Story courtesy of Furman sports information
Furman 18, Wofford 5
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- A.J. Davidiuk went 4-for-5 with five RBI and Ryan Hodinka won his seventh consecutive start in pacing Furman to an 18-5 triumph and three-game series sweep of Wofford in Southern Conference baseball action Sunday afternoon at Furman Stadium.
The victory was the sixth straight for Furman (17-8, 6-0 SoCon) and 13th consecutive triumph over SoCon foes dating back to last year. The Paladins have outscored and out-hit their last six opponents 87-15 and 104-54, respectively, and are hitting a SoCon leading .348 on the season with 30 home runs in 25 games. A year ago Furman hit 35 home runs in 59 games. Furman’s 17-8 record is its best mark after 25 games since 1996.
The loss was the seventh consecutive for Wofford (15-16, 2-7 SoCon).
Davidiuk, who went 3-for-5 and drove in five runs in Saturday’s 17-4 win over the Terriers, homered in his third consecutive game, doubled, and singled in pacing the Paladins’ season high 22-hit attack. For the series, the Indian Trail, N.C., senior shortstop went 10-for-14 (.714) with 11 RBI, five runs scored, three home runs, and three doubles.
Tony Maccani recorded a 3-for-5 performance with three RBI to improve his SoCon leading batting average to .465. Joe Daysh, meanwhile, collected three hits, including a home run, in four at bats, and Ben Terry went 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Andrew Greene extended his hitting streak to 19 games with an RBI single in the sixth inning.
Hodinka (7-0) remained perfect on the season after yielding three runs on six hits and three walks over seven innings. The Paladin senior lefthander struck out two.
Wofford starter Ben Austin (0-1) took the loss after yielding seven runs on eight hits and three walks over 4 1/3 innings of work
Furman grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning on A.J. Davidiuk’s two-run double to right centerfield.
Wofford answered with single runs in the second and third innings on sacrifice flies by Eric Sturkie and Shane Kirkley to tie the game at 2-2, and went ahead 3-2 in the fourth on a Keith Munns RBI double.
That would be the high point for the Terriers, however, as Furman tied the game at 3-3 in the fourth on Daysh’s solo home run and blew the game open with a five-run fifth and seven-run sixth inning to take a 15-3 lead.
Maccani’s two-run double highlighted the Furman fifth, and in the sixth the Paladins sent 11 men to the plate and banged out eight hits while scoring seven runs. Davidiuk’s third home run of the series, a solo shot over the left field foul pole, ignited the Paladin sixth, which also included a two-run double by Terry, and Davidiuk’s second hit of the frame, a two-run single to right field.
Furman will face Georgia State in a pair of mid-week games beginning Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. in Atlanta before returning to Greenville on Wednesday for another 6:00 p.m. contest.
Story courtesy of Appalachian State sports information
Western Carolina 15, Appalachian State 4
BOONE, N.C. -- Blake Murphy went 4-for-4 with six RBI to lead Western Carolina to a 15-4 victory over Appalachian State University baseball on Sunday afternoon at Red Lackey Field. With the loss, Appalachian (11-16, 1-8 SoCon) dropped the three-game Southern Conference series to its archrival, two games to one.
ASU freshman Garrett Sherrill allowed seven runs over the first two innings of the ballgame but rebounded to give up just one hit over the next four innings in the setback. Murphy was a big reason for Sherrill?s early struggles, as Western?s catcher banged out a two-run single in the first and an RBI double in the second to help stake WCU to the big lead.
The Mountaineers chipped away at the deficit by posting two runs in the third and one in both the fourth and fifth innings. Ben Billingsley belted a two-run homer to right center field and Joey Robinson and Bryan Ford each drove in runs on groundouts to cut the deficit to just 7-4.
However, Western Carolina (17-11, 6-3 SoCon) torched Appalachian?s bullpen for seven runs over the final three innings of the game to squelch any thoughts of an ASU comeback. Once again, it was Murphy that came through with the big hit, a three-run homer to left field that highlighted a five-run eighth inning for the Catamounts. The bomb capped the sophomore?s second six-RBI performance of the season.
Sherrill suffered the loss for Appalachian to fall to 3-3 on the season while Western?s Brian McCullen tossed four innings of one-run relief to move to 3-1.
Third baseman Nick DeRose headlined the Mountaineers? efforts at the plate with a 3-for-4 afternoon, including his fifth double of the season to lead off the game for the Apps.
Appalachian continues a season-long nine-game homestand on Tuesday when it hosts in-state rival Charlotte (21-8). First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Red Lackey Field.
Story courtesy of College of Charleston sports information
Elon 8, College of Charleston 1
Mt. Pleasant, S.C. -- Freshman Steven Hensley pitched 7 2/3 strong innings and Ryan Addison belted a two-run homer as Elon salvaged the final game of its three-game SoCon series with an 8-1 win at College of Charleston before 403 at Patriots Point Field on Sunday.
Elon improved to 22-10 overall and 6-3 in league play. The Cougars fell to 23-6 and 7-2. Charleston plays host to Winthrop in a 6:00 start on Tuesday.
Hensley (1-3) allowed just one run on seven hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. Jeff Beliveau (2-1) pitched well for Charleston despite suffering the loss. Beliveau blanked the Phoenix through six innings before allowing Addison's third homer of the season, a two-run shot to left with one out in the seventh, that gave Elon the lead for good at 2-0.
Elon increased its lead to 5-0 in the seventh on Jordy Snyder's two-run, double to right and an error by Charleston. Snyder added an RBI grounder in the eighth and run-producing hits by Chris Price and Grant Rembert in the ninth.
The Cougars, who won two-of-three games in the series, got a two-run triple from Oliver Marmol and an RBI single by Graham Maiden in the eighth.
