Story courtesy of College of Charleston sports information
College of Charleston 16, High Point 4
Mt. Pleasant, S.C. -- Joey Friddle collected four hits, including a school record-tying three doubles and Graham Godfrey struck out nine in his College of Charleston debut as the Cougars cruised to a 16-4 win over High Point in their season opener before 447 at Patriots Point Field on Friday.
The Cougars are 1-0, while the Panthers fell to 2-2. The win was the 215th all-time for Cougar coach John Pawlowski tying him with Ralph Ciabattari for the most in school history. Pawlowski is 215-136-1 in his seventh season with Charleston. Ciabattari posted a 215-217-1 record over nine campaigns.
Friddle, a transfer from South Carolina, scored the game's first run in the opening inning. Friddle doubled with one out and eventually scored on Chris Campbell's single to right. Friddle, who scored three runs, added a two-run double in the third and a RBI double in the eighth that scored Clay McCord.
Friddle becomes the sixth player in school history to record three doubles in a game and the first since teammate Jess Easterling collected three in a 24-4 win over Appalachian State last spring.
Phillip Coker added a pair of hits in five at bats and scored three times, while Easterling had two hits and four runs batted in. As a team, the Cougars pounded out 14 hits and stole seven bases, including three by McCord.
Charleston scored four times in the first inning, twice in the second, then grabbed a 9-4 advantage with a three-run third inning.
Godfrey (1-0), a sophomore transfer from Wallace State-Hanceville Community College, picked up the win allowing four runs, three earned, on three hits over the first six innings of work. Godfrey and McLaughlin combined for 12 strikeouts over eight innings.
High Point got one hit each from J. Williams, Chris Norwood, Eric Marion, Ryan Laboy and Alfie Wheeler.
Tom Boleska (0-2) suffered the loss allowing nine runs on eight hits over five innings.
Game two of the series is Saturday at 1:00.
Story courtesy of South Carolina sports information
South Carolina 5, Elon 4 (11 inn.)
COLUMBIA, SC -- Robbie Grinestaff's muffed potential double play ground ball scored Chris Brown in the bottom of the 11th inning Friday and South Carolina edged Elon 5-4 in the baseball season opener for both teams.
The second of the three game series is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., Saturday at Sarge Frye Field.
South Carolina trailed 4-1 after 5 ? innings but Gamecock relief pitcher Andy Lambert and Shawn Valdes-Fauli retired 17 of the final 18 Phoenix batters to hold Elon scoreless into the extra innings.
Valdes-Fauli retired all of the eight batters he faced to earn the win. Freshman right-hander Tom Porter, the fifth Elon pitcher, took the loss.
Chris Brown beat out an infield hit to open the Gamecock 11th inning. Cheyne Hurst laid down a bunt and beat it out for his fifth hit in his first game as a Gamecock. He is a junior from St. Petersburg junior College. Reese Havens sacrificed the runners to second and third for the first out and Neil Giesler was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Grinestaff hit a ground ball to Elon second baseman Donny Jobe who flipped the baseball to shortstop Paul Bennett attempting to end the inning with Elon's fourth double play of the game. Bennett muffed the throw for an error as Brown crossed the plate with the winning run. Since a ground ball double play cannot be assumed the run was earned.
Elon jumped out to a two run lead in the first inning. Jobe reached on an error. Bennett's bunt went for an infield hit and Chris Price got the first of his three hits to load the bases with no outs. Grant Rembert's single scored Jobe and Bennett.
South Carolina cut the deficit to one run in the fourth innings when freshman Justin Smoak drove in Giesler with a single but Elon got the run back in the fifth to make it 3-1. Jobe singled, stole second and scored on a hit by Price.
Adam Wheeler doubled, moved to third on a hit by Ryan Addison, and scored on a wild pitch to widen the lead to 4-1 in the sixth inning. Addison's hit was the 10th and final hit of the game by Elon as the only Phoenix base runner over the final five innings was a ninth inning walk to Price.
Michael Campbell was hit by a pitch with two outs in the Gamecock sixth, moved to second on a walk to Smoak and scored South Carolina's second run on a single by Mark Stanley.
The Gamecocks tied it at 4-4, with two seventh inning runs. A single by Hurst, a walk to Havens and a single by Giesler loaded the bases. Hurst scored on an infield hit by Grinestaff and a sacrifice fly by Campbell drove in Havens to tie the score.
South Carolina had 12 hits in the game, all singles. `In addition to five by Hurst, Giesler and Stanley had two hits. Elon had 10 hits including doubles by Price and Weaver. Price led Elon with three hits and Bennett had two.
