March 3, 2007

Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box

LAURINBURG, N.C.—St. Andrews Presbyterian College connected for 16 hits in a game one 11-4 victory but were held to just six hits in a 3-1 loss to Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference foe Barton College in the nightcap as the two teams split Saturday’s doubleheader at Clark Field.

The Knights, who snapped a five-game skid and earned their first conference win of the year with the first game victory, maintain an 8-10 overall record and a 1-4 mark in the CVAC. The Bulldogs hold a 9-13 overall record and a 3-4 ledger in league play. The two teams will meet in Sunday’s rubber game with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

Senior outfielder Ritchie Priest (Elizabethtown, N.C.) led SAPC offensively collecting five hits including a home run, four RBI, and three runs on the day. Junior Travis Holloman (Clayton, N.C.) paced Barton with three hits while freshman Brett Norris (Wendell, N.C.) hit his first home run of the year for the Bulldogs.

Game 1: St. Andrews 11, Barton 4

Barton grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first game with a pair of runs in the third including an RBI-single by Holloman.

Priest tied the contest back up at 2-2 in the home half of third with his first home run of the season. Junior first baseman Sam Williams (Rockingham, N.C.) started the one-out rally with a double down the left field line. Priest followed with the two-run blast over the left field fence.

The Bulldogs regained a slim lead, 3-2, with an unearned run in the fourth but Priest once again answered for St. Andrews. Priest ripped a bases-loaded single up the middle that plated two Knights runners catapulting the home team into the lead for good.

Senior designated hitter Cliff Allred (Franklinville, N.C.) doubled St. Andrews’ lead to two runs with an RBI-groundout in the fifth that plated junior catcher Chad Heckler (Sidney, Ohio) from third. The Knights exploded for four runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh to blow the game open. Heckler, who had three consecutive singles, drove in a trio of runs. Priest was a perfect 4-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored. Williams added three hits while crossing home plate three times.

St. Andrews sophomore starter Ryan Kirkman (Liberty, N.C.) evened his record at 2-2 after scattering seven hits in eight effective innings of work. The right-handed hurler posted a season-high seven strikeouts while freshman John Child (Wilmington, N.C.) pitched a flawless ninth.

Junior Quinn Fuller (Dorchester, Canada) drove in the last Bulldog run with a single in the eighth. Holloman and sophomore Barrett Martin (Willow Springs, N.C.) led Barton with two hits apiece. Junior starter Justin Bye (Tillsonburg, Canada) took the loss for BC, allowing seven runs on nine hits and four walks.

Game 2: Barton 3, St. Andrews 1

The Bulldogs once again grabbed a quick lead on St. Andrews in Saturday’s finale. Holloman led off the game with a double in the left field gap and after being moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt scored on a passed ball.

SAPC tied everything back up at 1-1 in the bottom of the first on back-to-back, two-out doubles by junior Michael Eastwood (Grantsboro, N.C.) and Allred. Eastwood, who has hit safely in 17 of the Knights 18 games, extended his hit streak to seven games.

Freshman Jimmy Metzinger (Louisburg, N.C.) put the Bulldogs back on top for good in the third with a double to right-center that scored classmate Ryan McCleney (Chadbourn, N.C.), who started the rally with a single and a stolen base.

Norris added an insurance run for BC with a solo homer in the fifth. Norris’ bomb to right field was his first collegiate home run.

Sophomore starter Brandon Brinson (Beaulaville, N.C.) pitched a complete-game victory for the Bulldogs allowing just one run on six hits while fanning two. St. Andrews drew two straight walks to start the bottom of the seventh but Brinson (2-1) picked off both runners at first base to end the Knights chance of a last-inning rally.

Senior leftie Ryan Curley (Emmaus, Pa.) took the loss for St. Andrews giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits in the first five innings while striking out a game-high six batters.