Story courtesy of Davidson sports information
Georgia Southern 4, Davidson 3
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? With two out and nobody on in the ninth, Georgia Southern rallied for two runs and held on for a 4-3 win on the road at Davidson on Sunday afternoon, taking the series two games to one. Chris Shehan provided the winning hit with a two-run single up the middle to help the Eagles even their record at 15-15 on the season while improving to 4-2 in the Southern Conference. Davidson dropped to 12-16 overall and 2-7 in the league.
Junior Rob Wilson kept the Georgia Southern offense in check after yielding a two-run homer in the first to Greg Dowling, his fourth of the season. With a 3-2 lead in the ninth, Wilson retired the first batter thanks to a diving catch by center fielder Hugh Eden, then got the second out on a slow bouncer to short. But pinch hitter Will Southwell was plunked by a pitch, and Matt Miller followed with a double to left-center, ending Wilson’s afternoon.
Wildcat closer Jay Heafner came on to try and preserve the lead, and got Shehan to hit a foul pop down the first-base line. But the pop up could not be caught as it landed just inside the fence. After the count ran full, Shehan took advantage of his second chance by stroking a high fastball back through the middle to score the go-ahead runs.
In the bottom half, Davidson got a one-out single by freshman Brett Shore, but no more as David Cogswell (1-3) earned the win with 1.2 scoreless innings of relief.
Following Dowling’s two-run blast in the top of the first, the Wildcats got a run back in their half. Ronnie Shore reached on an infield hit, advanced to second on a groundout, then scored from second on an infield hit to deep short by Heafner. Eagle hurler Dustin Evans avoided further damage with runners at first and second by inducing a double play.
Georgia Southern went to reliever Mike Chiciak in the third once Evans ? making his first start in four weeks due to a stress fracture in his pitching elbow ? reached his pitch count. Ronnie Shore greeted him with a lead-off double, and with one out moved up to third on a passed ball. Following a walk to Heafner, Chiciak took a page out of Evans book and got out of the jam with a double-play grounder.
Chiciak coughed up a solo homer to senior Alex Entrekin, his fourth, to start the fourth inning, tying the game at two. The score would remain tied until the Davidson half of the eighth.
Heafner began the inning with a single and promptly stole second. Gregory Zage singled past the shortstop, putting runners on the corners, and Entrekin pulled off a safety squeeze to give the ’Cats the 3-2 lead.
Wilson (3-3) was the tough-luck loser, throwing a career-high 8.2 innings while striking out nine, eight in the first five frames. He surrendered all four runs on eight hits, two walks and a hit batter.
Griffin Benedict had three of GSU’s nine hits while Dowling had a pair of hits and two RBIs.
Zage led Davidson with three safeties while Ronnie Shore and Heafner each had two. Entrekin drove in two of the Wildcats’ three runs.
Davidson returns to action on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. when it plays at North Carolina (23-6), likely to be ranked among the top four teams in the country following a series victory over Florida State this weekend. Georgia Southern’s task is not much easier as it travels to Georgia Tech Tuesday night for the first of two games at 7 p.m.
Story courtesy of The Citadel sports information
The Citadel 9, UNC Greensboro 5
Charleston, S.C. ? A pair of two-out rallies helped lift The Citadel past UNC Greensboro, 9-5, to
clench the series win for the Bulldogs Sunday afternoon in Riley Park. Sophomore Chris Swauger and freshman Sonny Meade were responsible for six of the Dogs’ nine runs as Swauger knocked in four and Meade smashed his first collegiate home run to score two.
Swauger had his second multi-triple performance with two while also tallying his fourth round-tripper of the year to extend his hitting streak to eight games. Junior Zach Brown and senior Mark Egleton each tallied two hits on the day while freshman starter Matt Crim improved to 4-0 to help give the Bulldogs their first SoCon series win of the season.
The Citadel (15-13, 3-3 SoCon) exploded for four runs in the first, all on two outs. Swauger smacked a solo-shot to give the Bulldogs a quick one-run advantage. Meade then stepped in and blasted a 0-1 offering from Spartan starter Wes McCall over the left field wall to drive in two. A fielding error by Spartan second baseman Greg Feltes allowed senior Matt Matulia to race home before McCall forced a groundout to end The Citadel rally.
The Bulldogs tacked on two more as senior Trent Weathers was hit by a pitch to lead-off the second. Weathers swiped second and third before Swauger ripped an RBI-triple to center to bring him in. Brown then grounded to first to plate Swauger and extend The Citadel lead to six.
UNCG (11-18, 2-4 SoCon) cut the Bulldog lead in half in the fifth. Jermaine Mitchell and Feltes registered back-to-back singles on one out before Guy Welsh tallied a single of his own to plate two.
Logan Smith then picked up an RBI as he grounded out to short to make it 6-3.
The Citadel rallied on two outs for three runs in the sixth as the Dogs loaded the bases with two singles and a hit batsman. Senior Tripp Cappelmann sprinted home on a wild pitch by Spartan reliever Greg Martin. Swauger then blasted his second triple of the ball game to bring in two more and put the Dogs up, 9-3.
Citadel closer Link Saunders relinquished two RBI-singles in the ninth to Feltes and Greg Mason, but it was not enough as the Dogs took the 9-5 victory.
Crim was credited with the win as he tossed six innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on only five hits and striking out four while walking three. McCall (1-4) suffered the loss for the Spartans as he went four frames, allowing six runs (five earned) on seven hits and fanning two.
The Citadel will travel to North Charleston on Tuesday, April 4 to face cross-town rival Charleston Southern at 3 p.m. in Buccanneer Field for their second showdown of the season. UNCG will return home to host UNC Asheville at 4 p.m., on April 4 as well.