Story courtesy of Wofford sports information
Liberty 4, Wofford 1
SPARTANBURG, SC ? Liberty University’s Michael Solbach and Phillip Thompson combined to throw a two-hitter as the Flames opened their season with a 4-1 win over Wofford on Friday afternoon at Russell C. King Field.
Solbach (1-0) scattered two hits through the first five innings and struck out five. Thompson threw four innings of hitless relief to earn his first save of the season.
Mike Just staked the Flames to a 1-0 lead when he homered to lead off the game.
Liberty added a solo run in the second when Chad Miller walked, stole second, and then scored on an overthrow when he attempted to steal third.
Wofford cut the lead to 2-1 in the fourth as Brandon Waring drew a one-out walk and scored from first on a double down the left field line by Adam Wood.
Liberty scored once in the fifth when Aaron Grijalva opened the inning by reaching on an error. He stole second and moved to third on a single by Phillip Laurent before scoring on a suicide squeeze by Paul Keller. Liberty’s final run in the eighth was the result of a walk, a single by Errol Hollinger and an infield ground out from Just.
Besides Wood’s RBI double in the fourth, Wofford’s only other hit was a leadoff single by Zach Pittman to start the fifth. But he was wiped out by a fielder’s choice on the next play.
Austin Redwine (0-1) took the loss for the Terriers. He allowed five hits in five innings while striking out seven.
Wofford and Liberty will play game two of the series Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. The series will conclude Sunday afternoon with a single game at 1 p.m.
Story courtesy of The Citadel sports information
Virginia 5, The Citadel 3
Conway, S.C. ? The Citadel tried to rally in the late innings but it was not enough as freshman David Adams led Virginia to a 5-3 victory over the Bulldogs in the first game of the Springmaid Beach Resort Tournament hosted by Coastal Carolina at Charles Watson Stadium. In his collegiate debut, Adams went 2 for 3 with a home run and two RBI. Sophomore Chris Swauger and freshman Sonny Meade paced the Bulldogs with two hits apiece.
Virginia jumped out to an early lead as they pushed two across the plate in the first inning. Mike Mitchell led off with a walk and then advanced to second on a single to left off the bat of Brandon Marsh. A double steal moved the runners to second and third for Sean Doolittle. Doolittle then hit a sac fly to left to send Mitchell across the dish and Brandon Guyer stepped in for another sac fly to give the Cavaliers a 2-0 advantage.
The Cavaliers tacked on two more runs in the third. With two outs, Guyer doubled through the left side. Adams belted a home run over the left field wall on a 3-2 count for his first collegiate dinger to put Virginia up 4-0.
The Citadel got on the board in the fourth as Trent Weathers led off the inning with a base hit up the middle. Matt Covington moved him over with a sacrifice bunt before Chris Swauger ripped a single into left to send Weathers home and cut the Cavalier lead to three.
The Bulldogs threatened again in the fifth as freshman designated hitter Sonny Meade lined one up the middle with only one out. Cavalier second baseman David Adams mishandled a throw that allowed Mashak to reach first and moved Meade over to third. Starter Mike Ballard got Virginia out of trouble as he forced Tripp Cappelmann to ground into a double play to end the inning.
Designated hitter Tom Hagan picked up a RBI to put the Cavaliers up 5-1 in the sixth. Guyer reached on an error by shortstop Matt Matulia and then stole second. A single by Adams put Guyer on third before Hagan grounded into a double play to send Guyer across the dish.
The Dogs battled back in the seventh to add two more. Meade smacked a base hit up the middle to lead off for The Citadel. Third baseman Matt Arnold was issued a free pass before Mashak earned a sacrifice bunt to put the runners in scoring position. Cappelmann reached on a fielding error by Adams, his second of the day, which also allowed Meade to run home. Center fielder Trent Weathers then had a RBI groundout to plate Arnold and make it 5-3, which would prove to be the final score.
Ballard got the win in his first outing of the season, giving him an 11-5 career record. The senior lefty went seven innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs while striking out four and walking one. Senior Ryan Owens suffered the loss for the Bulldogs for a 0-1 start. Owens tossed five frames, scattering three hits and four runs while fanning one and walking three.
Cavalier reliever Casey Lambert picked up his first save of the season as he held the Dogs scoreless and fanned two. Citadel junior Justin Smith also got some late inning work as he pitched three innings in relief. Smith only allowed two hits and struck out four.
The Bulldogs will be back in action on Saturday, February 11 at 11:30 a.m. as they face the Campbell Camels in their second and final game of the Springmaid Beach Resort Tournament.