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No. 9 Francis Marion baseball downs Knights, 9-5
April 12, 2006 FLORENCE, SC—Sophomore left fielder Justin Greene tied a school record with five singles, while also driving in three runs, as ninth-ranked Francis Marion University downed St. Andrews Presbyterian College, 9-5, Wednesday evening in non-conference baseball action. Francis Marion ends its 13-game home-stand with 10 wins and improves its season mark to 29-11. St. Andrews dips to 18-26. The nationally ranked Patriots win’s the rubber game of the season-long three-game series. St. Andrews entertains CVAC rival Pfeiffer University for a doubleheader, Friday at noon. Patriot sophomore right-hander Dusty Floyd kept his record unblemished at 5-0, as he allowed two earned runs in five innings. St. Andrews sophomore righty B.J. Horne (3-3) was tagged with the loss as he allowed seven hits and four runs in 3.1 innings. Greene stroked RBI singles in each of the first two innings as FMU built an early 4-2 advantage. After an Anthony Mehling sacrifice fly trimmed the lead to 4-3 in the fifth frame, FMU scored five runs over the next three innings to go up 9-3. The Knights scored twice in the ninth inning on run-scoring singles by Andrew Hoffner and Jose Rodriguez. FMU pounded out 14 hits against four St. Andrews pitchers. Nick Stewart was 2-for-4 with a double, his team-leading fifth home run, and two RBIs, while freshman Taylor Norfleet was 2-for-4 with one RBI and freshman Jared Barkdoll was 2-for-3. However, junior catcher Michael Ward went hitless in three at bats to snap his 12-game hitting streak. Shortstop Michael Eastwood was 3-for-4 with a run scored for St. Andrews. Matt Harkness (2-for-3) and Jason Cargile (2-for-4) both collected two hits for the Knights. First baseman Greg Wrape gave St. Andrews an early 2-0 lead with a two-run single in the top of the first. Knights’ freshman reliever Ryan Kirkman had a game-high five strikeouts in relief of Horne. All three of Horne's losses have come against nationally ranked opponents. |