Story courtesy of Appalachian State sports information
Appalachian State 11, Army 8
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? Appalachian State University baseball banged out 19 hits in an 11-8 victory over Army on Saturday afternoon at Davidson’s Wilson Field.
Senior Kevin Butler and freshman Wes Borden led Appalachian’s offensive onslaught with four hits apiece in the victory. Freshman Ben Billingsley and junior Chris Baker added three hits each for the Mountaineers.
Freshman right-hander Garrett Sherrill allowed just one earned run on two hits in six innings of work to move to 2-0 on his young career. In two starts, the Kannapolis, N.C., native has compiled a miniscule 0.86 ERA.
After Army put an unearned run on the scoreboard in the top of the first, Appalachian exploded for six runs over the next two innings to grab a 6-1 lead. Seven-straight hits led to a four-run second inning for the Mountaineers.
Appalachian stretched the advantage to 7-1 with a single tally in the fifth, but Army battled back with two runs apiece in the sixth and seventh to cut the ASU lead to 7-5. The Mountaineers regained momentum with a four-run seventh, highlighted by a two-run double from Borden that pushed the Apps’ advantage back to six at 11-5.
Once again, the Black Knights clawed back in the game, as they cut the ASU lead back to three at 11-8 with only one out and a runner on second in the top of the ninth. However, that was as close as it would get, as Mountaineer senior Josh Fish retired the only two batters he faced to record his first save of the season.
With the victory, Appalachian moved to 2-1 on the season for the first time since 1998. Army, an NCAA Tournament qualifier each of the past two seasons, fell to 0-5 on the campaign.
ASU returns to action later Saturday when it squares off with Niagara at 6 p.m.
Appalachian State 7, Niagara 6 (13 inn.)
Story courtesy of Wofford sports information
Wofford 7-9, Albany 3-8
SPARTANBURG, SC ? Wofford freshman J.D. Melton had one of those days that only exist in the minds of youngsters slugging wiffle balls over backyard fences.
The 2005 graduate of Myrtle Beach High School led the Terriers to a doubleheader sweep of the University of Albany on Saturday. Wofford won by scores of 7-3 and 9-8.
Melton picked up the save in the first game then earned the win and slugged the game-winning homer in the nightcap.
In the opener, Wofford scored three times in the first inning. Brandon Waring singled in a run and John Brandt drove in a pair of runs with a single. Albany countered in the fourth with a two-run homer by Nate Olson. The Terriers responded with a run in the bottom of the fourth as Brandt doubled and scored on an in field groundout by Ben Austin to give Wofford a 4-2 lead.
The Terriers broke the game open with three runs in the fifth. Waring drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Brandt nailed a two-run homer to stake Wofford to a 7-2 lead.
Melton entered the game in the top of the seventh with a 7-3 lead but two men on and one out. He quickly induced Olson to ground into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play.
Brandt was three-for-three with four RBUI for the Terriers. Waring finished the game with one hit and two runs batted in. Austin Redwine improved to 2-1 with five innings of work. He scattered eight hits and struck out four.
In the nightcap, Melton started the game at second base and moved to the mound in the sixth in relief of starter Charles Vartanian. Melton, who entered the game with the bases loaded, went two innings and did not allow a hit while striking out one.
With two outs in the bottom of seventh, Melton homered deep to left field to complete the doubleheader sweep for the Terriers.
Wofford built a 6-2 lead through the first four innings. Adam Wood drove in two runs with a double in the first and Waring scored on a balk.
In the second, Zach Pittman scored on a double by Bradford Eaves. Wofford added a run in the third on a Stephen Johnson solo home run and two more in the fourth on an RBI single by Eaves and a sacrifice fly by Shane Kirkley.
The Great Danes scored three times in the fifth on a ground out by Steve Wyland and a two-run double by Steve Sayre.
Albany chased Vartanian with three runs in the sixth. Rashad Barksdale was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in one run. The Great Danes took an 8-7 lead when they scored two runs on an infield error.
The Terriers tied the game with a solo run in the sixth as Zach Pittman was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a walk to Eaves and advanced to third on a sac bunt by Shane Kirkley. Pittman scored on an infield grounder by Wood to tie the game and set the stage for Melton’s heroics.
Wofford is now 7-5 on the season. The Terriers will play at Georgia State on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. The loss puts Albany at 2-4 on the season.
Story courtesy of Furman sports information
Furman 8-7, Miami (Ohio) 5-11
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Furman and Miami University split a baseball doubleheader Saturday, with the Paladins winning game one 8-5 and Red Hawks claiming an 11-7 decision in the nightcap.
In game one Matt Klinker hurled 6 1/3 innings of effective ball and Andrew Greene and Case Cassedy both drove in a pair of runs to lift Furman to the 8-5 win.
Klinker (1-0), a junior righthander from West Chester, Ohio, surrendered eight hits but only two earned runs while striking out five to record his first win of the season. Nick Hollstegge, last year's SoCon Tournament MVP making his first appearance of the season following offseason arm surgery, pitched the final 1 2/3 innings to earn his first save.
Miami starting pitcher Keith Weiser (0-1), who went 10-0 as a freshman in 2005, absorbed his first collegiate loss after yielding seven hits and five runs, including four earned, and two walks over 5 1/3 innings.
Furman collected 11 hits, including two each by Cassedy, Jay Jackson, and Joe Daysh, who belted his second home run of the season -- a one-out solo blast in the second inning to give the Paladins a 1-0 lead.
With the score tied 1-1 in the fifth, Furman combined two hits with a pair of Red Hawk errors to plate two runs for a 3-1 advantage.
After Miami made it 3-2 with a run in the sixth, the Paladins struck for three in the bottom of the frame, highlighted by Greene's two-run double down the right field line off Red Hawk reliever Connor Graham. Greene then stole third and came on a wild pitch to give the Paladins a 6-2 advantage.
Miami University chased Klinker in the seventh with two hits and an error to load the bases with one out. A fielding error by Cassedy at first base on Brandon Hillier's grounder allowed two runs to score, and after Geoff Orr lined out sharply to left field, the Red Hawks' Ryne Robinson crossed home plate for the inning's third run before Hillier was tagged out in a rundown between first and second base to end the frame.
Furman went back up 8-5 with a two-run seventh, keyed by Jackson's lead off triple and Cassedy's RBI double, his second of the contest.
Miami put two on with one out in the eighth before Hollstegge came on to end the threat by retiring Jason Brown on foul pop and Eric Radley on a ground out prior to working a perfect ninth.
In the nightcap Miami's Jeff Carroll scored the go-ahead run on a fielder's choice as part of a five-run ninth inning to deliver the 11-7 comeback win for the Red Hawks.
Trailing 7-6 after eight innings, Miami loaded the bases against Paladin reliever Jason Feather with no outs. David Mitchell, who relieved Feather, was greeted by Jordan Petraitis' game tying RBI single up the middle, which plated Geoff Orr. Carroll, who had earlier singled, then came home with the go-ahead run on a fielder's choice infield grounder off the bat of Will Reynolds. The Red Hawks then tacked on three more runs on a passed ball and error.
Miami's ninth inning rally made a winner of Jeff Day (1-0), who allowed three runs on seven hits in three innings of work in relief of starter John Ely.
Feather (1-0), who failed to retire a batter in the ninth, took the loss.
The Paladins, who trailed 5-1 after four innings, rallied with three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to take a 7-5 lead before the Red Hawks' Jason Brown RBI double in the eighth made it 7-6, setting the stage for the decisive ninth inning.
Furman, which out-hit Miami 15-13 in game two, was paced at the plate by Cassedy, who went 4-for-5 with four RBI. Carroll, meanwhile, went 4-for-5 with two RBI to lead the Red Hawks.
The two teams wrap up the three-game series on Sunday with a 1:00 p.m. game.
Story courtesy of Davidson sports information
Davidson 13, Niagara 6
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? The Davidson Wildcats erupted for eight runs in the seventh to defeat the visiting Niagara Purple Eagles on Saturday afternoon, 13-6. With the win, Davidson improves to 4-1 on the season; Niagara’s record evens at 2-2.
Trailing 6-4 in the seventh, brothers Brett and Ronnie Shore started a rally with infield singles. After a sacrifice bunt, then an intentional walk to senior Jay Heafner, the Purple Eagles summoned southpaw Ryan Virtue to face lefty Gregory Zage, the Wildcats’ clean-up hitter. The strategy backfired, however, when Virtue walked Zage on four pitches, forcing in a run, then served up a two-run double to senior Alex Entrekin, giving Davidson a 7-6 lead.
Junior Alden Crissey followed with a shallow fly to left that fell for a single, plating Zage, before Entrekin trotted home on a wild pitch. When freshman Pat Brady walked, Niagara went to the bullpen again, calling upon Kyle Nicoletta. He uncorked a wild pitch that allowed the runners to advance two bases with Crissey scoring. Junior Blake Osborn then lined a 3-2 pitch to center for an RBI single. Brett Shore bunted him to second and brother Ronnie stroked his second hit of the inning to drive in Osborn. It took two more Niagara relievers to subdue the Davidson bats.
The offensive explosion made a winner out of junior Rob Wilson (2-0). The right-hander from Charlotte allowed 11 hits and six runs, five earned, in his seven innings on the mound, but he did not walk anyone while striking out a career-high 10 batters. In 13 innings this year, he has 17 whiffs with nary a base on balls.
Sloppy play dominated the early part of the game as Niagara committed five errors in the first three innings. Those miscues led to three unearned runs as Davidson built a 4-1 lead. But Andrew MacNevin belted a solo homer in the fourth, and the Purple Eagles got one of those unearned runs back in the frame to cut the deficit to one at 4-3.
In the fifth, Niagara strung together five consecutive two-out hits to take a 6-4 lead. Daniel Parsons and Andrew Macdonald singled in front of MacNevin, who gave the Purple Eagles the lead with a two-run double in the gap to right-center.Michael Medici then singled him home with a soft liner down the line in left. After Mike Alati singled Medici to third, Niagara tried to steal a run with Alati getting in a rundown. But Ronnie Shore ran Alati down and tagged him for the third out well before Medici could score from third.
