ANDERSON, S.C. – Senior shortstop Greg Phelps extended his school-record hitting streak to 33 games with three hits and both he and junior catcher Jared Barkdoll drove in three runs to power 15th-ranked Francis Marion University to a 12-11 non-conference win over Anderson University, Wednesday at Anderson Memorial Stadium.
Phelps (3-for-5) lacked only a home run in his bid for the cycle, while Barkdoll, Justin Greene, and Keon Garves also had three hits for FMU. Barkdoll, Graves, and designated hitter Bryan Brown all homered for Francis Marion (19-7), which scored three runs over the final two innings to rally from a 10-9 deficit.
Anderson (7-22) was down 5-0 after the top of the second on two Patriot home runs, by Brown and Graves, but the Trojans scored five runs on four hits, including an RBI triple by Clint Neville, a double by Andrew Davis and an RBI double by Derek Hipp to tie the game.
Francis Marion responded to regain the lead at 6-5 on Barkdoll’s homer in the third. The Patriots extended their lead with two more runs in the fourth on an RBI triple by Phelps. Phelps scored on Trojan error to push the lead to 8-5, but Anderson would again respond in the fifth inning when Neville lead off with a home run to right. Then with two outs Ryan Saxon reached on a two-base error and scored on a Josh Grubbs’ RBI single. Hipp followed with an RBI single scoring Grubbs tie the game at eight.
In the top of the sixth, Graves led off with a triple and scored scored on sacrifice fly by Phelps to give the Patriots a short-lived 9-8 lead, because Blair Carson led off the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run to tie the game at nine.
It wasn’t until the seventh inning that Anderson took their first lead of the game on at 10-9 on an RBI single by Walt Quattlebaum. In the eighth inning with one out, the Patriots compiled singles by Ryan Hypke and Justine Greene to start the comeback. Following a Trojan error, Barkdoll singled up the middle to score Hypke and Greene and give the Patriots an 11-10 lead. In the ninth, Phelps single to score Graves, who reached on a triple, to provide what proved to be the game-winning run and push the Patriot lead to 12-10.
Anderson mounted their own comeback in the ninth when Ryan Saxon tripled and scored on a Grubbs’ sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 12-11, but the Trojans couldn’t complete the comeback.
B.J. Scarborough, who work two innings giving up three runs, was saddled with the loss for the Trojans, while senior lefty Zach Farry (3-0) earned the win for the Patriots in 2.2 inning of work, allowing just one run.
Grubbs, who was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs scored, led the Trojan offense. Carson went 3-for-5 with a home run and two runs scored, and Neville had two hits and two RBI in his five plate appearances.
FMU hosts Lander University for a three-game Peach Belt Conference series this weekend, beginning with a single game on Saturday at 4 p.m.
