Gaston College sweeps home doubleheader to open 4-game Region 10 series

Gaston College did not complete its first weekend series in Region 10 Division I baseball due to inclement weather, departing USC Sumter with a 1-1 split after two games were rained out.

That put added importance on the home opener Saturday in league action, with the Rhinos hosting USC Lancaster at Sims Legion Park.

Both teams entered the four-game weekend with glittering overall records (17-3 for the Lancers and 22-3 for the Rhinos) and 1-1 marks in conference play.

After taking both games Saturday on a cool but sun-splashed day, winning 12-2 and 10-3, Gaston College has its sights set on a weekend sweep. "It's a big series, our first home series in Division I, and we wanted to put ourselves in a good position," Rhinos coach Shohn Doty said. "We don't want to have to look up at anybody."

Gaston College accomplished that objective in the usual fashion, grinding down the opposing pitching staff with relentless offensive pressure while benefiting from solid work from its own mound corps.

In the opener, the Rhinos bruised Lancers ace Jeff Hays for five runs in the third inning and sent him to the dugout in the fourth with four runs.

"We knew their first guy (Hays) sets the tone, and I thought we did a great job," Doty said. "We got five or six runs off him and then they had to go to their bullpen. We were able to open it up and get our running game going. We did a good job on the bases."

Konni Durschlag went 3-4 with three RBIs to lead a 14-hit attack. Eight of the nine starters hit safely, with Adam Quintero (2-4, RBI), J.D. Yakubinis (2-3, two RBIs), and Preston Hall (3-3, two RBIs) also collecting multiple hits.

The game ended on the 10-run mercy rule in the bottom of the fifth on a Yakubinis sacrifice fly that plated Wade Kelly.

Miller St. John got things started in the game-turning third inning with a lead-off triple off the fence in left field and scored on Durschlag's one-out single.

After a Yakubinis single and a Hall RBI double, Enrique Wood blasted a three-run home run, his first round-tripper of the season, over the left field fence.

In the fourth, Adam Quintero and Hall delivered run-scoring doubles, and Yakubinis knocked in a run with a single.

Rhinos starting pitcher J.D. Everett was working on a shutout until the top of the fifth, when the Lancers pushed across two runs, one of which was unearned. Everett improved to 5-1 with the win, and he struck out eight batters in going the distance.

Third baseman Quintero turned in a defensive gem in the fourth inning when he knocked down a hard grounder, scooped up the ball bare-handed and threw off balance in time to retire the baserunner at first.

First baseman Eddie Olmeda had two of USC Lancaster's four hits in the game.

In the second game, the Rhinos waited a bit later to break the game open. The knockout inning came in the bottom of the sixth when Gaston College pushed across six runs to extend a 4-1 lead to a 10-1 cushion.

St. John had a run-scoring single to start the big inning, and Wade Kelly followed with an RBI double. Yakubinis (home run), Quintero (single) and Trey Truitt (single) also drove in runs during the inning.

Quintero went 3-4 with two RBIs to pace an 11-hit attack. Truitt had a solo homer and finished 2-4 with two RBIs. Hall, Kelly and Yakubinis contributed two RBIs each.

Rhinos starting pitcher Nolan Straniero got sharper as the game wore on. The right-hander struck out the side in the top of the fifth and finished six innings of work with 11 strikeouts, one walk and two hits allowed.

Alex Jankowski pitched the seventh inning out of the bullpen.

The series concludes Sunday with another doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.