Story courtesy of UNC Greensboro sports information
UNC Greensboro 3, College of Charleston 2
GREENSBORO, NC ? Junior Brandon Harvey’s walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth off Josh McLaughlin catapulted UNC Greensboro past College of Charleston, 3-2, Friday evening at UNCG Baseball Stadium in the Spartans’ Southern Conference opener.
Harvey, a native of Roseville, CA, calmly strolled to the plate with one out and deposited the first pitch he saw over the left-centerfield wall to give the Spartans their fourth consecutive win and snap a seven-game losing skid to the Cougars.
Senior right-hander Patrick Currin(4-2) picked up his third straight win after allowing no hits for a second consecutive appearance. The Chapel Hill, NC native entered the game in the bottom of the seventh with two outs with the score knotted at two runs apiece in relief of starter Nick Starnes and got Philip Coker to strike out swinging to end the inning. Currin has now pitched 7-1/3 straight innings without surrendering a hit.
Nick Starnes got a no decision for the second straight Friday, but once again was outstanding for the Spartans. The Haw River, NC product allowed just two runs on six hits while striking out five in 6-2/3 innings of mound duty.
McLaughlin (1-2) took the loss for the Cougars after allowing just the one run and hit in an inning on the mound. Starter Nick Chigges went seven innings for the visitors and allowed just two runs on seven hits to also get a no decision.
College of Charleston (18-5, 3-1 SoCon) struck first in the top of the third to take a one run lead when Oliver Marmol smacked a home run to left field to break the scoreless tie. The Cougars took a 2-0 lead in the fourth on a two-out RBI single to left field from Jess Easterling.
UNCG (9-14, 1-0 SoCon) answered in its half of the fourth and cut the deficit in half on an RBI single from Wes McCall with two outs that scored Logan Smith from second. The Spartans tied the game in the next inning on a two-out RBI single from Jermaine Mitchell to score Mike Mongiello from third.
Mitchell, McCall and David Adams each finished the game 2-for-4 to lead the Spartans at the plate. Easterling and Joey Friddle each recorded a pair of hits for the Cougars.
UNCG and College of Charleston resume a three-game series Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
Story courtesy of Georgia Southern sports information
Georgia Southern 5, The Citadel 4
STATESBORO, Ga. ? The Georgia Southern baseball team used a five run third inning and junior lefthander Everett Teaford notched his second-highest career strikeout total with 12, as the Eagles held off the The Citadel 5-4 in Friday night’s conference opening game.
Teaford (3-2) pitched eight innings in the win, allowing 10 hits, four earned runs and only walked one. The Alpharetta native looked to have the Bulldogs solved in the first two innings of play as he struck out four of the first six batters he faced.
The game remained scoreless until the third when The Citadel (12-10, 0-1 SoCon) seemed to crack Teaford. Matt Arnold and Sid Fallow led off the inning with back-to-back singles. A sacrifice bunt by Tripp Cappelmann was followed by two more singles which scored both runners. Teaford was then able to prevent further damage by striking out the next two batters to end the inning.
The Eagles (12-12, 1-0 SoCon) came right back in their half of the third against Bulldog starter Wes Wrenn (1-2). After a walk to Matt Miller, a single by third baseman Chris Shehan, and Greg Dowling reaching after being hit by a pitch, the bases were loaded for freshman catcher Griffin Benedict who roped a double down the right field line as part of his three for four night, scoring Shehan and Miller. Sophomore Jeremiah Parker followed Benedict with a double of his own to right center, scoring two more. Parker was later driven in on a single by leftfielder Chris Hollis.
The Citadel would add a run each in the fifth and sixth innings and end up out hitting the Eagles in the game 10-9, however Teaford proved to be the catalyst in helping Georgia Southern to their first Southern Conference win of the year. His 12 Ks come within two of his record 14, set against Wofford in April of last year.
David Cogswell came on to pitch a perfect ninth inning to record his third save of the year.
