DUE WEST, S.C. (Feb. 14) – The Salem International baseball team was dealt a pair of losses by Erskine College, falling by scores of 13-1 and 14-1 Saturday afternoon at Grier Field.
The losses drop the Tigers to 0-9 overall this season, while the Flying Fleet improve to 8-0 overall.
Erskine jumped on Salem International game one freshman starting pitcher
Dolan Kunkel (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan/Centennial Collegiate) early. The Flying Fleet tallied eight first-inning runs and added one in the second and three in the third to take a commanding 12-0 lead.
The Tigers broke through on the scoreboard in the sixth inning when freshman shortstop
Ty Cole (Carmichaels, Pa./Carmichaels) delivered an RBI single to score junior
Cody Whitmer (Elmira, N.Y./Elmira Free Academy) making the score 12-1 after five and a half completed. Erskine regained the run in the bottom half of the frame and held off Salem International in the game's final inning.
The Tigers finished the game with a season-best seven hits offensively and went down on strikes and nearly matched a season-low with six strikeouts. Whitmer and senior catcher
Manny Dominguez (Bronx, N.Y./Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics) each finished with multi-hit games in the loss.
Kunkel (0-3) took the loss on the mound after Erskine pounded out 14 hits in 2.1 innings of work. The Flying Fleet finished the afternoon with only two more hits after freshman reliever
Nick Brumfield (Champmanville, W.Va./Chapmanville) and junior
Joe Preston (Touhy, Neb./Raymond Central) held Erskine to one run over the final 3.2 innings.
The Flying Fleet scored early and often in the second game en route to their 14-1 win over Salem International. Erskine scored in all but one inning and clubbed out 14 hits to deal the Tigers their third loss of the weekend.
Salem International trailed 7-0, before Dominguez drove in classmate
Austin Crocker (Selma, Ala./Dallas County) in the fifth inning. The Fleet added several more runs over the final three innings to claim the series sweep.
Junior
Colton Lankford (Rowlett, Texas/Rowlett) took the loss. Lankford (0-1) allowed nine runs on 12 hits with one strikeout in 6.0 innings of work.
Despite falling to 0-9 this season, the Tigers have faced stiff competition in the process. The combined record of their opponents is currently 24-1, with both Saint Leo and Erskine off to 8-0 starts this season.
Salem International has next weekend off before heading to Peterburg, Va. on Saturday, Feb. 28 to take on Virginia State for the first of two doubleheaders. First-pitch for game one is set for 1 p.m.
