Central, S.C. – Southern Wesleyan fell in the first game of the three game series against the Limestone College Saints in a final score of 5-4.

The Warriors posted a combined 11 hits in the loss with four players gaining two hits apiece.  John Garrett, Conner Ewing and Jason Moldenhauer all hit doubles during the game and Moldenhauer went on to lead the team in runs with two.  Three Warriors posted an RBI.  Moldenhauer, Justin Brew, Avery Mahon and Andrew Falgiano all had sacrifice bunts during the loss.  Garrett would have the lone stolen base.

Mike Batten started game one against the Saints for the Warriors.  Facing 22 batters, Batten allowed four runs while striking out six.  Roth Mathews, Hamilton Hartsell and Jarrett Joyner came in to pitch in relief, allowing a combined five hits and one run in 3.2 innings pitched. 

Game Vitals

Final: Limestone 5, Southern Wesleyan 4

Records: Southern Wesleyan (8-20 / CC 3-10), Limestone (17-12 / CC 6-7)

Coach Gillespie Says…

"We stayed in the game, had some opportunities late that we didn't execute.  You always want to have an opportunity late in the game and we did.  Limestone has a potent offense and can score quickly with the long ball.  We had a couple of pitches that got away from us, other than that we pitched well."

How It Happened

Southern Wesleyan struck first in the bottom of the second inning.  Jason Moldenhauer led off the inning with a double and then moved to third when Justin Brew hit a single to center field.  Brew went on to advance to second on a passed ball.  Avery Mahon followed Brew with a ground out to short stop, bringing in Moldenhauer to score the first run and give the Warriors a 1-0 lead over the Saints.

Limestone countered in the top of the fourth inning, scoring on a sacrifice ground out and a home run by Chase Allen to take a 2-1 lead over the Warriors.  However, the Warriors countered in the bottom of the fourth inning.  Julio Justo singled to lead off the inning and then advanced to second on a single to right center by Jason Moldenhauer.  Justin Brew then moved the runners into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt.  Justo came home to score on a wild pitch with Avery Mahon up to bat to tie the game at two.

The Warriors took the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning.  John Garrett doubled down the left field line to get on base.  Garrett was brought home to give the Warriors the led when Conner Ewing doubled down the left field line.

However, the Saints took a 5-3 when Chase Allen hit a three run home run down the left field line.  Southern Wesleyan started to chip away at the Saints' two run lead in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Jason Moldenhauer walked to lead off the inning and then advanced to second base on a wild pitch.  A single to right field by senior Justin Brew brought Moldenhauer across home plate to cut the Saints lead to 5-4.  The Warriors were not able to come again as the Saints took game one of the three game series 5-4.

What's Next

Southern Wesleyan will remain at the Con on March 25 to continue their three game series against the Limestone Saints in a doubleheader starting at 1 pm.  They will then travel to Mars Hill on March 28 to take on the Lions at 3 pm.