No. 14 Gaston College baseball falls in season-opening DH to nationally-ranked opponent

No. 14 Gaston College's baseball team suffered a doubleheader sweep defeat to No. 17 Walters State on a sun-splashed Saturday at Gastonia's Sims Legion Park in front of a crowd of approximately 250 fans.

The visiting Senators, a longtime National Junior College Athletic Association power, scored first in both games and their pitchers stranded a combined 15 Gaston College baserunners to secure the victories.

"We're appreciative of that kind of a crowd," Gaston College coach Shohn Doty said. "It says something about our program and it was a good atmosphere and a great day to play."

The Rhinos fell behind 3-0 after 4 1/2 innings in the opener and 7-0 after 5 1/2 innings in the nightcap.

While Gaston College rallied each time, the deficit was too great to overcome.

"I knew this was a talented team but it's also a young team," said Doty, whose 42-player roster has 32 freshmen. "And we showed our age and inexperience."

Seven different pitchers saw time on the mound and limited the Senators to 14 hits.

Offensively, Jackson Toberman had a monster day with six hits, including two doubles, and three RBIs.

Other hitting standouts were Joey Nicholson (4 hits, 2 doubles) and Jackson Berini (2 hits, triple, 3 RBIs).

Gaston College plays again on Sunday in a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Walters State.

"It's going to be a really hard task to go over there and win tomorrow," Doty said. "But at the end of the day, I think playing good opponents is going to make us better for down the road. We'll take these two losses, get on a bus at 6:15 tomorrow morning and try to return the favor."

The Rhinos' next home game next Saturday at 1 p.m. for a doubleheader against Catawba Valley Community College.