DUE WEST, S.C. (Feb. 13) - The Tigers were dealt a three-game sweep at Erskine by scores of 14-2, 10-2 and 9-1 Friday and Saturday afternoons in non-conference play.

The losses send the Salem International University baseball team to an 0-5 start to the season. Meanwhile, the Flying Fleet, who were tied for second in the Conference Carolinas preseason poll, improve to 8-2 overall.

The Tigers jumped out to a lead in the second inning of game three on Saturday, before a pair of big innings propelled Erskine to a 9-1 win.

In the second inning, senior third baseman Santino Alteri (Watertown, N.Y./Immaculate Heart Central) connected on a base hit up the middle with one out and stole both second and third base. Freshman first baseman Cody Crawford (Jacksonville, Fla./Trinity Christian) drove in the run on a two-out single that snuck through the right side of the infield to give the Tigers the 1-0 lead.

The Flying Fleet tied the game in the third with a two-out RBI of their own, but senior pitcher Zack Skipper (Las Vegas, Nev./Faith Lutheran) kept the game evened up until the fifth inning. The first two batters in the fifth inning were retired before a pair of singles, a hit batter and a three-run home run put Erskine in front 5-1 after five innings.

The Fleet added another four-run inning in the seventh to chase Skipper, and the Tigers were held without a hit for the final seven innings to close the game.

Skipper (0-2) took the loss after allowing nine runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and one walk through 6.2 innings of work.

Erskine posted a six-run first inning in the second game of the series and notched runs in five of their six innings at the plate in the Tigers 10-2 loss in the first game on Saturday.

Salem International had an opportunity to bounce back in the top of the second inning after it loaded the bases with no outs. The inning was limited to two runs following a pair of RBI groundouts and a strikeout that stranded a runner in scoring position, making the score 6-2 after one and a half innings played.

The Tigers scattered a pair of hits over the next two innings, but were retired in order in the final three frames to close out the game.

Junior Talon Kunkel (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan/Centennial Collegiate) was saddled with the loss. Kunkel (0-1) allowed 10 runs on 15 hits with three strikeouts over five innings.

Alteri led the team with a pair of hits, while junior catcher Sean Deviney (Lehigh Acres, Fla./Riverdale) and sophomore second baseman Colten Boudreau (St. Clements, Manitoba/Selkirk) each tallied a RBI in the loss.

Salem International began play at Erskine on Friday with a 14-2 loss in the series opener.

The Flying Fleet plated five runs in the first inning to take the early lead. The Tigers cut into the deficit with a pair of runs in the third inning behind a two-RBI double by junior outfielder Matthew Flores (King City, Calif./King City), but the Salem offense only produced two more hits in the game's final six innings.
Meanwhile, Erskine scored eight runs over the third, fourth and fifth innings to pull out of reach from the Tigers.

Senior C.J. Atherton (Newark, Ohio/Mount Vernon) took the loss after allowing five runs (four earned) with a strikeout in the first inning.

Flores and freshman shortstop Logan Steinle (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) each finished with two hits in the loss, while Alteri collected the other Tiger base hit.

Alteri, who went hitless in three at-bats last weekend at Barton, finished the series 4-of-9 at the plate to improve his batting average to a team-best .333 through five games. The Watertown, New York native collected at least one hit in all three games in the series.

The Tigers will return to South Carolina this Friday, Feb. 19 when they head to Tigerville, South Carolina for a three-game series at North Greenville at 3:30 p.m.