Mount Olive, N.C.----Mount Olive College sophomore right-hander Carter Capps (Kinston, N.C.) tossed a three-hit shutout to lead the second-ranked Trojans past the Bulldogs of Wingate University 6-0 on day one of the 2011 NCAA Southeast Regional baseball tournament. The top-seeded Trojans improve to 42-7 overall, while the ‘Dogs fall to 34-21 on the season.

Mount Olive will take on Columbus State University Friday at 3 p.m. The South Atlantic Conference champion Bulldogs will face Francis Marion University Friday morning at 11 a.m. in an elimination game.
Junior infielder Stephen Rodgers (Sandy, Utah) was two-for-four with an RBI and run scored to lead the Mount Olive attack. Senior outfielder Jason Simone (Utica, N.Y.) was two-for-three with an RBI.

Senior outfielder Cale Rogers (Snow Camp, N.C.), junior outfielder Dodson McPherson (Graham, N.C.) and freshman infielder Cody Shelton (Charlotte, N.C.) had the three hits for the Bulldogs. McPherson’s hit extends his hitting streak to 15 games; he has now reached safely in 50 consecutive contests.

The ‘Dogs looked to threaten early, getting a lead-off single from Rogers, followed by a one-out single from McPherson, putting two on base with one away in the first inning. Capps struck out the next two hitters to get out of the early jam.

The Trojans would not waste their opportunity in the opening frame, getting a hit batsman and single, followed by an RBI single from Rodgers to make the score 1-0. A lead-off walk in the third would come back to haunt the ‘Dogs, as Mount Olive took a 2-0 lead on an RBI groundout from Westbrook.

Mount Olive needed only one hit to plate two runs in the fifth, getting a sacrifice fly and a Wingate error to go on top 4-0. Another RBI groundout in the sixth pushed the lead to five. The final run of the night scored in the eighth inning on a wild pitch, giving the Trojans a 6-0 lead.

Capps allowed three hits on the night and only one after the first inning. He moves to 13-0 overall on the year, as he struck out nine and walked three. Wingate senior left-hander Chris Nelson (Greenville, N.C.) took the loss, falling to 6-4 overall on the year. He allowed four earned runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings of work, striking out four.

(Wingate University assistant sports information director Hugh Patton wrote this article. Patton is a 2006 Wingate graduate with a B.A. degree in Communication Studies.)
Wingate University baseball statistics
http://www.wingatebulldogs.com/custompages/baseball/2011/teamstat.htm