DUE WEST, S.C. (Feb. 13) – The Salem International University baseball team was limited to one hit in its 8-1 loss to Erskine College Friday afternoon at Grier Field.
 
The loss drops the Tigers to 0-7 overall on the young season, while the Flying Fleet, the Conference Carolinas No. 2 seed in 2014, improves to 6-0 overall.
 
Erskine broke through in the third inning with a pair of runs on three hits. The Flying Fleet was poised to tack on more, but freshman pitcher Kevin Ortiz-Arroyo (Orlando, Fla./Cypress Creek), the reigning Great Midwest Conference Pitcher of the Week, stranded a pair of runners to limit the damage.
 
After Erskine extended its lead to 3-1 in the fourth inning, junior centerfielder Joe Drago (Albany, Ind./Delta) got the Tigers on the board with an RBI-single that scored classmate Cody Whitmer (Elmira, N.Y./Elmira Free Academy) to pull Salem International within two runs.
 
The Flying Fleet added a run in the sixth and four more insurance markers in the eighth and held the Tigers without a base-hit in the final four innings to collect the win.
 
Ortiz-Arroyo (0-3) took the loss for Salem International. The Orlando native allowed four runs on 11 hits and struck out four over six innings of work. Wes Schuler (1-0) earned the win for the Fleet, while limiting the Tigers to one run on one hit with six strikeouts over five innings.
 
Salem International will look to rebound tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 14 when they play two against the Flying Fleet. First-pitch of game one is scheduled for noon. Live stats of the game will be available here.