Cobras Fall to Trojans in Conference Double-header

by Christian Stryker, SID Coker College
4/4/2009

Hartsville, S.C. - Mount Olive took home a pair of wins on Saturday, defeating the Coker Cobras 14-3 in game one and 4-2 in game two. The wins improve the Trojans to 22-16 overall, and 8-6 in the conference, while Coker falls to 17-19 on the year and 4-11 in the conference.

Game One
Dominate pitching and hitting led to a 14-3 win for the Trojans of Mount Olive. Ryan Williams (East Preston Nova Scotia) was lights out on the mound, holding the Cobras hitless through his six innings of work, while striking out six and earning his second win of the season (2-2). Helping Williams at the plate were all of the Mount Olive hitters, as they combined for 14 runs off 19 hits.

Leading the Trojans at the plate was Alex Vertcnik (Princeton, Nova Scotia) going a perfect 5-for-5 with a double, a triple, two RBIs and a run scored, while Kevin Kearney (Fife, WA) was 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored. Also collecting multiple hits for Mount Olive were Jonathan Smith (Niagara Falls, NY) with a home run and two runs scored, Tyler Smith (Kinston, NC) with three RBIs and a run scored, and Dylan Holton (Princeton, Nova Scotia) with a pair of RBIs and a pair off runs scored.

For Coker at the plate, Kyle Walker (Centralia, IL) and Brinley Griffin (Port St. John, FL) each had a hit with an RBI, with Griffin hitting a triple, while Karl Ankersen (Mt. Pleasant, SC) and BK Harfst (Arvada, CO), and Matthew Kearnes (Bay Shore, NY) each had hits.

Michael Rogers (Florence, SC) (4-2) took the loss, allowing six runs on seven hits in two and two-thirds innings of work.

Game Two
Game two was a pitchers duel, between Coker's Jesse Hatchell (Florence, SC) and Mount Olive's BJ Dail (Raleigh, NC) and Paul Novicki (Pink Hill, NC), with Mount Olive winning thanks to four runs in the first two innings.

The Trojans plated four runs in the first two innings, before Hatchell (2-4) found his groove and shut the door, but it was Dail's (6-0) four innings of three hit baseball and Novicki's (1) three innings of one hit ball that led to the Trojan win. Dail earned his sixth win of the season, allowing just two runs on three hits with three strikeouts, while Novicki picked up his first save of the season with three innings of work with three strikeouts. Hatchell took the hard loss, tossing a complete game, scattering six hits that led to four runs with three strikeouts.

Kyle Hinrichs (Pullman, WA) led the Trojan offense with a 2-for-3 game, while Kearney was 1-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored and Holton was also 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.

For the Cobras, Jessie Crockett (North East, MD) was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI, while Griffin was also 1-for-3. Ankersen and Kearnes were each 1-for-2 with runs scored for Coker.

Coker and Mount Olive will complete their three game series on Sunday; at 1:00 p.m. Coker will honor their nine seniors with a ceremony prior to the game.