Homers carry #15 Francis Marion past Limestone 12-5

GAFFNEY, S.C.— Home runs y Barrett Kleinknecht, Keon Graves, and Jacob Wallace accounted for five runs and helped 15th-ranked Francis Marion University beat Limestone College on Wednesday afternoon (March 18) at Bob Prevatte Field.

FMU improves to 18-8-1, while Limestone, coached by former Patriot outfielder Chico Lombardo, falls to 14-12.

Francis Marion started the scoring in the first inning on a two-run homer by Kleinknecht. Wallace hit a solo home run in the next at-bat for a 3-0 lead. Preston Shuey added a run-scoring single before the end of the first frame.

Limestone started to cut the Patriots’ lead in the bottom of the inning. Tim Welsh bunted with the bases loaded to score lead-off hitter Greg Dailey. Joe Maloney walked as Aldo Mendez was credited with a run.

The Saints’ narrowed FMU’s scoring advantage to one in the second. Drew Lydon hit a two-out single to score Dailey from third base. Lydon tied the game at 4-4 in the fourth inning with another two-out RBI single as Mendez scored from second base.

The Patriots took the 6-4 lead in the fifth. The bases were loaded when Tyler Boyd reached on a Limestone error, with two runs scoring. In the sixth, Jared Barkdoll had a run-scoring single with two outs on the board. Graves followed up with a home run that resulted in an 8-4 advantage for the visitors.

A single by Wallace put the Patriots up by six (10-4) in the eighth inning. FMU scored two more runs in the frame. The first was on a passed ball, and the second was on an RBI single from Taylor Norfleet.

The Saints tallied another run in the ninth frame as Dailey scored on a single by Lydon.

Dailey and Lydon each hit 4-5 on the day, with Dailey scoring three runs and Lydon posting three RBIs. Dailey also had three stolen bases. Maloney stole twice, and Lydon, Mendez, and Justin Moore also had a stolen base apiece. Mendez was 1-5 with two runs scored. He also saw time as a pitcher in the final inning, as he recorded two strikeouts.

Fifteen pitchers saw action in today’s game, with eight of those being from Francis Marion. Brandon Forshee got the win after working 1 1/3 innings. He allowed no hits and posted one strikeout. Tyler Lehman led the Patriots’ staff with three strikeouts in the seventh and eighth innings.

The Saints’ Michael McAbee got off to a rocky start in the first inning as the Patriots scored four runs, but recovered to only allow one hit in the remaining three innings he pitched. Kyle Matheney entered the game in the fifth, and was credited with the loss after giving up the game-winning sixth run. He allowed two hits in 2/3 of an inning. Clint Howell and George Hardin each worked 1 1/3 innings for Limestone. Howell allowed two hits and no earned runs, while Hardin gave up a run. Talon Rawls and Ryan McKenzie each pitched a 1/3 of the eighth inning, with Mendez closing out the final frame of the contest contest.

The Patriots were led by Wallace, who batted 4-5 with 2 RBIs and 4 runs scored. Graves was 3-5 with 2 runs and an RBI, while Barkdoll was 2-4 with an RBI and 3 runs scored.

The Patriots host Columbus State for a three-game series on March 21-22 in Florence, S.C.

By Michael G. Hawkins