UMobile Baseball Opens 2011 With Two Wins

MOBILE, Ala-- The University of Mobile baseball team opened the 2011 season by sweeping a doubleheader from visiting St. Catharine College by scores of 4-2 and 7-1 in a pair of 7-inning games.

Mobile (2-0) and St. Catharine (0-2) will finish the 4-game series with a twin bill Sunday at 12 pm.

In the opener, Chris Peacock (1-0) picked up the win by working 4 innings of 3-hit, 1-run ball. John Ladnier came on to work the final 3 innings for a save, allowing only one run on one three hits. The Patriots' Josh Jillson took the loss after allowing 4 runs on 6 hits in 5 innings of work.

Jeremy Williams finished 3-3 with 2 RBI in his first game with Mobile, while senior catcher Sam Mahoney finished 1-2 with a 2-run home run.

Mobile overcame a rocky start to pick up the 4-2 win, as four Patriots reached in the 1st inning to take a 1-0 lead. They stranded two more runners in the top of the 3rd and Mobile took the lead for good on a 2-run bomb from Mahoney after an infield single from Williams extended the inning.

Williams then added insurance runs in the 5th with a 2-run single up the middle.

In the final game, Corey Fountain (1-0) picked up the victory by working 5 innings of 2-hit, shutout ball, while striking out 4.

The Rams' lineup produced 7 runs on 10 hits and capitalized on 7 St. Catharine errors. Eight different Mobile batters recorded a hit, with Ben Negus finishing 2-4 and Ryan Waltman going 2-3 with 1 RBI. Ryne Phillips added a 2-run double.

After Fountain breezed through a 1-2-3 top of the 1st, the Mobile offense went to work with a little help from the Patriots' defense in the bottom of the 1st. Mobile produced 6 runs on 5 hits and 5 errors in the frame.

Negus started the inning with a double and later scored on an error, while Waltman added a RBI-single and Phillips provided the big blow with a 2-run double to center.