Baseball Day Four: Presbyterian Claims Championship with 13-5 Win over Tusculum
April 27, 2003

Courtesy Newberry College Sports Information Office

Barkley's Tenth Victory Gives PC Tournament Title
Box Score

NEWBERRY, S.C. – Presbyterian College hit two home runs and Richard Barkley got his tenth win of the season as the Blue Hose won out in four games including a 13-5 victory over Tusculum to claim the 2003 Food Lion / South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament, hosted by Newberry College at Kirkland Field Sunday.

The Blue Hose (27-24) got on the board first in the bottom half of the first inning with a run on a solo homer by center fielder Kevin White (Spartanburg, S.C.), his 12th of the season and his 35th of his PC career, making him the all-time leader for the school. White passed current Blue Hose assistant coach Elton Pollack for the school record. The junior also has hit safely in 39 consecutive games. He led the team in batting for the tournament (9-for-18), with two home runs and a tournament-best nine RBI (tied with Carson-Newman’s Ricky Luttrell). White’s 1.056 slugging percentage (19 total bases in 18 at-bats) was the tournament-high.

The Blue Hose scored twice more on three hits, a walk and a throwing error in the second to take a 4-0 lead.

In the top of the third, Tusculum (33-18) answered back with a two-run homer by catcher George Hanger (Staunton, Va.), who blasted a 2-1 pitch down the left field line to cut the Blue Hose lead in half.

Presbyterian got the runs back and added an extra one on a three-run homer to right field by third baseman Jonathan Wyman (Duluth, Ga.) to give PC a 7-2 lead.

PC scored twice more in the fourth and four more times in the sixth to get to 13 runs, its highest production of the tournament.

The Pioneers managed to push across a run in the fifth on a pair of doubles. Center fielder David McMahon (Knoxville, Tenn.) hit a leadoff double and scored on a one-out RBI double by designated hitter Guy O’Connell (Perth, AUSTRALIA).

Tusculum hit back-to-back homers in the seventh to start the inning. Shortstop Robbie Bouman (Sterling, Va.) hit a leadoff blast, his tenth of the year. Bouman’s 20 bases led the tournament, while he and PC’s White both had a tournament-best four doubles. O’Connell followed the Bouman blast with his league-leading 21st homer of the season, a Tusculum single-season record. O’Connell’s big-fly gave him 65 RBI for the season, one shy of the TC single-season mark. He led the tournament with three homers and five walks.

PC starter Richard Barkley (Sumter, S.C.) was the only pitcher to get two wins in the tournament and only the second pitcher to start two games for the weekend (Catawba’s Chris Abernathy being the second). Barkley lasted six innings and allowed five hits and four walks to get his tenth win of the season (10-4). He struck out four batters in his performance.

O’Connell started and took the loss for Tusculum as the Pioneers were low on pitching. Tusculum played three nine-inning contests the previous day and had the potential for two more if they had beaten PC in the game Sunday. O’Connell lasted only two innings as the pitcher, allowing four hits and a walk. He gave up four runs with one strikeout in the loss (2-2). The Pioneers finish their season. Pioneers head coach Doug Jones sets his career-high at Tusculum with 33 wins, which is two shy of the school record of 35 back in 1995.

Both teams await an uncertain future to see if they are invited to the NCAA regionals.