Wesleyan baseball
opens 2007 season with 8-4 win
Rocky
Mount, NC
- Senior hurler Ben Pearson (pictured) tossed six
shutout innings on Friday afternoon, leading his
7th-ranked North Carolina Wesleyan baseball squad to an
8-4 win over Eastern Mennonite at Bauer Field. Pearson
allowed just one hit on the day, and his offense did the
rest as the Bishops plated seven unearned runs in the
third and fourth innings.
Friday's action served as the 2007 season opener for
both squads.
After
allowing a lead-off hit to the Royals’ Brandon Zollman
in the top of the first, Pearson retired 10 straight
batters before hitting Zach Polloni with a pitch in the
fourth. Zollman and Pollonni proved to be the only EMU
players that Pearson would allow to reach base.
Pearson’s
teammates took care of the offensive side with two runs
in the third and five in the fourth. The Royals
committed three errors in the two innings that led to
all seven runs being unearned. Senior shortstop Nathan
West ripped the Bishops’ first hit of the season with
one out in the third, a blistering double to left-center
field. He later scored on a throwing error after Luke
Williford singled to center.
The big
blow, however, came from the bat of junior Chris Pecora
in the fourth. With two outs and the bases loaded,
Pecora blasted a three-run triple to the gap in
right-center that put Wesleyan on top 7-0.
With the
book closed on Pearson, head coach Charlie Long used
sophomores Jonathan Shearon and Shaun Moore in the
seventh and eight innings. EMU broke through with three
runs on Shearon (two earned). First baseman Chad Johns
did most of the damage with a two-run single to center.
With both
teams plating a run in the eighth, Long brought in
sophomore Justin Batts to close out the 8-4 victory.
Batts tossed a perfect ninth and recorded the first
strikeout of his career.
NCWC’s
Jason Webb paced all batters with a 3-for-4 performance
at the plate, while West, Williford, and Matt Smith each
collected two hits. Six different Royals tallied
singles on the day.
The same two squads
meet again on Saturday for a doubleheader. The
first game of the twinbill is slated for seven innings. First
pitch is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. at Bauer Field.
Return
to Baseball Main
