By JOSHUA NATOLI
Sports EditorÂ
It appears baseball season is here; well, further down south at least.
The opening of the 2014 season didn’t exactly turn out the way the Golden Knights had envisioned it. During the course of a three game spread in Florence, S.C., Saint Rose was only able to conjure three runs in the contests against the Francis Marion University Patriots.
The first game turned into a blowout quickly, with 10 runs being scored in the first inning alone for the Patriots. They weren’t finished either, as Francis Marion added another eight runs for a total of 18, ending the game in six innings.
To make matters worse, the Golden Knights were left hitless by Patriots left-hander Daniel Barfield in the second game, losing 12-0.
The third game was much kinder to the Golden Knights, even though they lost again 7-2.
Infielder Alex Chandler accounted for the Golden Knights only run in the first game by hitting a sacrifice fly to bring in Conor Ramon.
Marquis Curry of the Patriots swung the bat extremely well. Curry drove in six runs off of three hits, including a double and a home run in the first inning.
Barfield was on his game in the second game. During the course of the no-hitter, Barfield struck out 10 and walked eight on 108 pitches.
The third game saw a much more competitive matchup as the Golden Knights traveled back to Florence to finish up the series. Saint Rose was led by Scott Hladik who finished with an RBI off of a single to third base and Nick Venier tripled in the eighth to drive in a run.
J.D. Crowe paced the Patriots with three RBIs on two hits.
The Golden Knights will head once again to warmer climates over the next few weeks starting Saturday. Richmond, Va. will be the setting for a few series against Post University, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, Mansfield University, and Wilmington University.
