LAURINBURG — The Fighting Scots were patient at the plate on Friday and it paid dividends.

Heading into the bottom of the fourth inning the Scots and Lumberton were knotted 3-3. The Scots plated two runs in the fourth on a single by Nic Callahan, a long fly ball by Matt Sellers and a single up the middle by Daly Marcano.

After the single by Marcano, Lumberton made its first of three pitching changes. Starter Kris Allen, who tossed three inning allowing five runs off three hits with one error and six strikeouts, was replaced by Seth Odum.

Odum closed the fourth inning with a strikeout to Tyler Faulk.

Fighting Scots starter Daly Marcano saw four Pirates batters in the top of the fifth but no harm came from a Scots fielding error.

In the fifth, Odum saw eight batters before he was replaced.

The inning off with a single up the middle by Austin Norton. A ground out by Storm Graham gave the Pirates their first out of the inning. Scots designated hitter Trey Armstrong reached after being hit by a pitch before the Scots loaded the bases with a walk to catcher Zac Phillips.

A fly out to left by senior Davon Ratliffe made it two outs with the bases loaded. Callahan hit a two-run single up the middle to give the Scots a 7-3 lead.

A walk to Sellers and Marcano reloaded the bases before Faulk hit a single to right to drive in two more runs and extend Scotland’s lead to 9-3. Norton returned to the plate and drew a walk before freshman Stewart Evans was hit by a pitch to load the bases for a third time.

Lumberton dug deeper into it’s pitcher roster and Odum was replaced by Tyler Jacobs. In his one inning of work, Odum allowed six runs off two hits with five errors and four walks.

Jacobs managed to close out the inning with a fly out to Armstrong.

In his final three batters of the game, Marcano had a ground out, fly out and a walk before hitting his pitch limit. Marcano allowed three runs off six hits with three walks and six strikeouts. Norton came on in relief and picked up the final out with a fly out to center field.

Scotland closed out the game in the bottom of the sixth inning scoring the final two runs to activate the 10-run rule. The inning started with a double to the left field wall by Phillips followed by three straight walks to Ratliffe, Callahan and Michael Johnson. A single up the middle by Graham pushed the final run across to seal the 13-3 win for the Scots.

With the win, the Fighting Scots improve to 13-8 overall and 7-5 in conference play while Lumberton drops to 5-12 overall and 3-9 in SAC-8 play.

The Fighting Scots were slated to host Richmond on Tuesday for Senior Night, but due to the forecasted rain the game and the senior festivities have been moved to Wednesday, April 25 at 7 p.m. The Scots will have one day to rest before traveling to Rockingham on Friday to close out the regular season.

Amber Hatten-Staley can be reached at 910-506-3170 or [email protected].

Amber Hatten-Staley | Laurinburg Exchange Fighting Scots senior pitcher Daly Marcano threw 5 2/3 innings allowing three runs off six hits with three walks, three errors and six strikeouts. Marcano picks up the win and moves to 6-2 overall for the season.
https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_IMG_1401.jpgAmber Hatten-Staley | Laurinburg Exchange Fighting Scots senior pitcher Daly Marcano threw 5 2/3 innings allowing three runs off six hits with three walks, three errors and six strikeouts. Marcano picks up the win and moves to 6-2 overall for the season.

By Amber Hatten-Staley

Sports editor

Scotland

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Lumberton

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