The Eagles and Bulldogs will play game two of their series tomorrow at 12 p.m. from J.I. Clements Stadium. The game will be broadcast live by CSS and also can be heard on ESPN AM 850 with Bill Price.
Story courtesy of Elon sports information
Elon 8, Appalachian State 0
ELON, N.C. ? Lance Cole went 7.0 innings without allowing a run to move to 6-0 and Chris Price went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI to lead the Elon Phoenix to an 8-0 Southern Conference baseball victory over Appalachian State from Latham Park on Friday night. Elon upped its mark to 18-8 overall and 3-1 in league play. The Mountaineers dipped to 9-11, 0-4.
Elon grabbed an early lead when Price lifted his fifth home run of the season, a solo shot over the wall in right in the first inning.
The Phoenix increased its lead to 2-0 in the third inning when Price drove in his second run of the night. This time, Price hit a sacrifice fly to left to drive in Donny Jobe who was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on an Adam Weaver single.
Back-to-back triples from Price and Chris Vasami in the sixth pushed Elon’s advantage to 3-0.
Elon pushed across another run in the seventh when Weaver lifted a sac fly to right to plate Paul Bennett. Bennett led the inning off with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third on a Jobe single. Jobe would later score on a wild pitch to increase Elon’s lead to 5-0.
A double from Jordy Snyder in the eighth would drive in two runs, making the Phoenix lead 7-0. That hit plated both pinch-runner Austin Boehme and Grant Rembert. Elon added its eighth run of the night when Ryan Addison singled home Snyder.
Cole allowed just six hits and one walk in his time on the hill.
Taking the loss for ASU was Jonathan Reeder (1-2) who threw 6.2 innings and allowed five runs on eight hits.
Along with Price, Elon’s offense was led by a 2-for-3 night from Rembert and a 1-for-1, two-RBI performance from Snyder.
Tom Prosser went 2-for-3 and was the only Mountaineer to have a multi-hit outing.
It is the first time the Appalachian State has been shut out in back-to-back outings since May of 2002 when they lost to UNC Greensboro by scores of 8-0 and 2-0.
The two squads will face off in game two of the series at 4:00 p.m. from Latham Park on Saturday afternoon.
Story courtesy of Furman sports information
Furman 19, Davidson 2
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Matt Klinker pitched seven strong innings and Furman pounded out a season high 20 hits en route to 19-2 win over Davidson Friday evening in the Paladins’ Southern Conference season opener.
Klinker, a junior righthander from West Chester, Ohio, yielded six hits, two earned runs, and no walks while recording a career high eight strikeouts to improve to 3-1 on the year.
The 19 runs represented the most by Furman (12-8, 1-0 SoCon) since a 24-10 win over Indiana during the 2001 season and the most by the Paladins against Davidson (10-11, 1-3 SoCon) since 1953.
Andrew Greene went 4-for-5, scored four runs, and stole four bases to pace Furman’s offensive onslaught. A.J. Davidiuk collected three hits, including a pair of doubles, and three RBI, and Tony Maccani doubled and belted his fourth home of the season, a three-run shot to highlight a nine-run Paladin sixth inning. Joe Daysh added three hits, including a triple, and two RBI.
The Paladins did their offensive damage in the first six innings, tallying in every frame but the second. Furman also swiped a season high seven bases in the contest.
Furman touched up Davidson starter Brant West for three runs in the first inning. Greene led off with a bunt single, stole second and third, and came home along with Davidiuk on Jay Jackson’s two-run double to left field. Daysh then plated Jackson with a triple down the right field line.
The Paladins added a run in the third on Maccani’s RBI grounder.
After Davidson sliced the advantage to 4-2 in the fourth, Furman responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Paul Ortenzo’s bloop single to left plated Marcus Rose, and Davidiuk greeted Wildcat reliever Brian Packey with a double down the left field line, scoring Greene. Case Cassedy closed out the rally with an RBI grounder, scoring Ortenzo.
