Wilson – North Greenville baseball won its first-ever regular season Conference Carolinas title on Friday, solidifying it with a sweep of Barton College.

The Basics

• Game One: Crusaders – 8 / Bulldogs – 1
• Game Two: Crusaders – 14 / Bulldogs – 3
• Records: North Greenville 38 – 6 (20 – 3) / Barton 12 = 35 (4 – 18)
• Location: Fleming Stadium (Wilson, North Carolina)

How it Happened

• The Crusaders held a slim 2 – 1 lead heading into the sixth inning. Jared Williams picked up a second-inning RBI to put NGU up 1 – 0 while Connor Grant scored Josh Black on a sac fly in the third to extend the lead to two.
• The Bulldogs scored their only run of the game in the fourth inning on a wild pitch but the run cut NGU’s lead in half.
• North Greenville added some insurance two innings later on a pair of extra-base hits from Jeff Chandler and Andrew Plunkett.
• Chandler delivered an RBI double that brought around John Jones while Plunkett delivered a two-run bomb later in the frame to score Chandler, making it 5 – 1.
• A three-run eighth inning was highlighted by a pair of RBI singles from Cameron Norgren and Josh Black. Both singles scored a run while Plunkett added a third run as he scored on a Barton throwing error.

Inside the North Greenville Box Score

• Blake Hamilton earned the win for NGU in game one throwing six innings, allowing one earned run on four hits. Hamilton struck-out three batters in the process.
• Josh Black led the offense going 3 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored.
• Plunkett finished 2 for 2 with two runs and two RBI while Jeff Chandler was 2 for 4 with two runs and an RBI.

How it Happened (Game Two)

• The Crusaders got off to another slow start in game two but starter Ethan Garner kept the Bulldogs in check for much of the game.
• The Crusaders scored a run in each of the second and third innings on a Ryan Brown sac fly and a Utah Jones RBI single to take a 2 – 0 lead.
• The Bulldogs once again cut the lead in half, this time using a solo homer in the fifth inning to make it 2 – 1.
• The Crusaders wiggled out of any more trouble and answered with a huge sixth inning.
• The inning started with a John Jones Homer that scored Utah Jones and made it 4 – 1 in favor of the Crusaders.
• Jeff Chandler added a second two-run blast to extend it to 6 – 1 while Andrew Plunkett delivered an RBI single later in the frame.
• The big inning was highlighted by four extra-base hits including three homers, a third coming from Ryan Brown with scored two runs and extended the lead to 13 – runs (14 – 1).
• Barton Scored a pair of runs in the seventh inning but the Crusaders were in no danger working out of any more damage as Avery Greer slammed the door.

Inside the North Greenville Box Score

• Garner earned the win and improved to 7 – 1 on the season after tossing five innings of one-run baseball. Garner allowed just one hit and finished with nine punchouts.
• The Crusaders had 11 – hits as a team with three doubles and three home runs.
• Ryan Brown and Utah Jones led the charge with a pair of 2 for 3 performances. Each had three RBI and a pair of runs scored.
• Jeff Chandler was also 2 for 3 with two RBI and two runs scored along with Connor Grant who was 2 for 3 with two runs and an RBI.
• John Jones was 1 for 4 with three runs batted in.

Next Time Out

• The Crusaders wrap up the regular season tomorrow with a 12 pm first pitch against Barton.