FLORENCE, S.C. – Senior catcher Dustin Richardson drilled a three-run home run in the fourth inning to lift Mount Olive College to a 4-2 win over seventh-ranked Francis Marion University on the second day of the Gerald Griffin Baseball Classic (PBC-CVAC Challenge), Saturday afternoon (Feb. 10).

Mount Olive improves to 3-3 with its second win over a Top 10 opponent in as many days, while FMU drops to 3-2. Mount Olive will play Lenoir-Rhyne College on Sunday at noon, while Francis Marion will meet Coker College in the event’s final game at 6 p.m.

Richardson’s drive made a winner of right-hander Judson Smith, who limited Francis Marion to four singles in eight innings. Righty Patrick Ball pitched a scoreless ninth to earn a save.

FMU junior lefty Brandon White (1-1) was the loser, despite striking out nine in 5.1 innings.

After the home run, FMU’s Nick Stewart trimmed the deficit to 3-2 with a two-out, two-run single in the fifth frame. However, Mount Olive scored an insurance run, albeit unearned, in the sixth inning on an RBI fielder’s choice grounder by Anthony Williams.

Mount Olive left fielder Casey Hodges (2-for-3) was the lone player on either team with more than one hit.