No.7 Trojans Belt Five Home Runs, Defeat Shaw 24-2
 | Article Courtesy MOC Sports Information Dept.
Photography by Troy Herring |
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Thursday, February 19, 2009 - Rich Racobaldo belted two home runs for the second straight game and nationally seventh-ranked Mount Olive used a 12-run sixth inning on its way to a 24-2 victory over Shaw in non-conference baseball Thursday at Scarborough Field. Kyle Hinrichs, Ritchie Franklin and Kevin Kearney also homered for the Trojans.Mount Olive (9-4) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first, highlighted by rbi-doubles by Dylan Holton and Airlon Vinson. The Trojans added two more runs on a passed ball and a wild pitch.
Hinrichs and Racobaldo connected on solo home runs in the second and Joseph Westbrook singled home a run in third to extend the lead to 7-0. Vinson drove in two runs with a triple to straightaway center in the bottom of the fourth and scored on a wild pitch to make it a 10-0 game.
Racobaldo, who hit two home runs Tuesday against Elizabeth City state, added a two-run shot in the fifth to give Mount Olive a 12-0 lead. Racobaldo leads the Trojans with five home runs this season.
Mount Olive's 12-run outburst came after the Trojans replaced seven of its nine starters in the top of the sixth. No. 9 batter Montoya Young had two doubles in the bottom of the sixth, while Hinrichs, Jonathan Smith and Topher Ellis also had two hits apiece in the inning.
Franklin hit a two-run homer over the center field fence for his first hit as a Trojan. Kearney, who walked his first time up in the inning, capped the scoring with a three-run homer, his first of the season. The Trojans sent 14 batters to the plate in the inning.
Hinrichs went 3-for-4 with four runs scored for Mount Olive. Seven other players had two hits apiece in the Trojans' 21-hit attack.
Trojan starting pitcher Sean Lydon struck out the side in the top of the first after allowing a leadoff single, the last two strikeouts coming after Shaw leadoff batter Matthew Mitchell advanced to third. Lydon pitched three scoreless innings, striking out five and retiring nine of the 11 batters he faced.
Brandon Sutton (1-0) retired the side in order in the fourth and fifth innings to pick up the win. David Combs struck out three in two scoreless innings and Paul Novicki sandwiched three strikeouts around a walk in the eighth inning. Chris Nardini pitched the ninth in his first appearance of the season.
Shaw (1-3) avoided the shutout with two runs in the top of the ninth. Cedric Powell tripled home a run and scored on an rbi-ground out. Bears centerfielder Matthew Mitchell, who led off the game with a single, was 2-for-2 with two stolen bases. He also made a diving catch to rob Ellis of a run-scoring extra-base hit in the seventh to hold Mount Olive scoreless for the first time in the game.
Sherrod Fox, the third Shaw pitcher, pitched two scoreless innings for the Bears, striking out two batters with the bases loaded in the eighth.
Mount Olive recorded its highest single-game scoring total since a 21-5 victory over Belmont Abbey last season. The five home runs in a game are the most since hitting five against Coker last year.
