Game Three
Sparks and Blevins ignite Bucs 15-hit effort
CHARLESTON, S.C. Ed Sparks and Travis Blevins each collected three hits, a home run and three RBI to led fourth-seeded East Tennessee State past fifth-seed UNC Greensboro, 11-7, in Game Three of the 1999 Wendy's / Pepsi-Cola Southern Conference Baseball Tournament on Wednesday at Riley Park in Charleston, SC.
The Spartans struck first with three runs in the first inning, highlighted by Corey McDonald's two-run triple. The Bucs scored in each of the first five innings to take control of the game. Sparks and Shannon Carter hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning and Blevins added a two-run homer in the fifth to build a 9-3 Buccaneer lead.
UNC Greensboro threatened with four runs in seventh, including a two-run homer by Jeremy Purcell. But the Bucs added two runs in the eighth to seal the victory.
Matt Baber (12-3) struck out eight in his 11th complete game of the season, tying a conference record. He also set an ETSU record with his 12th victory of the year.
Taft Cable (6-3) shouldered the loss after allowing five earned runs in 2.1 innings of work.
Blevins recorded his 28th mutli-hit game of the season, while Brandon Eierman extended his hitting streak to 14 games. The Buccaneers belted three home runs in a game for the sixth time this season.
ETSU's win is its first opening-round victory in the tournament since 1996.
The Bucs advance to the 7:30 p.m. winners bracket game, while UNC Greensboro falls into the 1:00 p.m. losers bracket game.
UNC Greensboro vs East Tennessee State (May 19, 1999)
Box score
1999 Southern Conference Baseball - NCAA Box Score
UNC Greensboro vs East Tennessee State
May 19, 1999 at Charleston, SC (Riley Park)
UNC Greensboro 7 (29-25)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Brandon Weber ss......... 5 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
Rick Capretta lf......... 4 0 2 1 1 0 1 0 0
Jeff Smith cf............ 5 2 2 0 0 1 2 0 0
Jeremy Purcell rf........ 5 2 1 2 0 1 2 0 3
Jesse Martin dh.......... 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
Corey McDonald 1b........ 4 0 2 2 0 1 10 0 0
Mark Oetjen 2b........... 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 1
Bill Stone c............. 2 0 0 0 0 1 5 1 0
Austin Grissom ph....... 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Michael Krekorian c..... 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0
Steve Mokan 3b........... 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 2
Taft Cable p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Aaron Horne p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Everett Hancock p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Ted Toler p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 38 7 10 5 1 8 24 10 6
East Tennessee State 11 (29-23)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Travis Blevins ss........ 5 3 3 3 0 0 0 4 0
Rodney McLain cf......... 4 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0
Brandon Eierman lf....... 5 1 2 0 0 0 2 1 1
Rusty Swackhamer rf...... 4 2 2 1 1 1 4 0 0
Lance Torbett 3b......... 5 0 2 2 0 1 1 1 0
Ed Sparks c.............. 4 1 3 3 1 0 8 0 2
Shannon Carter 2b........ 5 2 2 1 0 2 3 1 5
Chuck Dewald dh.......... 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Chad Wallace ph......... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Nathan Copeland 1b....... 3 0 0 0 0 0 7 1 0
Matt Baber p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0
Totals................... 38 11 15 11 2 7 27 10 8
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
UNC Greensboro...... 300 000 400 - 7 10 0
East Tennessee State 123 120 02X - 11 15 4
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E - Torbett, L(21), Sparks, E(7), Carter, S 2(6). LOB - Spartans 6,
Buccaneers 8. 2B - Smith(12). 3B - McDonald(3). HR - Purcell(11), Blevins,
T(2), Sparks, E(9), Carter, S(8). HBP - McLain, R, Dewald, C. SH -
Oetjen(7), Copeland, N(2). SB - Capretta(9), Smith(28), Blevins, T(7),
McLain, R(13).
UNC Greensboro IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Taft Cable.......... 2.1 7 5 5 1 3 14 15
Aaron Horne......... 1.2 3 3 3 1 1 8 11
Everett Hancock..... 3.1 4 3 3 0 2 13 14
Ted Toler........... 0.2 1 0 0 0 1 3 3
East Tennessee State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Matt Baber.......... 9.0 10 7 4 1 8 38 40
Win - Baber, M (12-3). Loss - Cable (6-3). Save - None.
HB - Horne 2.
Umpires - Home:Jim Whitehead 1st:Gerald Trexler 3rd:Ken Schull
Start: 5:50 Time: 2:46 Attendance: 2395
Game: SOCON3
Game notes:
Game 3 of 1999 Wendy's/Pepsi-Cola Southern Conference Baseball Tournament
Horne faced 1 batter in the 5th.
