SMC Opens Region Play With Road Sweep

Lancaster, SC – Ben Carlson (Mauldin HS) threw a complete game, and a six-run fourth inning by the Pioneer offense gave him all the run support he needed in a 7-2 road win over USC Lancaster to begin region play on Saturday.

The day got off to a rocky start in the bottom of the first when Carlson walked the first two USCL batters of the game, then gave up an RBI single with two outs. The Lancers struck again in the second with a leadoff double followed by a base hit to put the Pioneers in an early 2-0 hole. But Carlson settled in after that, as he forced three straight groundouts to end the inning, then allowed just one baserunner over the final five innings.

A big fourth inning broke the game open for the visitors. After two quick outs, Travis Burnside (Laurens HS) reached on a Lancer error and Tyler Jackson (Robert E. Lee Academy) drew a walk. Luke Tollison (Laurens Academy) dealt the big blow, driving a long opposite field home run to give SMC a 3-2 lead. But the Pioneers weren't finished scoring. Ben Boykin (Fort Mill HS) singled through the middle, and Seth Neely's (Rock Hill HS) double to center chased him home with another SMC run. Dacen Cash (Stephens Co., GA HS) drove him in with another double, and Champ Rowland (Wade Hampton HS) singled Cash home with a base hit to put the Pioneers up 6-2.

SMC would tack on one more run in the sixth on a pair of hits and an error for the final score of 7-2.

Carlson improved to 5-0 with his third complete game of the season. He allowed four hits and two walks over seven innings, while striking out four.

Cash and Rowland each had two hits for SMC.

In game two, the Pioneers again came from behind to win a hard fought, 12 inning game.

USC Lancaster again took the first lead, scoring two unearned runs in the fourth off Pioneer starter Jake Long (T.L. Hanna HS). SMC chipped away with a single run in the fifth on Neely's run scoring base hit to left, but the Lancers answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame.

A five-run outburst in the sixth gave SMC the lead for the first time in the game. Reggie Weatherford (Lake City HS) and Parker Hudson (Mauldin HS) lined a pair of sharply hit singles to put runners on first and second with no outs. A double play groundout threatened to kill the rally, but Jackson broke through with a two-run homer to left center, the first of four consecutive extra-base hits for the Pioneers. Tollison and Boykin doubled back-to-back, and Neely homered to left to cap off the inning with the Pioneers leading, 6-5. 

But the Lancers tied the game with an unearned run in the seventh to force extra innings, and neither team was able to get much going offensively after that. The Pioneers got solid work from the bullpen, as Hunter Rice (Boiling Springs HS), Corey Rhoney (East Burke, NC HS), and Jared Keels (Spring Valley HS) kept USCL off the board in extra innings.

SMC finally broke the tie in the twelfth, when Robbie Dodds (Wando HS) drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cash. Rowland's base hit to right center scored Dodds with the go ahead run, and Keels kept the Lancers off the board in the bottom half to earn his first victory. 

Neely (3-4, HR, 3 RBI) and Jackson (2-6, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) led the Pioneer offense, and Weatherford and Hudson added a pair of hits apiece.

SMC (17-5) will play again on Tuesday as they host Catawba Valley CC in a doubleheader. Start time is 1 pm.   

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.