The Paladins made it 10-2 with a three-run fifth, highlighted by Davidiuk’s second double of the contest, a two-run line drive into right field.
Furman blew the game open in the sixth, sending 12 men to the plate and scoring a season high nine runs on six hits. The big blows came on a pair of three-run home runs by pinch hitter Will Stembridge and Tony Maccani.
Brant West (3-3) absorbed the loss for Davidson after surrendering 10 hits and seven earned runs over three innings.
Saturday’s Furman-Davidson game, originally scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m., has been moved to 4:00 p.m. due to expected cold weather Saturday evening.
Story courtesy of Western Carolina sports information
Western Carolina 9, Wofford 8
Cullowhee, N.C. ? Trey McDaniel went 2-for-3 with five RBI, including a key grand slam in the bottom of the seventh, to lead Western Carolina to a 9-8 come-from-behind over Wofford Friday night at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium. The Catamounts, playing their 2006 Southern Conference home opener, improves to 13-9 overall, 2-2 in the league and 9-1 at home, while the Terriers drop to 15-11, 2-2.
The game featured two big innings. First, in the sixth, Wofford sent 11 men to the plate to score six runs. Then, in the bottom of the seventh, Western also sent 11 men to the plate, scoring seven runs to take its decisive 9-8 lead.
The Catamounts took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. After a one-out single by Barrett Shaft and a walk to Steven Strausbaugh, McDaniel hit an RBI bloop single just beyond the third baseman head to bring home Shaft.
In the top of the fifth, Wofford ended Brock Thornburg’s no-hit and shutout bid on one swing of the bat when Stephen Johnson hit a leadoff home run, clearing the left-center field fence for his third blast of the season.
The Terriers scored six runs in the sixth on just three hits to take a 7-1 lead. Despite having a career-high eight strikeouts through five innings, Thornburg, who did walk four and hit three Terriers, was chased with no outs in the top of the sixth after hitting two batters and allowing a single to load the bases. John Brandt then pushed across Wofford’s second run with a walk, forcing the WCU pitching change. WCU relief pitcher Brian McCullen got one strikeout before walking Johnson to make the score 3-1. Chuck Eller followed with a bloop single to left-center. While appearing to get out of the inning on a Ben Austin strikeout, a passed ball allowed Wofford’s fourth run to score. Bradford Eaves made Western pay for the miscue with a two-run single to left.
Western trimmed its deficit to five (7-2) in the home half of the sixth. Strausbaugh singled, moved to second on a balk, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Blake Murphy sacrifice fly.
Wofford got that run back in the seventh. With the bases loaded, Eller delivered an RBI ground out to second.
However, Western, on the strength on a McDaniel grand slam, scored seven runs in the seventh to take a 9-8 lead. Andy John started things with a one out walk and would later score on Tim Hallam’s double. Wofford would load the bases after walks to Shaft, which chased Terrier starter Austin Redwine, and Strausbaugh, setting the stage for McDaniel’s grand slam, his sixth round tripper to trim WCU’s deficit to one. Murphy kept the rally going with a walk, a stolen base and scoring on Grey Gregory’s single to center. Gregory, who had two hits on the night, would eventually give Western its 9-8 lead on Jonathan Greene’s sacrifice fly to center.
Senior Jeremy Ellenburg picked up the win to improve to 2-0 on the season. He allowed one run one two hits with a walk and a strikeout. Greg Holland closed out the game, picking up his first save, allowing just one walk with three strikeouts over the final two innings.
Redwine pitched well, but did not factor in the decision. He pitched 6.1 innings, allowing six hits and five runs with four walks and six strikeouts. JD Melton (2-2) suffered the loss, allowing two hits and four runs with three walks and two strikeouts over the final 1.2 innings.
Offensively for the Terriers, six different players each had one hit with Eaves, Johnson and Eller each driving in two.
Western Carolina and Wofford will play the second of its three-game weekend series on Saturday with first pitch set for 4 pm.