Mount Olive, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs fell 6-1 to the Patriots of Francis Marion University on day two of the 2011 NCAA Southeast Regional baseball tournament Friday afternoon at Scarborough Field. The number two seed Patriots (38-15 overall) advance to day three of the regional tournament. Wingate ends its season at 34-22 overall.
Michael Wilson had a homer and three RBI to lead the FMU attack.
Brian Paulhus was two-for-four with an RBI and two runs scored, while
Preston Shuey added an RBI for the Patriots.
Junior outfielder
Casey Allison (Horse Shoe, N.C.) provided the Wingate offense with a solo homer in the seventh. Freshman infielder
Cody Shelton (Charlotte, N.C.) had two hits for the Bulldogs. Senior catcher
Taylor Honeycutt (Indian Trail, N.C.) and redshirt sophomore first baseman
Brian Yeung (Raleigh, N.C.) each had doubles for the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament champions.
The Patriots took advantage of two Wingate errors in the fourth, plating the game’s first run. Wilson provided the big blow in the fifth, lining his first homer of the year down the line in right field, making the score 4-0. An RBI single from Shuey in the seventh put FMU on top by five.
The Bulldogs scored their lone run in the seventh, when Allison hit a towering drive to left, his 10th homer of the season to make cut the Wingate deficit to 5-1. An RBI single from Paulhus in the eighth pushed the Francis Marion lead back to five.
The Bulldogs would not go quietly, loading the bases in the ninth for the top of the order. FMU reliever
Patrick Mincey induced a foul-out, while ending the game with back-to-back strikeouts.
Jeffrey Stoner got the win, improving to 9-0 overall. He allowed one run on five hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out two and walking three. Wingate sophomore right-hander
Justin Somers (Wilmington, N.C.) took the loss, falling to 7-4 overall on the year. He allowed four runs on four hits in six innings, striking out five.
(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
