The Barton College baseball team had just finished off a 19-4 thrashing of Claflin (S.C.) University in the second game of a doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at Nixon Field, but the long faces and dejected body language of the Bulldogs told a deeper story.
After erasing a four-run deficit and forcing extra innings, Barton (19-20) dropped the opener 6-4 in eight innings after leaving the bases loaded with nobody out in the seventh against a team that carried only 11 players.
"They outplayed us, they played harder than we did and they just made more big plays," a frustrated Barton head coach Todd Wilkinson said. "We got into extra innings because they started walking some guys, but we got outplayed from the first pitch."
After falling behind 4-0, Barton cut the deficit in half in the fifth when Zach Boyette and Aaron Watkins scored on freshman Sam Pepper's two-out double.
In the seventh, the Bulldogs of Conference Carolinas pushed across two more runs to force extra innings.
Bobby Dorman was hit by a pitch to begin the inning. Travis Holloman and Watkins singled to load the bases with nobody out and Pepper walked to force in Dorman.
A pitching change did Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference member Claflin (14-14) no good as the new hurler walked Michael Parker to tie the game.
With nobody out and the bases loaded, the Bulldogs looked like a lock to push across one more run for the win, but things quickly went south.
Designated hitter John Anderson struck out looking, Corbett popped up a squeeze attempt and catcher David Bunn lifted a harmless fly ball to center field to end the inning.
Claflin's Eric Jordan roped a two-out, two-run double in the top of the eighth to regain the lead for the Panthers, and the Bulldogs went down in order to end the game.
Chris Hill (1-5) took the loss, allowing two runs (both earned) on six hits in three innings. He walked one and struck out three. Claflin right-hander Andy Till notched the win after two innings of hitless relief.
Watkins was the only Bulldog to record two hits.
BIG INNINGS IN BLOWOUT
Barton rolled in game 2 with plenty of help from Claflin.
The Bulldogs scored nine in the second inning to bury the Panthers, who issued 12 walks and committed seven errors throughout the game.
"We were able to have a big inning with a combination of some hits and some errors and walks," Wilkinson said. "And in a seven-inning game, it's hard to recover from a nine-run inning."
Barton lefty John Miller took advantage of the sizable lead and didn't shy away from hitters. Miller, a fifth-year senior, earned his first win of the year after scattering 10 hits and four earned runs over five innings. He notched one strikeout and one walk and was lauded for his aggressiveness.
"The big story in the second game was John Miller," Wilkinson said. "He came in and threw strikes and he didn't walk people.
"I was happy for John. He's a fifth-year guy who's a real hard worker and does a good job with other things for the team too."
Miller said his game plan was simply to attack the strike zone.
"I just wanted to try to get ahead in the count. If you get ahead, hitters get defensive," he said.
It was the first start of the season for Miller and just his fourth appearance overall, a fact not lost on the southpaw.
"It felt very good to be out there," he said. "I'm thankful Coach (Wilkinson) gave me another chance."
Four errors, three walks and a hit batter allowed Barton to score eight more runs in the sixth on just three hits.
Watkins went 2 for 4, scored twice and drove in three runs. Third baseman Derek Thomas, in just his sixth start of the season, also drove in three runs while second baseman Will Johnson went 2 for 3 with three runs scored.
"The kids played hard and I'm happy with getting a win since we only had 11 kids today," Claflin head coach James Randall said. "(Barton's) got a good team, so this was big."
For the Bulldogs, the sting of letting the first game slip away never quite subsided. And even in the second game, Wilkinson wasn't particularly pleased with his team's effort.
"Really for the 15 innings that we played, our ballclub didn't represent their ability," he said. "We just lacked the energy and the focus to win two ballgames."
Barton will attempt to put together a better effort today in another non-conference game against Catawba College in Salisbury.
bhowell@wilsontimes.com | 265-7879