Play-by-Play
1999 Southern Conference Baseball - Play-by-Play
UNC Greensboro vs East Tennessee State
May 19, 1999 at Charleston, SC (Riley Park)
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
UNC Greensboro...... 300 000 400 - 7 10 0
East Tennessee State 123 120 02X - 11 15 4
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UNC Greensboro - inning 1
Weber flied out to rf. Capretta walked. Smith reached on a fielder's choice
to third base; Capretta out at second 3b to 2b. Smith stole second, advanced
to third on a throwing error by c. Purcell reached on a fielding error by
2b; Smith scored, unearned. Martin reached on a fielding error by 3b; Purcell
advanced to second. McDonald tripled to right field, 2 RBI; Martin scored,
unearned; Purcell scored, unearned. Oetjen grounded out to ss. 3 runs, 1 hit,
3 errors, 1 LOB.
East Tennessee State - inning 1
Blevins, T singled to right field. McLain, R struck out swinging. Blevins,
T stole second. Eierman, B singled to left field. Swackhamer struck out swinging.
Torbett, L singled to left field, RBI; Eierman, B advanced to second; Blevins,
T scored. Sparks, E flied out to cf. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
UNC Greensboro - inning 2
Stone struck out swinging. Mokan struck out looking. Weber popped up to 3b.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
East Tennessee State - inning 2
Carter, S singled to left field. Dewald, C flied out to rf. Copeland, N grounded
out to 2b; Carter, S advanced to second. Blevins, T singled, advanced to second
on the throw, RBI; Carter, S scored. McLain, R singled to center field, RBI;
Blevins, T scored. McLain, R stole second. Eierman, B reached on a fielder's
choice to third base; McLain, R out at second 3b to 2b. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
UNC Greensboro - inning 3
Capretta flied out to rf. Smith struck out looking. Purcell grounded out to
1b unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
East Tennessee State - inning 3
Swackhamer walked. Torbett, L struck out looking. Sparks, E homered to left
center, 2 RBI; Swackhamer scored. Horne to p for Cable. Carter, S homered
to left field, RBI. Dewald, C struck out swinging. Copeland, N popped up to
ss. 3 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UNC Greensboro - inning 4
Martin singled to pitcher. McDonald singled to center field; Martin advanced
to second. Oetjen grounded out to p, SAC, bunt; McDonald advanced to second;
Martin advanced to third. Stone lined out to rf. Mokan flied out to lf. 0
runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
East Tennessee State - inning 4
Blevins, T grounded out to p. McLain, R hit by pitch. Eierman, B grounded
out to 1b unassisted; McLain, R advanced to second. Swackhamer singled to
center field, RBI; McLain, R scored. Torbett, L singled to center field; Swackhamer
advanced to second. Sparks, E walked; Torbett, L advanced to second; Swackhamer
advanced to third. Carter, S flied out to lf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
to third.
UNC Greensboro - inning 5
Weber flied out to rf. Capretta singled to third base, bunt. Smith flied out
to lf. Capretta stole second. Purcell lined out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors,
1 LOB.
East Tennessee State - inning 5
Dewald, C hit by pitch. Hancock to p for Horne. Copeland, N grounded out to
c, SAC, bunt; Dewald, C advanced to second. Blevins, T homered to left field,
2 RBI; Dewald, C scored. McLain, R flied out to cf. Eierman, B flied out to
rf. 2 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UNC Greensboro - inning 6
Martin struck out swinging. McDonald struck out looking. Oetjen grounded out
to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
East Tennessee State - inning 6
Swackhamer grounded out to 2b. Torbett, L grounded out to 3b. Sparks, E singled
to left field. Carter, S struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
left field.
UNC Greensboro - inning 7
Grissom pinch hit for Stone. Grissom singled to right field. Mokan popped
up to 2b. Weber singled through the right side; Grissom advanced to second.
Capretta singled, out at first lf to ss to 2b to 1b, RBI; Weber scored; Grissom
scored. Smith doubled down the lf line. Purcell homered to right center, 2
RBI; Smith scored. Martin grounded out to ss. 4 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
East Tennessee State - inning 7
Krekorian to c for Grissom. Wallace, C pinch hit for Dewald, C. Wallace, C
struck out swinging. Copeland, N grounded out to 2b. Blevins, T grounded out
to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UNC Greensboro - inning 8
McDonald out at first 1b to p. Oetjen struck out swinging. Krekorian struck
out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
East Tennessee State - inning 8
McLain, R grounded out to 2b. Eierman, B singled up the middle. Swackhamer
singled through the right side; Eierman, B advanced to third. Toler to p for
Hancock. Torbett, L grounded out to p, RBI; Swackhamer advanced to second;
Eierman, B scored. Sparks, E singled to center field, RBI; Swackhamer scored.
Carter, S struck out looking. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNC Greensboro - inning 9
Mokan grounded out to p. Weber flied out to cf. Capretta reached on a fielding
error by 2b. Smith singled up the middle; Capretta advanced to second. Purcell
struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB.