Top-ranked Gaston College rolls to DH sweep on Sunday

After a subpar performance on Saturday by its standards, top-ranked Gaston College's offensive attack came to life in a big way on Sunday.

The Rhinos erupted for 27 runs in a pair of mercy rule-shortened victories in a doubleheader sweep of Region 10 rival USC Salkehatchie at Gastonia's Sims Legion Park.

The 10-0 6-inning and 17-1 5-inning victories improved Gaston College to 35-2 overall and 12-0 in Region 10. The Rhinos have been ranked No. 1 by Dream Big Athletics the last two weeks and No. 2 the last four weeks by the National Junior College Athletic Association and 2-Year Baseball.

"We were back to the offense that we've been," said Gaston College head coach Shohn Doty, whose team has scored in double figures seven times in the last 10 games. "We were on the barrel consistently. We took what they gave us like we've done all year."

Additionally, closer Landon Carr made his first start of the season a successful one in the opener and Wagner Morrissette improved his seasonal record to 5-0 in the nightcap.

"We got really good starting pitching again," Doty said. "Carr, in a different role, was really good and efficient. And then Wags came in and did a really good job."

Carr, who committed to play for Campbell University earlier this week, went five innings yielding one hit and one walk with seven strikeouts to improve to 2-1 on the season. J.J. DeVos retired three of the four batters he faced in the sixth to close out the win.

Morrissette yielded three hits, one unearned run and two walks with four strikeouts before Shane Thorson retired three of four batters in the fifth to close out the win.

On offense, the Rhinos used 17 hits, 14 walks, two hit batters and five USC Salkehatchie errors to score runs in seven of the 10 innings in which they batted.

Trevor Lucas (4 hits, 2 doubles, 4 RBIs), Nathan Williams (2 doubles, 5 RBIs) Ben Karpowicz (2 hits, home run, 2 RBIs), Tyler Burke (2 hits, 1 RBI) and Gabe Simmons (2 hits) led the offense.

The Rhinos had swept Saturday's doubleheader by 8-1 and 7-5 scores, the first game snapping a three-game streak of 10 or more runs.

Gaston College now prepares for a huge four-game series with 1 p.m. doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday against Spartanburg Methodist (28-6, 11-1) at Gastonia's Sims Legion Park.

"Spartanburg is a really good club but we're at home and we expect to take care of business at home," said Doty, whose team is 28-1 at home this season.