YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. –
Jaiden Warde went 4-for-7 with a double, five runs batted in and he scored two runs as Flagler College swept a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader at No. 20 (
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division II Top 30) Young Harris College Saturday afternoon at Zell B. Miller Field. Flagler won the opener 5-4 and took game two 9-7.
Flagler improved to 14-10 overall and 7-1 in the Peach Belt. The Saints snapped a four-game losing streak to the Mountain Lions and this was the first doubleheader sweep by Flagler since the series started in 2015. Young Harris had its nine-game winning streak snapped and fell to 17-7 overall and 6-2 in conference play.
In the opener, the Saints trailed 4-3 going into the top of the ninth inning.
John Fiorenza started the rally with a one-out double to the gap in left-center. Warde followed with a base hit to score pinch runner
Griffin Garcia. A passed ball moved Warde to second base and
Tyler Keith drove him home with a single to left-center to put the Saints ahead.
Dylan Faulkner came in to pitch for Flagler in the bottom of the ninth and got two quick outs. He allowed a walk, but got the next batter to fly out to secure his second save of the year.
Anthony Nofi (2-0) picked up the win in relief as he tossed two-thirds of an inning. He walked a batter and fanned another.
Gage Voorhees started and scattered nine hits and allowed four runs in 7 1/3 innings.
The 6-8 hitters went 6-for-10 and drove in all five runs. They scored three runs. Keith hit a pair of singles and finished with three RBI. Warde went 2-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and he knocked two more in. Fiorenza went 2-for-3 with a double and he scored a run.
Young Harris closer McLain Harris (4-1) allowed two runs, one earned, and three hits in his one inning of work.
Noah Fitzgerald led the Mountain Lions going 2-for-3 with a triple, a run batted in and he scored a run. Logan Worley collected two singles.
In the second game, Young Harris scored four runs in the third to take a 7-5 lead, but Flagler took advantage of some defensive miscues by the Mountain Lions to score two runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
Mason Gray hit a two-run single in the fourth to tie the game.
In the fifth,
Ashton Thomas led off with a double down the left field line.
Luke Welborn followed by reaching on an errant throw by the YHC third baseman and Flagler had runners at second and third. The Mountain Lions committed six errors. Fiorenza lifted a sacrifice fly to right-center to plate Thomas with the go-ahead run. Warde hit a single up the middle to score Welborn with the insurance run.
Gabriel Partridge (2-2) finished the final five innings to earn the win. He scattered four hits and allowed one run. Partridge struck out five batters.
Warde singled twice and drove in three runs. Newland picked up a pair of singles and scored a run. Thomas had a pair of hits and scored twice.
Travis Burnette (3-1) took the loss for Young Harris. Of the seven runs he allowed, only one was earned. He surrendered seven hits.
Mark Castle collected three singles and had one RBI. Jackson Jones went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI.
The same two teams close out the series with a single game tomorrow at noon.
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