Story courtesy of Davidson sports information
Davidson 6, Georgia Southern 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? Junior right-hander Blake Osborn tossed seven innings of three-hit ball as Davidson blanked the visiting Georgia Southern Eagles on Friday night at Wilson Field, 6-0, in the first game of a Southern Conference series. The Wildcats improved to 12-14 on the season and 2-5 in the league as they posted their first shutout since the third game of the 2004 season, a span of 126 games. Georgia Southern dropped to 13-15 overall and 2-2 in the conference as it was shut out for the first time in 86 games.
Osborn (1-2) entered the game with an ERA of 8.24, but after the first two batters reached on a hit batsman and a single, he settled in and quieted the potent Eagle offense. He worked his way out of that jam with a strikeout, an infield pop and a grounder to short, and GSU managed just four base runners over the next six innings. In his seven innings, Osborn threw 112 pitches, 68 for strikes, and walked two while fanning five to earn his first collegiate victory. He retired the final seven batters he faced as well.
Junior Gregory Zage provided all the offense the Wildcats would need with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first, scoring senior Jay Heafner who had singled with two out. The four-bagger was Zage’s fifth of the season.
Davidson tacked on a couple more runs in the second off Eagle hurler Everett Teaford (3-3). Junior Alden Crissey singled to start the inning, but looked as if he would be stranded as Teaford got the next two batters on strikes. But he issued one of his three walks in the game to the Wildcats’ ninth hitter, freshman Chase FitzPatrick, and senior Ronnie Shore made him pay by smashing a two-run double to the gap in left-center after fouling off several full-count pitches.
In the fifth, Shore singled, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch, which was also ball four to Heafner to put runners on the corner with one out. Zage stroked the first pitch to deep center for a sacrifice fly and his third RBI of the game, giving the ’Cats a 5-0 lead.
Davidson scored its final run in the eighth. Heafner walked with one out and Zage singled him to second. A ground ball moved the runners up a base, but Crissey got behind in the count, one ball and two strikes. Teaford got Crissey swinging at strike three, but the ball squirted through the catcher for a passed ball, allowing Crissey to reach first and Heafner to scamper home.
Freshman Zach Kayne pitched the final two innings, allowing two hits while striking out two to complete the shutout.
Zage finished the game 2-for-3 with his home run and three RBIs, while Shore went 2-for-4 with a double, run and two RBIs. Heafner reached base three times with a single and a pair of walks.
Matt Miller was the offensive star for the Eagles with a perfect 2-for-2 with a double and a walk, plus was hit by pitch. Mike Economos had two of the other three hits for GSU.
The two teams will continue their three-game series tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m.
Story courtesy of Furman sports information
Furman 11, Wofford 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Case Cassedy went 4-for-5 and homered twice and Matt Klinker recorded a career high 10 strikeouts to lead Furman to an 11-0 shutout of Wofford in Southern Conference baseball action Friday night at Furman Stadium.
The victory was the fourth straight and sixth in the last seven games for Furman (15-8, 4-0 SoCon), which notched its 11th consecutive decision against league opponents dating back to last year. The shutout was the second in the last three games for the Paladins, who blanked Davidson 6-0 last week. Furman has outscored its last four opponents 52-6.
The loss was the seventh straight for Wofford (15-15, 2-5 SoCon).
Cassedy’s evening included an RBI single in the first, a solo home run in the third, a two-run blast in the fourth, and a single in the sixth. A.J. Davidiuk added three hits and a home run, and Jay Jackson belted his team leading sixth roundtripper of the campaign for the Paladins, who pounded out 15 hits in the contest.
Klinker (4-1) pitched seven strong innings, allowing only six hits ? all singles ? and no walks while striking out 10 to earn the victory. His fanned nine in his last start, a 19-2 triumph over Davidson.
Austin Redwine (5-2) absorbed the loss for Wofford after surrendering nine hits, including four home runs, in four innings of work.
After grabbing a 2-0 lead in the first on Cassedy’s RBI single and a solo home run to left center by Jackson, the Paladins made it 3-0 in the third on the first of Cassedy’s two roundtrippers, a high blast that cleared the left field fence.
Furman blew the game open in the fourth, scoring six runs on four hits and a pair of Wofford errors to extend its advantage to 9-0. Davidiuk opened the frame with a solo home run down the left field line, and Cassedy capped the rally with his second home run, a line drive that cleared the right field fence.
The Paladins tacked on single runs in the sixth and eighth to make it 11-0.
The two teams play game two of the three game series Saturday beginning at 6:00 p.m. Sunday’s finale is set for 1:00 p.m.
Story courtesy of The Citadel sports information
The Citadel 7, UNC Greensboro 2
Charleston, S.C. ? Senior Tripp Cappelmann drove in three runs and registered his first career home run as The Citadel downed UNC Greensboro, 7-2, Friday night in Riley Park. The Dogs gave up two runs in the first before Bulldog starter Wes Wrenn settled in and held the Spartans scoreless for the remainder of the contest for his first complete game of his career.
