DUE WEST, S.C. – Erskine College broke out the heavy artillery in sweeping a doubleheader from the West Liberty University baseball team here Saturday afternoon at Grier Field.
    The Flying Fleet (7-1) pounded out 31 hits and launched seven home runs to power past Coach Eric Burkle's Hilltoppers (0-3) by scores of 18-6 and 15-6.
    West Liberty's bats were anything but quiet as the visitors continued to work off the winter rust. The Black and Gold collected a total of 23 hits in the twinbill but only seven of them went for extra bases and none left the yard.
    Erskine jumped on WLU quickly in the opener, plating four runs in the first inning and adding five more in each of the next two frames to go up, 14-2, heading into the fourth inning. West Liberty battled the hosts on even terms the rest of the way but the damage had already been done as six of the Flying Fleet's seven circuit blasts came in this game.
    Jared Houser and Colton Coss paced a 13-hit attack for the Hilltoppers with three singles each. Chad Matthus added a double and a single while Tyler Ramsay and Hunter Westlake each had RBI doubles.
    The second game played out in similar fashion as Erskine scored in each of the first four innings to carry a 9-0 lead into the fifth. West Liberty got back in the game with a five-run uprising in the top of the fifth but the hosts answered with five runs of their own in the bottom of the frame to put the game out of reach.
    Dalton Davis drove in two runs for WLU with a double and a single while Jason Schutte added a double, single and RBI. Matthus had two more singles, Eric Banal tripled home a pair of runs and Brian Campbell also tripled in a losing cause.
    The Hilltoppers aren't scheduled to hit the field again until Feb. 21 when they head to Canton, Ohio for a 3 p.m. non-conference game against Malone.
  West Liberty              002 110 2 –   6  13  3
Erskine                        455 310 x – 18  13  0
     WLU: Sinisgalli lp (2SO, 4W), Bernard (2) (0SO, 3W), Padlow (3) (4SO, 2W), Gruber (5) (2SO, 0W) and Rine. Houser 3S, 2rbi; Coss 3S, rbi; Matthus D, S; Rine 2S; Ramsay D, rbi; Westlake D, rbi
     EC: Carter wp (6SO, 1W), McCarthy (5) (1SO, 3W), Remalia (6) (2SO, 0W), Ocerholt (7) (2SO, 2W) and Warken, Smith (4). Warken 2S, D; Heiss 2HR, 4rbi; Wood HR, D, 4rbi; Yniesta HR, D, 3rbi; Karz HR, 3rbi; Everett HR, rbi; Smith D, rbi
  West Liberty              000 050 010 –   6  10  2
Erskine                        241 250 01x – 15  18  1
     WLU: Aulick lp (1SO, 5W), Viakley (3) (2SO, 1W), Taylor (8) (0SO, 0W) and Davis, Fike (8). Davis D, S, 2rbi; Schutte D, S, rbi; Matthus 2S; Banal T, 2rbi; Campbell T; Coss rbi
     EC: Yniesta HR, T, 2S, 4rbi; Warken 4S, rbi; Vizzcorando D, S; Wood 2S, 2rbi; Vella D