Baseball Recap: Mount Olive Comes Up Short

Mount Olive extended their losing streak to four on Thursday, dropping them down to 2-5. They came up short against the Salem Wildcats, falling 11-1. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Pirates of the 8-3 defeat they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in February of 2025.

Mount Olive saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Skylean Blackwell, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one RBI.

As for Salem, they now have a winning record of 7-6. The result was nothing new for the Wildcats, who have now won six games by ten runs or more so far this season.

On Salem's side, Keaton Roberts made a splash while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run while striking out eight over five innings pitched. Roberts also tossed a walk, which is notable because Salem is undefeated when he allows at most one walk, but 4-6 otherwise. Roberts was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with two stolen bases and two runs. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played.

In other batting news, Shannan Ratliff was incredible, going 3-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, and one double. Those three hits gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Hayden Shankle, who went 2-for-3 with two runs and one stolen base.

The teams didn't have to wait long for a rematch: Mount Olive beat Salem by a score of 15-9 later that day.