Pioneers Sweep Surry, 9-0 and 9-4

SPARTANBURG -- Ben Carlson (Mauldin HS) threw a complete game, three-hit shutout to lead SMC to a 9-0 win in the first game of a doubleheader, and the Pioneer offense pounded out 13 hits in a 9-4 victory in the nightcap to complete the sweep of Surry CC on Saturday.

The SMC bats didn't wait long to get things going in game one, as Travis Burnside (Laurens HS) led things off in the bottom of the first with a walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Reggie Weatherford (Lake City HS), and scored on Tyler Jackson's (Robert E. Lee Academy) one-out double. The Pioneers got some help when back-to-back errors extended the inning and allowed one run to score; then capitalized in a big way when Robbie Dodds (Wando HS) drove a two out, two run triple deep to right-center field. The Pioneers scored two more runs in the second and one in the third, courtesy of an RBI triple by Burnside and run scoring groundouts by Weatherford and Dodds.

Meanwhile, Carlson was cruising, as he sat down 12 straight Knights from the second inning through the fifth, striking out the side in the fourth. The Pioneers tacked on two more in the sixth to make it 9-0, and Carlson finished Surry off in the seventh to improve his record to 3-0. He allowed just three hits and struck out six in the complete game effort, while walking one.     

The Pioneers were led offensively by Burnside (2 for 3, triple, RBI) and Dodds (triple, 3 RBI).

In the game two, Dylan Griffith (Barnwell HS) picked up his second win in as many starts, throwing five scoreless innings, scattering six hits without walking a batter. The Pioneers again made some noise in the bottom of the first, scoring four runs on four hits and a walk. SMC picked up another single run in the third and followed it up with a three-run fourth, as Burnside doubled down the left field line, moved to third on a base hit to left by Weatherford, and scored on a groundball that was mishandled for a Knight error. Following a walk by Luke Tollison (Laurens Academy), Ben Boykin (Fort Mill HS) lined a base hit to center field, scoring two and pushing the Pioneer lead to 8-0.    

Surry answered with a big inning of their own in the sixth, stringing together five consecutive hits off the Pioneer bullpen to cut the SMC lead to 8-2. The Knights picked up two more runs on a bases loaded error before Ronnie Kleinbach (Batavia, NY HS) stopped the bleeding with a strikeout that ended the inning.

The Pioneers tacked on one more run in the sixth, and Josh Wilson (Strom Thurmond HS) threw a scoreless seventh for the 9-4 final.  

Weatherford went 3 for 4, Dacen Cash (Stephens County, GA HS) went 2 for 2 with two RBI, and Boykin and Burnside chipped in with two hits apiece, as the Pioneers improved to 9-2.

SMC (9-2) hits the road for a doubleheader at Patrick Henry CC on Sunday at 1 pm, and will return home for a pair of games against Walters State on Tuesday.  

Spartanburg Methodist College has 14 intercollegiate teams that compete in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association, which includes colleges in the Carolinas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The College is in its 100th academic year of providing a quality education to students in a Christian environment. More than 90 percent of SMC graduates continue their education at other institutions of higher learning.
 
For more information please contact athletic director Mark Perdue at (864) 587-4237.