Wallace grounds Flying Fleet as Patriots win record 12th straight

FLORENCE, SC - Junior designated hitter Jacob Wallace drove in three runs with a homer, single, and ground out to help 14th-ranked Francis Marion University set a school record with its 12th consecutive win as the Patriots downed Erskine College 7-2, Monday afternoon (April 27) in non-conference baseball action.

FMU ends its regular season with a 33-13-1 record. The Flying Fleet, who play at Armstrong Atlantic State University on Tuesday at 3 p.m., drop to 35-16. Francis Marion will now break for semester exams before heading to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament, May 9-10 in Aiken, S.C.

Senior third baseman Keon Graves, honored along with three other seniors prior to the game, was 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Junior middle infielders Barrett Kleinknecht and Josh Biggers each had two hits for the Patriots.

Wallace extended his hitting streak to 13 games with solo homer in the fourth, while Kleinknecht stretch his hitting streak to 12 contests. The previous FMU record for consecutive wins was 11 set in 2006.

Junior left-hander Jeremiah Meiners (6-1) won for the sixth time in seven decisions with 6.1 quality innings. He allowed just one run on eight hits. Junior righty Brandon Forshee made his team-leading 27th appearance and pitched the final 2.2 innings.

Left fielder Greg Huff and designated hitter John Bolding were both 2-for-4 to pace Erskine. Right-hander William Buzhardt (5-6) was saddled with the loss after allowing five runs in 4.2 innings of work.

Right fielder Bryan Fogle’s RBI single to centerfield gave Erskine a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Francis Marion responded with seven unanswered runs over its next six frames. Bolding drove in Erskine’s other run with a ninth-inning RBI single.

Right fielder Alex Lee tied the game at 1-1 with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third inning. Wallace’s home run and a run-scoring single by Preston Shuey gave FMU a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth. The RBI groundout by Wallace and an RBI single by Graves pushed the Patriot advantage to 5-1 in the fifth inning.

Wallace added an RBI single in the seventh and Martin Gordon scored on a passed ball in the eighth to account for the final two Patriot tallies.

Going back to Sunday’s doubleheader sweep of St. Andrews Presbyterian College, Wallace is 9-for-his-last-12 with seven extra-base hits.