MOC baseball continues dominance

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on March 6, 2008 1:48 PM

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MOC Sports Information

FLORENCE, S.C. -- Weston Curles threw seven shutout innings as No. 1-ranked Mount Olive College blitzed No. 7-ranked Francis Marion (S.C.) University 10-0 on Wednesday afternoon.

Erik Lovett tied a school record with three doubles and Alex Vertcnik provided a three-RBI double as the Trojans extended their winning streak to 18 games. Mount Olive (20-1 overall) improved to 8-1 in contests against top-10 teams since 2006.

Curles (2-0) used a double-play grounder to erase a lead-off single in the Patriots' first inning. He retired the side in order each of the next two innings and wound up scattering four hits to go along with four strikeouts.

Patrick Ball provided two innings of shutout relief.

David Cooper accounted for the game-winning run, reaching on an opposite-field double down the left-field line. He scored when Jesse Lancaster reached on an error. Lovett, the reigning Conference Carolinas player of the week, ripped the first of his three doubles to score Lancaster.

Lovett and Jason Sherrer connected on back-to-back doubles in the third, which boosted the Trojans' advantage to 3-0. Mount Olive added seven runs in the eighth inning, which included Lovett's record-tying third twin-bagger of the game. Stephen Nordan set the record against Shaw University in 2005.

Vertcnik, who has a team-leading 35 RBI, finished off the scoring with a bases-clearing double. Vertcnik has collected at least one RBI in 18 of 21 games this season.

Mount Olive continues defense of its Conference Carolinas title Saturday at in-state member Pfeiffer University. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday and a single game Sunday.

Trojan softball

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Allison Czerski trotted home on an eighth-inning passed ball and Mount Olive claimed a 7-6 victory over Northwood (Fla.) on the final day of the Smash Hit Invitational.

Courtney Wallace provided three RBI and Jenny Jackson smacked her third homer of the season to spark the Mount Olive offense.

The Trojans concluded play with an 8-4 loss to Milligan (Tenn.) and logged a 1-3 record during the two-day event. They fell to Milligan 3-2 and dropped a 2-0 decision against Bethel (Ind.) on Monday.

Mount Olive continues its spring break trip with a five-game stint at the Francis Marion (S.C.) Patriot Invitational. The Trojans are scheduled to play Augusta State (Ga.), West Virginia State, nationally-ranked Kutztown (Pa.), Chowan and Columbus State (Ga.).