NEWBERRY, S.C. – Sixth-seeded Wingate University scored seven runs in the first two innings and held off a late-inning rally to defeat the No. 2 Presbyterian College Blue Hose 7-5 in an elimination game at the South Atlantic Conference baseball tournament Friday afternoon at Bill Harvey Field.

Wingate opened the scoring with three runs in the first inning and four runs in the second, beginning each rally with two out. After junior first baseman John Spencer was hit by a pitch, senior left fielder Andrew Romberger and senior right fielder Chris Torres hit back-to-back home runs for a 3-0 lead.

In the second inning, Spencer doubled home senior second baseman Stuart James, and Romberger followed with his second round-tripper of the game, this time a three-run shot to increase the Bulldog lead to 7-0.

Presbyterian began its rally in the fourth frame when sophomore Kevin White hit his 17th home run of the season to come within 7-2.

With the score 7-3 in the ninth inning, White put another pitch over the fence with a runner on to pull the Blue Hose even closer, 7-5. Junior Davis Rice reached base via a single and Kenny Campbell was hit by a pitch to bring the winning run to the plate. With that, Wingate brought in closer Louis Mitcham, who earned his eighth save of the season with one pitch, inducing freshman Jordan Taylor into a game-ending double play.

Wingate senior Robert Stover (4-3) went seven innings and allowed three runs on five hits and struck out nine. PC starter Mark Dudley (7-4) pitched just 1.2 innings and gave up seven earned runs and six hits. Sophomore Travis Hill pitched 6.1 innings of one-hit relief.

Wingate (28-22-1) advances in the elimination bracket to face No. 1 seed Carson-Newman College at 8:30 p.m. on Friday. Presbyterian ends their season at 25-29.

Food Lion Spring Sports Festival - Game 6
Presbyterian College vs Wingate University
Apr 26, 2002 at Newberry, S.C. (Bill Harvey Field)

Presbyterian College 5 (25-29)        Wingate University 7 (28-22-1)
Player                     AB R H BI  Player                     AB R H BI
------------------------------------- -------------------------------------
Keagan Broussard lf........ 4 0 0 0   Stuart James 2b............ 4 1 1 0
Tombo Hite 2b.............. 4 0 0 0   Toby Bicknell 3b........... 3 1 0 0
Matt Warren 1b............. 4 2 1 0   John Spencer 1b............ 3 2 1 1
Kevin White rf............. 3 2 2 4   Andrew Romberger lf........ 4 2 2 5
Davis Rice ss.............. 4 1 2 0   Chris Torres rf............ 3 1 2 1
Heath McCutcheon dh........ 3 0 0 0   Andrew Connor cf........... 4 0 1 0
 Brian Prahl ph............ 1 0 0 0   David Yount ss............. 3 0 0 0
Kenny Campbell 3b.......... 3 0 1 1   Brandon Wright dh.......... 1 0 0 0
 James Gritter pr.......... 0 0 0 0   Sherman Greer ph/dh....... 2 0 0 0
Dusty New c................ 3 0 1 0   Chad Emery c............... 4 0 0 0
 Jordan Taylor ph.......... 1 0 0 0   Robert Stover p............ 0 0 0 0
Chris Turco cf............. 2 0 0 0   Ken Pasour p.............. 0 0 0 0
Mark Dudley p.............. 0 0 0 0   Louie Mitcham p........... 0 0 0 0
 Travis Hill p............. 0 0 0 0
Totals.....................32 5 7 5   Totals..................... 31 7 7 7

Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Presbyterian College 000 200 102 - 5 7 1
Wingate University.. 340 000 00X - 7 7 1
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E - Davis Rice(3); Yount(4). DP - Presbyterian 1; Wingate 2. LOB - Presbyterian 3;
Wingate 5. 2B - Matt Warren(5); Davis Rice(4); Dusty New(3); Spencer(4); Torres(3).
HR - Kevin White 2(7); Romberger 2(7); Torres(4). HBP - K. Campbell; Bicknell;
Spencer; Wright. CS - Davis Rice(3).

Presbyterian College        IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Dudley L,7-4......... 1.2 6 7  7  0  0 0  0  2   0  11 13  2 3
Travis Hill .............. 6.1 1 0  0  2  6 1  0  1   0  20 23  5 7

Wingate University          IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert Stover W,4-3....... 7.0 5 3  3  2  9 0  0  0   0  25 27  5 6
Ken Pasour ............... 1.1 2 2  1  0  0 0  0  1   0   6  7  1 2
Louie Mitcham S,8......... 0.2 0 0  0  0  0 0  0  0   0   1  1  0 1

WP - Travis Hill(3). HB - Mark Dudley 2; Travis Hill; Pasour.
Strikeouts - Tombo Hite; Matt Warren 2; Kevin White; McCutcheon 3; K. Campbell;
Chris Turco; Bicknell; Romberger; Connor; Yount; Greer; Emery. Walks - Kevin White;
Chris Turco; Torres; Yount.

Start: 12:50 pm Time: 2:30 Attendance: 86
Stover faced 1 batter in the 8th.