UNC Greensboro (10-17, 1-3 SoCon) took an early 2-0 lead in the first as Greg Felters jumped on the first pitch of the game for a single to left. Felters moved to second on a sac bunt by Harvey and raced to third on a wild pitch by Wrenn. Mitchell ripped a base hit through the right side to plate Felters. Wes McCall then tallied an RBI-single of his own to give the Spartans a two-run advantage.
The Citadel (14-12, 2-2 SoCon) knotted it up in the second as freshman designated hitter Sonny Meade singled to lead-off the inning and then moved to second on a passed ball. Senior Matt Matulia tallied a base hit to put Meade on third and then swiped second for his fourth stolen base of the season. Spartan starter Nick Starnes came close to ending The Citadel threat as he registered two strikeouts before Cappelmann drove in both runners with a single down the right field line.
The Bulldogs struck again in the third and fourth. The Cadets loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a hit batsman before senior Matt Covington scored the go-ahead run on a balk. Meade then plated two as he roped an RBI-single to right to make it 5-2 in the third. Covington picked up an RBI-single of his own to push freshman Sid Fallaw across the dish in the fourth to extend The Citadel lead to four.
Cappelmann tallied his third RBI of the night as he sent a 1-0 offering from Spartan reliever Jonathan Nichols deep over the left field wall for his first career home run to put the Dogs up, 7-2, in the sixth. The Sumter, S.C., native was a perfect 2-for- 2 on the night and tied his personal best RBI mark.
Three other Bulldogs registered a multi-hit game as Covington was 3-for-4, including an RBI and scoring once, while Meade and Matulia were each 2-for-4.
Wrenn (2-2) tallied his second win of the season as he tossed all nine frames, allowing only two runs on nine hits and striking out six. Starnes (2-1) suffered the loss as he went three innings, giving up six runs on seven hits and fanning four.
The Dogs and Spartans will play game two of the three-game series on Saturday, April 1 at 2 p.m., in Riley Park.
Story courtesy of College of Charleston sports information
College of Charleston 5, Elon 1
Mt. Pleasant, S.C. -- Pitchers Nick Chigges and Josh McLaughlin combined for 13 strikeouts, and Jess Easterling and Alex Garabedian homered as 28th-ranked College of Charleston downed Elon, 5-1, in the opener of its three-game Southern Conference series before 576 at Patriots Point Field on Friday.
With the win, Charleston improved to 22-5 overall and 6-1 in league play. The Phoenix fell to 21-9 and 5-2. Game two of the series is Saturday at 3:00.
Chigges (4-1), who earned the win, allowed a run on just three hits with seven strikeouts over the first six innings. Josh McLaughlin, who notched his sixth save, pitched the final three innings and collected six strikeouts. Lance Cole (6-1) suffered his first defeat of the season allowing four runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings.
Easterling belted his team-leading sixth homer of the season with one out in the second to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead. Garabedian solo shot to left center leading off the fourth was his fourth of the season and gave Charleston a 3-0 lead.
After Elon cut the margin to 3-1 on Donny Jobe's RBI single in the sixth, Charleston added single runs in the seventh and eighth innings for the final margin. McCord had a sacrifice fly in the seventh, and Easterling an RBI single in the eighth.
Easterling, Garabedian, Larry Cobb and Clay McCord paced Charleston's 11-hit attack with two hits each.
Story courtesy of Appalachian State sports information
Western Carolina 11, Appalachian State 0
BOONE, N.C. ? Western Carolina, the Southern Conference’s top home-run hitting team, homered four times in the first six innings of an 11-0 win over Appalachian State University baseball on Friday at Red Lackey Field.
Donnie Wilson, Steven Strausbaugh, Trey McDaniel and Blake Murphy ? Western’s two-through-five hitters ? all went deep in the victory. With the four long balls, WCU upped its SoCon-leading home-run total to 35 on the season.
Despite the Catamounts’ power display, the Mountaineers stayed within reach for much of the ballgame. Appalachian trailed just 2-0 through five innings before Western posted nine runs over the final four frames to put contest out of reach.
The Mountaineers also had scoring opportunities throughout, but stranded seven runners on base, all between the third and seventh innings. The Apps put two runners on with less than two outs three times but failed to push a run across the plate each time. The Catamounts, on the other hand, made the most of their scoring opportunities, as they didn’t strand any base runners through seven innings en route to grabbing what proved to be an insurmountable 5-0 lead.
Appalachian (10-15, 0-7 SoCon) was shut out for the third time this season and saw its team batting average in conference games dip to .211. Western Carolina (16-10, 5-2 SoCon) won for the 10th time in 11 games and scored in double-figures for the 13th time in 26 games this season.
Jonathan Reeder pitched into the eighth inning and allowed just seven hits but suffered the loss to fall to 1-3 on the season. WCU’s Brock Thornbury out-dueled Reeder, as he held ASU scorless for seven innings to up his record to 2-1 on the campaign.
Left fielder David Rubinstein had two of the Mountaineers’ five hits and went 2-for-2 with a walk on the afternoon. Wilson turned in a 3-for-4, two-RBI, two-run effort to lead the Catamounts’ 11-hit attack.
The two teams resume their three-game SoCon series on Saturday at Red Lackey Field. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.