Nobles Homers 4 Times As FMU Splits Twinbill With Barton

WILSON, NC – Senior designated hitter Darius Nobles hit four home runs and drove in seven runs to help power Francis Marion University to a doubleheader split with Barton College, Sunday (March 6) in Conference Carolinas baseball action. Nobles homered twice and drove in four as FMU won the opener 8-5. The Bulldogs won the second game 13-12 with a run in the bottom of the ninth after senior right fielder Will Hardee had tied the game with a two-out grand slam homer in the top of the ninth.
FMU (10-8, 3-6) will return to Cormell Field at Sparrow Stadium to host local-rival Coker University for a three-game series Friday through Sunday (March 11-13).
Nobles went 2-for-4 in the opener, while senior first baseman Leniel Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. Senior third baseman Todd Mattox extended his streak of safely reaching base to 61 games going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI in game one, and 3-for-6 in the second game.
FMU freshman Robbie Jordan (2-1) started on the mound and picked up the win. The right-hander went 4.2 innings (in the seven-inning contest), giving up five runs, three earned, on eight hits, while allowing two walks and striking out four. Senior righty Nick Palumbo threw two scoreless innings while allowing one hit, with no walks and one strikeout to earn his four save.
The Patriots got on the board in the first frame with one run on a Mattox sacrifice fly. FMU exploded for four runs in the third, highlighted by a three-run home run off the bat of Nobles.

After Barton narrowed Francis Marion's lead to 5-1, Nobles hit a solo shot in the fifth to make the margin 6-1.
The Bulldogs fought back, closing the gap to 6-5, before Francis Marion added some insurance runs in the sixth on Gonzalez's two-run homer.
In the second contest, the Patriots put together a ferocious comeback, scoring four runs in the ninth inning, but falling when Barton then scored on a Colby Warren walk-off RBI-single to grab the 13-12 win.
Junior right-hander Ben Thornton (0-1) came out of the bullpen for FMU and took the loss.
In the batter's box, the Patriots were led by Hardee, who went 2-for-5 with a double, a home run, a walk, and five RBIs. Nobles went 2-for-4 with another pair of home runs, a walk, and three RBIs. Gonzalez went 4-for-6 with his second home run of the day.
The Patriots were trailing 4-0 in the third inning when they first put runs on the board thanks to Hardee's RBI-double with two outs. The Bulldogs expanded their lead to 5-1 before the Patriots offense got back to work, cutting into that lead in the fourth and creeping to within 5-4.
FMU kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard before rallying to grab a 7-5 lead in the fifth. The Patriots scored three times, with home runs from both Gonzalez and Nobles. Francis Marion surrendered the lead they built in the fifth, but got back on the scoreboard in the seventh trailing 9-7. The Patriots scored on Nobles' leadoff dinger against freshman pitcher Michael Yuille, narrowing the Barton lead to 9-8.
Barton expanded their lead to 12-8 before Hardee's two-out heroics in the ninth knotted the score at 12-12.