March 4, 2007

Boxscore

LAURINBURG, N.C.—Senior Ritchie Priest (Elizabethtown, N.C.) ripped a walk-off single down the third-base line that scored junior Eric Stone (Laurinburg, N.C.) in the bottom of the 11th inning as St. Andrews Presbyterian College defeated CVAC rival Barton College 5-4 in Sunday’s finale at Clark Field.

Priest’s RBI-single gave the Knights, who improved to 9-10 overall and 2-4 in the CVAC, the series win against the Bulldogs (9-14 Overall; 3-5 CVAC) in the rubber game after the two teams split Saturday’s doubleheader.

Barton grabbed a quick lead with a single run in the first. Junior Travis Holloman (Clayton, N.C.) led off the game with a single. Holloman advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a passed ball before freshman Jimmy Metzinger ( Louisburg, N.C.) drove in the unearned run with a groundout.

St. Andrews rallied back and took the lead, 2-1, with a pair of runs in the third. Junior Sam Williams (Rockingham, N.C.) led off with a single up the middle. Sophomore Ivan Rodriguez (New York, N.Y.) followed with his second single of the game. Junior Chad Heckler (Sidney, Ohio) plated Williams with a sac fly and a junior Michael Eastwood (Grantsboro, N.C.) deep double to center scored the speedy Rodriguez from first.

Metzinger tied the game for the Bulldogs with a single in the top half of the fifth but a Barton error gave SAPC the lead back, 3-2, in the home half of the inning. Metzinger drove in his third RBI of the day with another single in the seventh that knotted everything at three apiece.

Senior designated hitter Cliff Allred (Franklinville, N.C.) provided St. Andrews with its third lead of the contest with a home run in the eighth. Allred’s solo blast to left was his team-high third of the season.

Barton once again fought back, this time in their final at-bat. Sophomore pinch hitter Jonathan Nichols (Smithfield, N.C.) hit a bloop-single into the right-center gap with two-outs in the ninth that scored classmate David Bunn (Lucama, N.C.) from second sending the game into extra innings.

After BC escaped a bases-loaded jam in the 10th, Priest finally ended the game with his clutch single in the 11th. Priest, who was 7-for-11 (.636) in the three-game series, had two singles on Sunday. Stone started the rally with a lead-off single and was moved into scoring position on a sac bunt by Williams.

Junior T.J. Chrusch (Fleetwood, Pa.) earned the win pitching the final three innings for the Knights improving to 2-1 on the season. Metzinger (1-1) took the loss for Barton. St. Andrews junior B.J. Horne (Hamlet, N.C.) and Bulldog junior Chris Hill (Wilson, N.C.) both pitched well in the starters roll for their respective clubs. Horne scattered seven hits in 6 1/3 innings while striking out a game-high four while Hill tossed 88-pitches over nine innings of work allowing 11 hits.

Rodriguez led the Knights 14-hit attack with three hits, a walk, and two runs scored. Bunn paced Barton with three hits, a walk, and three runs scored.

St. Andrews will host non-conference North Greenville University on Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. The Knights split the first meeting with the Crusaders in Tigerville, S.C. on February 7.