Patriots Get By Trojans, 12-11

ANDERSON, S.C. -- No. 15 Francis Marion University Patriots used three late runs beat the Anderson University 12-11 in a non-conference match-up Wednesday at Anderson Memorial Stadium. Francis Marion is now 19-7, while Anderson drops to 7-22. The Trojans found themselves down 5-0 after the top of the second on two Patriot home runs by Bryan Brown and Keon Graves. Anderson scored five runs on four hits in the second, including an RBI triple by Clint Neville, a double by Andrew Davis and an RBI double by Derek Hipp to tie the game. Francis Marion responded in third to regain the lead at 6-5 with their third and final home run by Jared Barkdoll. The Patriots extended their lead with two more runs in the fourth on an RBI triple by Greg Phelps. Phelps scored on Trojan error to push the lead to 8-5, the largest lead of the game. But Anderson would again respond in the fifth when Neville lead off with a home run to right. Then with two outs Ryan Saxon reached on a two-base error and scored on an RBI single by Josh Grubbs. Hipp followed with an RBI single scoring Grubbs tie the game at eight. In the top of the sixth, Graves lead off with a triple. Graves scored on sacrifice fly by Phelps to give the Patriots a short-lived one-run lead because Blair Carson led off the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run to tie the game at nine. In the seventh, Anderson took their first lead of the game on at 10-9 an RBI single by Walt Quattlebaum. But in the eighth with one out, the Patriots had to singles by Ryan Hypke and Justine Greene to start the comeback. Following an error, Barkdoll singled up the middle to score Hypke and Greene and give the Patriots a 11-10 lead. In the ninth, Phelps singled to score Graves, who reach on a triple, to provide what proved to be the game-winning run and push the Patriot lead to 12-10. Anderson mounted their own comeback in the ninth when Ryan Saxon tripled and scored on a Grubbs sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 12-11, but the Trojans couldn't complete the comeback. B.J. Scarborough, who work two innings giving up three runs, was saddled with the loss for the Trojans, while Zach Farry earned the win for the Patriots in 2 2/3 inning of work allowing just one run. Grubbs, who was 2-for-3 with two RBI and three runs scored, led the Trojan offense. Carson went 3-for-5 with a homerun and two runs scored, and Neville had two hits and two RBI in his five plate appearances. The Patriots attack was led by Barkdoll, who was 3-for-5 with three RBI, and by Graves, who 3-for-5 with two triples and a home run.