Baseball hosted Bryant & Stratton College in a three-game conference series. Saturday was Military Appreciation Day at JP Riddle Stadium as the All-Veterans Parachute Team jumped in the game ball. CSM Daniel Scott and Colonel K. Chad Mixon threw out the first pitch of the series along with the Fayetteville State ROTC who posted the colors for the singing of the National Anthem by SSG Kiari Mhoon.
The Trojans are now 19-24 overall and 10-17 in conference play as they enter their last three weeks of regular season games.
FTCC vs. Bryant & Stratton:
Game One- 4-6, Loss
The Bobcats took an early lead scoring three runs in the first inning. They scored two more in the third and one more in the fifth to lead 6-0 going into the back half of the game.
The Trojans scored their first run in the seventh inning. Devin Outlaw (Jacksonville, FL) hit a leadoff single and Koa Kloehs (Suwanee, GA) was hit by pitch. Cole Feldman (Midlothian, VA) singled on a bunt to load the bases with no outs. Charlie Sindahl (Savannah, GA) grounded into a fielder’s choice to plate Outlaw from third.
Outlaw started another rally for the Trojans in the bottom of the ninth with a leadoff walk and Kloehs singled to put runners on the corners. Sindahl hit a one out single to put two Trojan runners across the plate. Lucca Pascarella (Eastover, NC) hit an RBI ground ball to put the Trojans only down by two with two outs. The Bobcats were able to get out of the inning taking game one.
Kloehs led the Trojans going 2-3 and Clayton Bloomstran (Atlanta, GA) had a double.
Jack Anderson (St. Simmons Island, GA) started on the bump throwing three innings and Lucas Morgan (Florence, SC) finished the final six innings.
Game Two- 2-9, Loss
The seven inning contest started with a Bobcats lead. They scored six runs before the Trojans got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth.
Bloomstran led off with a double and Zamar Lewis (Dublin, NC) and Pascarella hit back to back singles to score Bloomstran.
The Trojans scored their other run in the seventh. Pascarella was hit by pitch with one out before Josiah Harrison (Chesterfield, VA) hit a double to left field. Randy Leonardo (Jersey City, NJ) had an RBI single to score the second and final run for the Trojans.
They had ten hits to score their two runs, with Myles Odom (Pleasant Garden, NC), Lewis and Feldman all going 2-4.
Jacob Chavis (Pembroke, NC) got the start on the bump throwing 3.2. Jackson Rosser (Broadway, NC), Sebastian Bentiez-Martinez (Fayetteville, NC) and Garrett Arnold (Fuquay-Varina, NC) all came on in relief.
Game Three- 8-11, Loss
The Trojans had 15 hits to score their eight runs. Odom and Feldman each went 3-5 in the contest. Outlaw had two doubles and Lewis had one.
The Trojans took the lead in the second when they scored their first run. Evan Walker (Jacksonville, FL) hit a two out single to score Feldman who singled earlier in the inning.
The Bobcats took the lead in the third but the Trojans responded by scoring three themselves to take the lead back in the bottom of the third.
JJ Faulkner (East Arcadia, NC), Odom and Bloomstran started the inning off with three singles. With one out, Harrison and Feldman hit two more singles to tie the game up at three. The Trojans took the lead back on an RBI ground ball from Kloehs.
The Bobcats plated six runs in the fourth to pull ahead with a 9-4 lead.
The Trojans scored two more in the six on a single from Odom who scored Walker and Outlaw who reached on a walk and double at the beginning of the inning.
The game was pulled within one run when the Trojans scored two more in the bottom of the eight. Faulkner singled and Odom was hit by pitch. With one out, Lewis doubled to center field for an RBI and Harrison hit a sacrifice fly at the fence to make the game 8-9.
Two insurance runs were scored in the top of the ninth for the Bobcats and the Trojans were unable to respond in the bottom of the inning.
Baseball is back at home this Wednesday for a midweek game against Rockingham Community College at 3:30pm. They will travel to Richard Bland College this weekend for their next conference series. Games will be a doubleheader Friday at 2pm and a single game Saturday starting at 1pm.
