Belmont Abbey, Mount Olive, UNC Pembroke Victorious on Third Day of Conference Carolinas Baseball Championship
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GASTONIA, N.C. – Five teams remain in the 2023 Conference Carolinas Baseball Championship after the third day as Belmont Abbey and Mount Olive survived elimination and UNC Pembroke remains the lone unbeaten after Friday’s games at CaroMont Health Park in Gastonia, North Carolina.
In game six of the tournament, the first elimination game in the double-elimination bracket, fifth-seeded Belmont Abbey knocked out top-seeded and No. 1 ranked North Greenville, 8-4. North Greenville scored first in the third on a passed ball, but Belmont Abbey hung six in the bottom of the frame and never trailed again. With two outs, Ben Ferguson doubled home a pair to take the lead and, after a pair of RBI hits from Garrett Browder and Connor Tucker, Carter DuHaime drilled a 3-1 pitch over the right field wall for the five-run lead, 6-1. Cory Bivins, who scored the first NGU tally, drove in a run in the sixth but The Abbey responded with a Joe Whitaker RBI double to maintain the margin. NGU added another in the seventh and John Michael Faile tied the NCAA Division II career home run record with his 75th career home run in the eighth inning, but Belmont Abbey added another in the eighth for the 8-4 win.
Grant Lohmeier (7-0) earned the win as he allowed two runs, one earned, on seven hits over six innings with five walks and seven strikeouts while Jake Craddock earned his third save with a strikeout of the only batter he faced. Reece Fields (12-2) took the loss as he allowed seven runs on 10 hits with one walk and four strikeouts. Tucker paced the 12-hit Belmont Abbey attack with a 3-for-4 game with one run scored and one RBI while Whitaker also had two hits. NGU also had 12 hits with Faile and Bryce Roddey each collecting three while the former scored twice and drove in a run. North Greenville left 14 runners on base in the contest.
In game seven of the tournament, fourth-seeded Mount Olive outscored No. 6 seed Francis Marion 9-0 in the middle innings en route to a 14-8 victory to stave off elimination. The two teams were even through the first three frames as each team scored three runs in the first and single tallies in the third for a 4-4 tie. The Trojans broke things open in the fourth with three runs on a Joshua Jones solo home run and a Landon Choboy two-run single. Dylan Jeffries added three more in the fifth with a three-run home run to left field, the fourth long-ball of the game for Mount Olive, to push the lead to six, 10-4. It was part of a five-run fifth inning that made it 12-4. The Trojans tacked on single runs in the sixth and eighth innings while the Patriots scored three in the seventh and one in the ninth for the final margin. UMO outhit FMU 18-14 in the contest.
Three pitchers each tossed three innings for Mount Olive with Cole Newgaard (2-1) earning the win in relief as he allowed three runs on six hits with one walk and one strikeout while Jaydon Gartner (1) earned the save with one run allowed on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Matt Dooley (3-1), one of six Patriots to pitch in the contest, took the loss as he allowed five runs on five hits with three walks and a strikeout over three innings. Six different players tallied at least two hits and eight different players scored a run for the Trojans led by Vito Patierno who finished 4-for-6 with two runs and one RBI. Choboy had three hits, drove in four and scored once and JT Stone had a pair of home runs as he finished 2-for-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored. Will Hardee led the Francis Marion attack with three hits in four at-bats, three RBIs and one run scored. His two-run single in the top of the seventh gave him 288 career hits, the Patriots all-time record.
In game nine, the final game of day two, No. 3 UNC Pembroke shut out No. 2 Barton, 3-0. It was a pitcher's duel highlighted by Jonathan Jacobs (8-3) of UNC Pembroke who tossed six shutout innings with five hits, one walk and six strikeouts. Luke Barrow (3) earned the save for the Braves as he tossed three hitless, shutout innings with four strikeouts and one walk. Connor Patterson (3-1) of Barton matched Jacobs over the first three innings, but a three-run fourth by the Braves proved to be the difference. Ethan Ott began the decisive fourth inning with a leadoff triple and scored on a Kody O’Connor sacrifice fly. Four straight singles produced two more runs and that was all UNCP needed to move two wins away from the program’s first-ever Conference Carolinas tournament title and first conference tournament title overall since 2011.
Will Hood paced the seven-hit UNCP attack with two hits while O’Connor, Trent Harris and Jake Bradley each drove in a run. Barton collected five hits in the loss led by Tanner Halvorson who collected two hits.
The third day of the conference tournament begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 6 with No. 4 Mount Olive facing No. 5 Belmont Abbey in an elimination game with the winner two games from the tournament title. Game two of the day will feature No. 6 Francis Marion versus No. 2 Barton in an elimination game with the winner to face No. 4 UNC Pembroke at 7 p.m. in game 11 of the tournament. If UNC Pembroke wins, they face the winner of Mount Olive/Belmont Abbey in the championship final on Sunday at 1 p.m. If UNC Pembroke loses, they would face the UMO/BAC winner in an elimination game at 1 p.m. on Sunday with the title game to be at 4 p.m. against the winner of game 11.
Fans can watch every game of the tournament live via the Conference Carolinas Digital Network and BlueFrame at conferencecarolinasdn.com. Information regarding the championship schedule, bracket and CaroMont Health Park, home of the tournament host Gastonia Honey Hunters, are available
here.
2023 Conference Carolinas Baseball Championship
CaroMont Health Park | Gastonia, N.C.
Play-in Round – Wednesday, May 3
Game 1: #5 Belmont Abbey def. #8 Emmanuel, 10-3 (Box Score)
Game 2: #6 Francis Marion vs. #7 Erskine, 3-1 (Box Score)
First Round - Thursday, May 4
Game 3: #3 UNC Pembroke def. #4 Mount Olive, 5-4 (10) (Box Score)
Game 4: #2 Barton def. #5 Belmont Abbey, 9-0 (Box Score)
Game 5: #6 Francis Marion def. #1 North Greenville, 15-5 (7) (Box Score)
Second Round - Friday, May 5
Game 6: #5 Belmont Abbey def. #1 North Greenville, 8-4 (Box Score)
Game 7: #4 Mount Olive def. #6 Francis Marion, 14-8 (Box Score)
Game 8: #3 UNC Pembroke def. #2 Barton, 3-0 (Box Score)
If five teams remain after Game 8 and two after Game 11
Semifinal Round - Saturday, May 6
Game 9: #5 Belmont Abbey vs. #4 Mount Olive, 11 a.m.
Game 10: #6 Francis Marion vs. #2 Barton, 3 p.m.
Game 11: Winner Game 10 vs. #3 UNC Pembroke, 7 p.m.
Championship - Sunday, May 7
Game 12: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 11, 1 p.m.
Game 13: Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 12, 4 p.m. (If Necessary)
If five teams remain after Game 8 and three after Game 11
Championship - Sunday, May 7
Game 12: Winner Game 9 vs. Loser Game 11, 1 p.m.
Game 13: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12, 4 p.m.