Gunnar Kines broke the single game strikeout record as he led the No. 22 University of Mount Olive to a double header sweep of Emmanuel College 11-0, 12-1 Saturday afternoon at Scarborough Field in Mount Olive, N.C. for Conference Carolinas baseball. Head Coach Carl Lancaster was honored before the first game for his 1,000th career win milestone.
Game One:
Mount Olive 11 Emmanuel 0
In the bottom of the second Mount Olive (22-9 Overall, 11-4 Conference Carolinas) got cooking with one away. Rob Shipman lifted a ball to left field and with the wind blowing out the first baseman picked up the first run of the game. Tyler Farmer drew a walk and Brandon Day continued with a single up the middle and Farmer moved to third. DeAndre Allen drove home a run with another single to center and Farmer scored. Zak Orrison was hit by a pitch and the bases were loaded with still just one out.
Kilgore Gailmard worked out a walk to plate another run as Day walked in. Jason Morozowski pushed across two more with a RBI-single through the left side. After a Justin Manning walk, Joe Koehler lifted a pitch over the right field wall and over a jumping right fielder to clear the bases with a grand slam and Mount Olive took an early 9-0 lead.
The Trojans added another run in the third on an RBI-Groundout from Gailmard.
Gunnar Kines (6-1) was the story of game one as he completely shut down Emmanuel (4-24, 3-16) and broke the school record for strikeouts in a game with 18. The record was held previously by B.J. Dail who struck out 15 against Limestone College on April 10, 2009.
Kines struck out at least two Lions in every inning he pitched and also struck out the side in the fifth. He finished his eight complete innings with just two hits allowed and surrendered two walks to go with his record strikeout performance. Carlos Rodriquez closed out the game with two punch outs in the ninth.
Kines spoke about his big night after the games
"The fast ball defiantly felt good and I mixed the changeup as well and used a curve every now and again to help me out. It's a huge achievement with the names of people who have gone through this program and it's something I will remember and as a highlight of my career. It was really nice to do it in front of all the fans too and this will help us get back on track in conference".
Game Two:
Mount Olive 12 Emmanuel 1
Emmanuel (4-25, 3-17) struck first in the first. Trent Jones doubled off the left field wall with one away to start the offense for the Lions. Elliot Beard singled through the left side and Jones moved to third. The first run of the game came across off a Bo Hardman RBI-Groundout. The run was all Emmanuel would push across in the first.
Mount Olive (23-9, 12-4) struck back in the second as Shipman drew a one out walk. Brett Lang was walked as was taken out on a fielder's choice and runners were on the corners. Allen drove in the first run for the Trojans with a single back up the middle. Orrison came up and started a series of three straight doubles with a shot that snuck around the third base bag. Gailmard and Morozowski followed up with back-to-back doubles and Mount Olive was up 5-1.
Koehler came up and poked a ball up against the Conference Carolinas sign in right and motored around for a triple as Morozowski and Manning came home. Shipman smacked his second big fly of the day as he cleared the right field wall to put Mount Olive up 9-1.
Gailmard led off the third for the Trojans with a one out double. Morozowski got hit by a pitch and moved Gailmard up to second. Manning drove home a run as he snuck a ball into right field. Koehler connected for another hit and Morozowski came in on the RBI-single.
Mount Olive added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth with a homerun from Chris Leduc.
Derek Justice (5-1) picked up the win for the Trojans in game two. He threw six complete and allowed one run off four hits and punched out five. Brighton Hudson came in and pitched the final inning with two strikeouts.
Mount Olive returns to Scarborough Field Sunday afternoon for the series finale. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
