Patriots host Cougars in key PBC baseball series; Tennis entertains GCSU

FLORENCE, SC – The nationally ranked Francis Marion University baseball and men’s and women’s tennis teams will host contests on Saturday (March 21).

The 15th-ranked FMU baseball team will entertain Columbus State University for a key three-game Peach Belt Conference series this weekend. The two squads will play a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. and a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m. Admission to FMU’s Cormell Field is $5 for adults and $2 for students.

Francis Marion is 18-8-1 overall and in third place in the PBC standings with a 6-4 mark, one-half game behind second-place Columbus State (15-10, 5-3).

Senior third baseman Keon Graves leads FMU with a .484 average, six home runs, and 26 runs batted in. He currently owns a seven-game hitting streak. Senior catcher Jared Barkdoll is hitting .382 with 15 RBIs and junior shortstop Barrett Kleinknecht is batting .362 with 10 doubles, three home runs, and a team-leading 27 RBIs.

Both FMU tennis teams will play host to Georgia College & State University in Peach Belt action on Saturday at 11 a.m. on the Kassab Courts.

The ninth-ranked Patriots women are 11-2 overall and 4-1 in the PBC, while the 11th-ranked Francis Marion men are 10-2 overall and 2-2 in conference action. The GCSU men (9-1, 5-0) are ranked fourth and lead the PBC standings, while the Lady Bobcats (5-5, 4-4) are ranked 19th.

The 17th-ranked FMU softball team (22-7) is on the road this weekend with a Sunday afternoon (1 p.m.) doubleheader at Queens University of Charlotte.


Michael G. Hawkins