Panthers, Trojans share SEC baseball title

FAIRFIELD - Mt. Pleasant baseball wasn't supposed to compete for the Southeast Conference baseball title this year. Fairfield and Washington were bringing back loads of talent from 2018, and the Panthers were filling their lineup with fresh faces straight from the junior varsity squad. After splitting games Monday, the Panthers are co-SEC champions.

The Panthers had to bounce right back after getting walked off on a two-run single by Kosta Papazoglou in Game One. That gave Fairfield a 3-2 victory and at least half of the conference crown. Mt. Pleasant bounced back with a thrilling 6-5 win in Game Two to earn their piece of the pie.

'They're fighters,” MP head coach Brent Broeker said. 'The three seniors kind of pulled them all together.”

Mt. Pleasant held a 2-1 lead after four innings in the opener, grabbing the advantage on a bases-loaded, two-run single by Corbin Broeker. That lead held until the bottom of the seventh when disaster struck.

Fairfield's Drew Martin led off the seventh with a double to left-center field. Carter Ferrel singled on a bunt attempt, and after a wild pitch put two in scoring position, Papazoglou sent the game-winning line drive to left.

In the second inning of the second game. Mt. Pleasant turned a two out and nobody on situation into five runs, which included another two-run single by Broeker and an RBI single by Nik Coble. Starter Jaxon Hoyle went one-two-three in the second, giving Mt. Pleasant a 5-0 lead after two frames.

'We can trust Jaxon on the mound. He's a great pitcher,” said Anderson, one of the team's three seniors. 'Our mindset was there. We knew that in order to get the split and be conference champs, we needed to get it done.”

Hoyle didn't give up a hit in any of the first five innings, but when the sixth rolled around, the Trojans found a chink in Mt. Pleasant's armor. Fairfield batted through the lineup, scoring five runs and tying the game on an RBI-single by Kaden Jones.

Chase Williamson stepped to the plate in the top of the seventh and hustled out an infield single to lead off the seventh. Broeker bunted him over. Coble blooped a double to left, and an intentional walk to Lowery loaded the bases for Hoyle. Hoyle scored Williamson on an RBI groundout and the Panthers had the lead again, at 6-5.

Hoyle stepped back on the mound for the bottom of the seventh and delivered yet another 1-2-3 inning, his fifth perfect frame in seven tries and Mt. Pleasant clinched a seemingly unlikely share of the SEC crown.

'This team is one of my favorite teams that I've ever been on,” said Trace White, another senior. 'Getting to play with all the younger players, and they're all stepping up and playing positions they don't normally play. I'm a senior and I'm playing a position that I don't normally play. It's always fun to see us work together to achieve one goal, and that's win.”

The win moved the Panthers to 17-6 overall. They ended their SEC schedule at 12-4.

Fairfield is 18-4, 12-4.