No. 14 Gaston College sweeps visiting No. 5 Walters State

A matchup of two of the country's top junior college baseball lived up to the advance billing on a sun-splashed Friday at Gastonia's Sims Legion Park as No. 14 Gaston College swept a doubleheader over No. 5 Walters State by 3-1 and 3-2 scores.

"I'll really happy with what we were able to do against a really good team," said Gaston College head coach Shohn Doty, whose Rhinos complete the four-game series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Walters State on Saturday.

In Friday's doubleheader sweep, Gaston College (5-0) was flawless defensively and got solid efforts from each of the seven pitchers it used while taking advantage of eight hits, eight walks and two hit batters to produce six runs.

"We know we have to be better offensively," Doty said. "But credit their pitching staff as well.
"The recipe for success again held true for us. We played outstanding defense. Caleb Estes played really, really well at shortstop and Murch (Trent Murchison) made some plays in centerfield. We threw a guy out at the plate.
"And, from a pitching standpoint, I don't know how much better we can be. That team is No. 5 in the country for a reason. They're really, really good offensively and for us to hold them to three runs in 14 innings says a lot about our staff."

In the opener, Rhinos' starter Mason Smith limited the visitors to five hits, one run and one walk while striking out four in four innings before reliever Wagner Morrissette threw two scoreless innings to get the victory and Landon Carr retired the side in the seventh for the save.

Sean Sullivan (2 hits, double), Estes (RBI double) and Trevor Lucas (RBI single) led the offense with Estes' RBI single in the fifth inning driving in what proved to be the winning run.

Defensively, shortstop Estes handled four grounders, third baseman Lucas started a fourth-inning double play and first baseman Freddie Oliver gunned down a Walters State runner at the plate to catcher Seth Christmas after a base hit in shallow right field.

In the nightcap, starter Calvert Clark threw five scoreless innings with three strikeouts before the Senators scored twice off relievers Shane Thorson and J.J. DeVos before Carr picked up his second save of the day with 1-2-3 seventh inning. DeVos retired two batters in the sixth to pick up the victory.

Gaston College's offense was efficient as four walks and a hit batter was turned into two runs in the fourth inning and a walk, a hit batter, a base hit and two wild pitches allowed Tyler Burke to score the decisive run in the sixth inning.

Defensively, Estes ran down a foul pop up deep into foul territory in the first inning, left fielder Burke caught a fly ball for one out and fired to Christmas to gun down a runner trying to score on a tag-up in the third inning and centerfielder Murchison had a diving grab of a liner in left center in the fourth.

"At the end of the day, the work's not done," said Doty, whose team departs for Walters State at 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning. "We've got to figure out a way to go over there and steal a game and win the series. That's what it's all about. I hope our guys come out tomorrow with the same intensity as today."