three runs scored while sophomore closer T.J. Chrusch (Fleetwood, PA) had two saves as the host St. Andrews baseball team defeated CVAC rival Mount Olive 5-3 and 8-6 on Saturday at Clark Field.

The Knights, who are riding a season-high five-game win streak, improved to 9-10 overall and 3-5 in the CVAC. The Trojans, who had their seven-game win streak snapped, fell to 13-5 and 4-4. The two teams will conclude the conference series on Sunday with the finale slated for a 1:00 p.m. start.

Game 1

Junior Dustin Richardson (Henderson, NC) put Mount Olive into an early 1-0 lead with a RBI-single in the first.

St. Andrews answered with two runs in the second. Senior Brad Smith (Riegelwood, NC) drove in the first run on a double while an RBI-groundout by sophomore Jose Rodriguez (Orlando, FL) plated the second run.

The Trojans threatened with a potential big inning in the third with the bases loaded and no outs. A junior Graham Wooten (Goldsboro, NC) fielder’s choice scored the tying run but SAPC slipped out of the jam by getting the next two Trojans to fly out.

The Knights took the lead for good in the fifth on a senior Greg Wrape (Hamlet, NC) single that scored senior Anthony Mehling (Pottsville, PA). A sacrifice fly by sophomore Michael Eastwood (Grantsboro, NC) and a RBI-groundout by Mehling extended St. Andrews lead to 5-2 in the sixth.

Back-to-back doubles by Richardson and Wooten in the eighth cut the final deficit to two but the Trojans fell short in the comeback attempt.

Freshman starter Ryan Kirkman (Liberty, NC) earned his first collegiate win. Kirkman (1-1) allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits over 7.0 innings of work while striking out three. Chrusch pitched the final two innings accumulating two strikeouts for the save.

Game 2

Just like the first game, MOC grabbed a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first of the nightcap on a junior Josh Carter (Goldsboro, NC) double. SAPC answered with consecutive sacrifice flies by Mehling and junior Cliff Allred (Franklinville, NC) in the bottom half of the first to take a 2-1 advantage.

Mount Olive leapfrogged back into the lead in the third on a two-run single by freshman Patrick Ball (New Bern, NC). However, the Knights wasted to time to catapult back into the lead scoring two of their own in the home half on an Allred single and error that scored two St. Andrews runners.

The Knights broke the game open with four runs in fifth. Clark led off with a triple and scored on a throwing error. St. Andrews continued the run by loading the base paths. A Smith RBI-walk sandwiched in between RBI-singles by sophomore Andrew Hoffner (Ellicott City, MD) and Rodriguez extended the SAPC lead to 8-3.

Mount Olive attempted the big comeback in the seventh with a two-run double by Carter and a one-run single by Ball. However, the Knights called in Chrusch from the bullpen to slam the door shut. Chrusch pleased the home crowd by recording the final two outs with a fly out and a strikeout.

Junior starter Ryan Curley (Emmaus, PA) scattered 11 hits over 6.0 innings while striking out two to improve to 3-3 on the season. Chrusch, who boasts an impressive 28 strikeouts over 16.0 innings, has six saves on the season.

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