Bradon Reitano goes 3-for-4 with two RBI, but the University of Mount Olive is not able to hold off a ninth inning comeback by Catawba College as they drop a 6-5 decision in non-conference baseball in Salisbury, N.C. Justin Manning also went 2-for-5 with an RBI to help the Trojan offence.
Catawba (15-11) got on the board first in the first. Houston doubled to right center to lead off. Paul Kronefeld was walked and Ethan Satterfield singled home Blake Houston with a one out shot into left field.
Mount Olive (17-10) tied the game in the third. Jay Gonzales picked up a two out walk to put a Trojan runner on. A second straight walk by DeAndre Allen on a wild pitch and Gonzales moved to third. Reitano drove in the run as he singled through the left side and allowed Gonzales to score.
An RBI-single by Cameron Beard up the middle brought home Julio Zubillaga in the third and Catawba retook the lead 2-1.
In the fourth Justin Manning doubled to start off the inning and was moved to third on a groundout. Tyler Farmer drove a pitch out to center field and scored Manning on the sacrifice fly for the only run in the fourth.
Ethan Satterfield homered in the bottom half of the fourth to break the tie game once more at 3-2.
The Trojans took the lead again in the seventh. Zak Orrison scored singled to begin the inning and was pushed to second on the sacrifice bunt put down by Gonzales. Reitano drove in Orrison with a single into right field. Rob Shipman doubled into center field and brought home the go ahead run in Reitano.
Mount Olive added a second insurance run in the ninth as the Trojans looked to finish it in the final frame. Gonzales drew a walk to lead off and Allen moved him to second with the sacrifice bunt. Reitano was put on first with the free pass. Manning hit a two out RBI-single through the right side and Mount Olive had the 5-3 lead.
Kronenfeld doubled down the right field line to start the bottom of the ninth. Two straight strikeouts set up the Craig Brooks single past the third baseman and Kronenfeld took third. Zubillaga doubled down the left field line and Kronenfeld scored and then Brooks was allowed to score off a fielding error by the left fielder. Wharton had the walk-off hit as he singled up the middle and brought in the winning run in Zubillaga.
Zach Bernard (0-2) took the loss as he went just one inning in relief but allowed three runs off four hits and two strikeouts.
Brooks (5-2) was credited with the win as he went one inning allowing a single run off one hit.
Mount Olive returns to Scarborough Field this Friday as the head back into Conference Carolinas play with the Flying Fleet of Erskine College coming to town for a three game series. A single game on Friday will start at 6 p.m. and the series ending doubleheader will be set for 12 p.m.