April 11, 2011
By: Drew Zimbro, Sports Information

Box GM 1 Box GM 2

Laurinburg, N.C. – The Knights (8-31, 2-18) hosted fellow Conference Carolinas members Barton College (14-24, 7-11) in what was supposed to be a three game series this weekend. The teams went on to play the double-header Saturday where St. Andrews was edged out by a slim margin in both contests, then were forced to cancel Sundays game due to field flooding after a late night storm.

Game One: The Bulldogs scoring quickly giving the Knights trouble as Barton posted two runs in the top of the 1 st inning. St. Andrews then responded with solid pitching, fielding, and hitting in the bottom of the 4 th inning as they scored a run. Sebastian Ray (Plant City, FL) stole home, with the help of a decoy, cutting the Barton lead to 2-1. The Knights; however, could not create any more runs with that momentum as the Bulldogs added on more to their tally ending the game with a 3-1 Barton win. Standing out for the Knights was Senior Michael Cantwell, (Burlington, NJ) who went 2-4 behind the plate.

Game Two: Both teams found themselves connecting with more pitches in the second game of the day, while bringing in more runs as well. Barton again scored early, scoring one run in the top of the 1 st inning then three more runs in the 4 th while holding St. Andrews scoreless until the bottom of the 5 th with the Bulldogs up 4-0. The Knights received a lift from TJ Werner (Burlington, NC) as he doubled to left bringing in St. Andrews first RBI of the afternoon. The Knights solid play continued throughout the game as they did not give up any more runs and continued to take good swings behind the plate. The 7 th inning was a make or break inning for St. Andrews as they were down 4-1 with only three outs to work with. Jason Murray (Syracuse, NY) was the lead-off and was walked giving the Knights a man on base. Michael Cantwell (Burlington, NJ) then dug in and hit a ball to left center, using his supreme speed and determination to get all the way to third base for the triple cutting the lead to 4-2. R.J. Blasi (Swansboro, NC) then grounded out, but still managed to bring Cantwell home and bringing the Knights within one run. Barton responded by tightening up their defense and forcing two more outs ending St. Andrews chance at a comeback.

Leading the way for St. Andrews were Seniors Michael Cantwell (Burlington, NJ), R.J. Blasi (Swansboro, NC), and Junior T.J. Werner (Burlington, NC) who all finished the game with an RBI. The Knights take the field again when they travel to USC Aiken on Tuesday, game starting at 6:30 p.m.

-GO KNIGHTS-