Claflin Host Bluefield State in Baseball Series

Orangeburg, S.C. – The Claflin University baseball team will host Bluefield State College in a three-game series this weekend at Historic Mirmow Field.
The series kickoffs on Friday (Feb. 15) with the opener at 4 p.m., followed by the second and third games on Saturday (Feb. 16) and Sunday (Feb. 17), respectively. Both games start at 1 p.m.

This will be the fourth series meeting between Claflin and Bluefield State with a total of eight games played. The series is deadlocked at 4-4.

In last year's three-game set in Orangeburg, Bluefield State won the first two games by scores of 8-7 and 9-3. The Panthers avoided the series sweep by pounding out 25 hits in a 21-6 routing of the Big Blues.

Both teams will bring winning records into this year's matchup as Claflin is 4-3 after taking 2-of-3 games from Salem University last weekend.

As for Bluefield State, the Big Blues are 3-1 following a double-header sweep of Lincoln University (Pa), 11-4 and 14-3, last weekend in Cary, N.C. The lone defeat for Bluefield State came to area foe Voorhees College.

The Panthers are led offensively by Clyde Parker and Gerardic "Rod" Dobbs with 12 hits apiece. Parker leads the team in hitting at .545 with a home runs and 9 RBIs, while Dobbs is batting .480 and a team-high 10 RBIs.

Craig Hopkins, who leads Claflin in home runs at two, is hitting .474 at the plate followed by Eric McElveen with a .458 batting averages.

As a team, Claflin is hitting .325 in seven games with 75 hits, 58 runs, 93 total bases and 12-for-12 in the stolen base department.

On the mound, Cleveland Westbrook and Dillon Parker are the top pitchers for the Panthers. Westbrook is 1-0 after striking out 15 Francis Marion University batters in his only appearance of the season.

Dillon Parker, also 1-0 in two outings, has pitched 13 innings and recorded 13 strike outs.

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Players Mentioned

#17 Craig Hopkins: OF; 5' 8"; Junior; L/L

#26 Clyde Parker: C; 6' 1"; Junior; R/R

#10 Dillon Parker: P/OF; 6' 0"; Junior; L/L

#13 Eric McElveen: 1B; 5' 11"; Freshman; R/R

#21 Cleveland Westbrook: UTIL; 5' 7"; Junior; R/R

Players Mentioned

#17 Craig Hopkins
: 5' 8"; Junior; L/L
: OF

#26 Clyde Parker
: 6' 1"; Junior; R/R
: C

#10 Dillon Parker
: 6' 0"; Junior; L/L
: P/OF

#13 Eric McElveen
: 5' 11"; Freshman; R/R
: 1B

#21 Cleveland Westbrook
: 5' 7"; Junior; R/R
: UTIL