No. 14 Gaston College splits road DH at No. 5 Walters State to take overall series win

Gaston College's No. 14-ranked baseball team took a three games to one victory in huge non-conference series with No. 5 Walters State on Saturday afternoon after the teams split a doubleheader.

The Rhinos lost a 7-6, 8-inning heartbreaker in Saturday's opener before winning 9-3 in five innings in the nightcap.

It came after Gaston College swept the Senators by 3-1 and 3-2 scores on Friday afternoon at Gastonia's Sims Legion Park.

"When you walk out there with a split and win a series 3-1 that's a really, really positive weekend," Rhinos head coach Shohn Doty said.'

Gsaton College trailed 6-0 in Saturday's opening game before scoring three times in the fifth and sixth innings to force extra innings.

In the bottom of the eighth, the host Senators took the one-run victory by drawing three walks and one hit batter against two Gaston College relievers.

In the nightcap, the Rhinos trailed 2-1 after two innings before tying the score in the third inning and scoring three times in the fourth inning and five more runs in the fifth to wrap up a series victory against a program that has won 14 Region 7 titles, made 11 National Junior College Athletic Association World Series appearance and won the 2006 national title.

Evan Vandenbosch threw a six-hitter with seven strikeouts in the nightcap.

And Brandon Crabtree (3 hits, 2 doubles, 3 RBIs), Ben Karpowicz (2 doubles, 3 RBIs), Jackson Berini (2 hits, home run, 5 RBIs), Seth Christmas (2 hits, 1 RBI) and Trent Murchison (2 hits, double) led the Rhinos' offense on Saturday.

"Resilient is the word of the day for us," said Doty, whose team switched venues from Gastonia's Sims Legion Park and its 330 foot, 360 and 330 dimensions for Walters State's 310-foot distances down both foul lines. "We knew it would be a challenge to play. It's a completely different game at their park than it is at ours - and the ball really flies.
"The bottom line is that we did a great job of bouncing back in both games."

The Rhinos (6-1) not begin a stretch of 21 straight home games at Gastonia's Sims Legion Park that begins Wednesday with a 1 p.m. game against Fayetteville Tech.

In the opener, veteran Walters State head coach David Shelton picked up his 500th win.

"Coach Shelton is such a class act and I'm happy for him and have a great deal of respect for his program," said Doty, whose team has won four of the seven games between the teams in the last two seasons. "While it was a tough loss for our team in the first game, it was a milestone win for coach Walters. They have a really good club and a great program that's kind of a measuring stick for us.
"I really enjoy playing those guys and I'm hoping that's a series we'll continue."