Davidson tacked on a run in the eighth on a single by Osborn to score freshman Pat Brady, who had singled.
Osborn tossed the final two innings for the Wildcats on the mound, allowing two hits while fanning three.
Entrekin stroked a pair of doubles, scored twice and drove in three in five trips to the plate to lead the Davidson offense. Osborn had a single and a double with two runs and an RBI, while the Shore brothers each singled twice.
The top five batters in the Purple Eagle lineup accounted for all of their 13 hits, with Parsons, Medici and Alati each collecting three safeties. MacNevin drove in three runs, and Medici hit his first home run of the year.
Suffering the loss was Josh Sawatzky, who tossed 6.1 innings of four-hit ball, but allowed seven runs, four earned, while walking two and striking out three.
Niagara plays once more this evening at Davidson’s Wilson Field against Appalachian State before playing host Davidson again tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m.
Story courtesy of UNC Greensboro sports information
Missouri State 8, UNC Greensboro 7 (14 inn.)
COLLEGE STATION, TX ? Matt Lawson’s bases loaded RBI single to third in the bottom of the 14th propelled Missouri State to an 8-7 victory over UNC Greensboro Saturday evening in the third game of the Domino’s Pizza Aggie Baseball Classic.
Senior pitcher Jonathan Nichols retired the first two batters of the inning on routine groundouts, but then allowed a walk, a bunt single and a second walk to load the bases prior to Lawson’s at-bat.
Chris Krawczyk earned the win in relief after allowing no runs on three hits in 5-2/3 innings on the hill. Nichols took the loss after allowing just the one run on four hits in 3-2/3 innings of mound duty.
UNCG struck for two runs on two hits to grab an early two-run lead after a half inning of play. Daingerfield, TX native Jermaine Mitchell led off the frame with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by shortstop David Adams. Guy Welsh then smashed a double to right to drive home Mitchell for his team-leading sixth RBI of the season. One batter later, Brandon Harvey plated Welsh with a single to rightfield to cap the inning.
Welsh gave the Spartans a 4-0 lead and picked up two more RBI in the second inning with a single up the middle to score Wes McCall and Mitchell. McCall singled to start the inning and reached second on an error on the Bear infield before making it to third on a putout on the infield. Mitchell reached on a fielder’s choice and raced to second on an error on Missouri State’s catcher before Welsh earned his second and third RBI’s of the game.
Missouri State cut the lead in half at 4-2 on a pair of RBI groundouts during its half of the second inning. With the bases loaded and no one out, Jacob Hilgendorf drove home Tim Rafferty on a ground ball to shortstop and Tanner Mattson followed with a groundout to third base to score Nolan Keane from third.
The Spartans pushed their lead back out to three runs as Greg Matson plated Mike Mongiello on a single to rightfield to give UNCG a 5-2 lead. Missouri State responded in their half of the fourth with two runs with two outs capped by an RBI single up the middle from Mattson. The Bears plated the equalizer in the bottom of the fifth when Matt Weglarz drove home Chris Taylor, who started the inning with a triple to right, on a groundout to short.
Sophomore Greg Feltes gave UNCG the lead right back when he drew a bases loaded walk on a 3-2 pitch, forcing in Welsh for the Spartans’ sixth run. UNCG added an insurance run in the eighth inning as Matson laced a double to left to score Welsh from first who singled for his fourth hit of the afternoon.
The Bears answered with two runs in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at seven runs apiece. Tony Lewis collected an RBI single and Mattson added his third RBI of the game with a sac fly to right to account for the two runs.
Welsh led UNCG at the plate as the Tucson, AZ native went 5-for-7 with three RBI and three runs scored. McCall also chipped in with three hits while Matson and Feltes each had a pair as well.
UNCG returns to the diamond Sunday afternoon when the Spartans meet Utah in the fifth game of the Aggie Baseball Classic. First pitch between the Spartans and Utes is scheduled for 2 pm ET from Olsen Field.
Story courtesy of Western Carolina sports information
Western Carolin 4, Stetson 3
DeLand, Fla. - Sophomore Barrett Shaft and junior Scott Ward both went 2-for-4 to lead Western Carolina to a 4-3 victory over Stetson Saturday afternoon in the second day of the Stetson Invitational at Melching Field.
The Catamounts (2-2) got out to an early lead on Hatter starter Brett Murphy (0-3), scoring two runs in the first with a single by Shaft and a two run home run by Steven Strausbaugh, his third on the year. Western Carolina added single runs in the sixth and eighth innings and scattered a total of 11 hits on the night.
Western starter, left hander Tyler Sexton (2-0), limited Stetson to just one run on three hits through seven innings. Stetson did score twice in the bottom of the ninth to close a 4-1 deficit down to 4-3, but could not pull even. Junior right hander Brock Thornburg pitched the final two innings to record the save.
CHECK BACK LATER FOR A FULL RECAP
Marshall at Georgia Southern, ppd. (DH 2/26 at 10 a.m.)
George Mason at College of Charleston, ccd.
Ball State at The Citadel, ccd.
Elon at Auburn, ppd. (DH 2/26 at Noon)