Story courtesy of Furman sports information
College of Charleston 7, Furman 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Danny Meszaros pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and nationally 21st-ranked College of Charleston took advantage of six Furman errors to claim a 7-1 victory in the Southern Conference series finale at Furman Stadium Sunday afternoon.
Meszaros (8-1) yielded only six hits and one earned run while walking two and striking out three before departing with two outs in the seventh inning and College of Charleston holding a 3-1 lead. Quinn Monsma worked the final 2 1/3 innings to record his second save of the season.
The victory gave the Cougars (38-12, 19-5 SoCon) the rubber game in the series and marked the 29th consecutive league series win for CofC dating back to the 2003 campaign. It also moved College of Charleston into a first place tie with Elon heading into the final series of the SoCon regular season, when the Cougars will host crosstown rival The Citadel in a three-game set beginning Thursday.
With the loss and Georgia Southern’s 12-7 defeat at the hands of Appalachian State on Sunday, Furman (30-19, 14-10 SoCon) remains in a third place tie in the league with Georgia Southern. The Paladins wrap up the league regular season with a three-game series at Western Carolina
beginning Friday at 7:00 p.m.
Furman’s six errors in Sunday’s game led to six unearned runs, and for the series 10 of College of Charleston’s 14 runs were unearned. The Cougars, who committed five errors in Saturday’s 5-4, 10-inning loss to the Paladins, played error free on Sunday.
The Cougars managed 12 hits in the contest, including three each by Jess Easterling and Joey Friddle. Easterling and Chris Campbell both drove in a pair of runs.
Furman had nine hits against Cougar pitching, including Case Cassedy’s 52nd double, which moved him into a first place tie with three others for most career two-baggers.
Ryan Hodinka (9-2) hurled six strong innings for Furman but took the loss after a Paladin error to lead off the seventh led to an unearned run. The Furman senior lefthander allowed six hits and two runs, but just one earned, while walking one and striking out two.
College of Charleston grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Phillip Coker led off with a bunt single, advanced to second on a sacrifice, and stole third before coming home on Chris Campbell’s groundout.
Furman tied the game in the fourth on Tony Maccani’s RBI single to center field that scored Cassedy. The Paladins threatened for more after getting runners on second and third base with one out, but Joe Daysh was retired at home after Jay Jackson failed to execute a squeeze play, and Jackson later struck out to end the inning.
It remained 1-1 until the seventh when College of Charleston took advantage of two Furman errors to push across a pair of runs. Coker led off by reaching on an error by Daysh at third base. With one out, Campbell walked to put runners at first and second. Ben Lasater then hit a sharp ground ball to Daysh, but his throw to second base on the attempted force play went into center field, allowing Coker to score. Jess Eaterling followed with an RBI single to left field to give the
Cougars a 3-1 lead.
Furman’s defensive woes continued in the eighth as College of Charleston used three more Paladin errors and four hits to plate four unearned runs and take control of the contest. Friddle singled to lead off and advanced to second on Daysh’s third error of the contest on Oliver Marmol’s grounder. Phillip Coker followed with a sacrifce bunt attempt that Paladin pitcher David Mitchell fielded but threw wildly past the covering Marcus Rose at first base. Paladin rightfielder Steven Hildreth allowed the ball to get past him for the second error on the play, resulting in two more runs to make it 5-1. Campbell’s single through the left side scored Coker, and two batters later Easterling completed the four-run inning with a run-scoring single to left field.
Furman returns to action on Tuesday when it entertains South Carolina at Greenville’s new West End Field in a 6:00 p.m. game.
Story courtesy of Georgia Southern sports information
Appalachian State 12, Georgia Southern 7
STATESBORO, Ga. ? A two out rally in the top of the ninth by Appalachian State spoiled Georgia Southern’s Senior Day as the Eagles lost their home finale 12-7 on Sunday afternoon (May 14). The Eagles (28-24 overall, 14-10 SoCon) came away with the series win though, taking 2-of-3.
Leading 7-6 to start the ninth, Matt Shurley retired the first batter on a pop-up but then gave up back-to-back singles. Rand Smith lined out to centerfielder Matt Miller for the second out. Ben Billingsley sent the first pitch into shallow centerfield, scoring Chris Baker to tie the game. Head coach Rodney Hennon brought in closer David Cogswell.
He gave up an infield single to load the bases. Adam Beasley took a 2-2 pitch down the right field line for a grand slam, his sixth home run on the year. Joey Robinson lined a RBI single later in the frame to cap the six run rally.
The Eagles loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but a ground ball double play ended the game.
Smith started the game with a double, took third on a groundout then scored on David Rubinstein’s sacrifice fly for an early 1-0 lead.
Garrett Sherrill recorded two quick outs in the first. Chris Shehan walked then took second on a wild pitch. That prompted the Mountaineers to intentionally walk senior first baseman Greg Dowling. Mike Economos then lined a 2-run triple off the left field wall.
ASU (21-27-1, 7-17) used three consecutive singles off Josh Lairsey to load the bases at the start of the second inning. A walk and groundout brought home two runs before Smith lined a 2-run double for a 5-2 lead.
Dowling and Economos cut into App State’s lead in the third, hitting back-to-back homers. Dowling nailed his team-leading 11th homer, a shot that hit the upper part of the trees beyond the right field fence. Economos followed with a towering shot into the trees in left field, making it a 5-4 game. It was the junior rightfielder’s seventh homer.
Chris Baker hit the first pitch of the fourth inning for a home run, extending ASU’s lead to 6-4. From there Shurley settled down, using an inning-ending double play to start a streak of 12 straight retired.
During the Eagles’ half of the fourth, Jeremy Beckham dropped down a bunt for an infield hit then third baseman’s Nick DeRose’s throwing error let him go to third base. Brett Pelfrey lined a shot to right field, but Smith dropped the ball which allowed the run to score.
Shehan singled to start the fifth. After two flyouts, Griffin Benedict hammered a 2-run shot off the batters’ eye in centerfield, putting GS ahead 7-6.
Shurley went a personal-best seven innings, but the hard-luck loser (1-3) was officially charged for four runs on six hits. Shurley did not walk a batter and struck out five. Lairsey lasted 1.2 innings, allowing five runs on five hits.
Dowling scored twice while fellow senior Pelfrey added a RBI in the duo’s final home game. Beckham, starting at designated hitter for the first time this year, had two hits as did Economos.
Sherrill (6-5) gave up seven runs (six earned) on eight hits in 8.1 innings. He walked four and struck out three. Four different Mountaineers recorded a multi-hit game, led by Smith’s three.
App State travels to North Carolina A&T on Tuesday. The Eagles close out the regular season at Wofford. The three-game series starts Thursday night (May 18), first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
Story courtesy of Western Carolina sports information
Western Carolina 9, Kennesaw State 7
Cullowhee, N.C. -- Western Carolina, which scored all of its runs with two outs, claimed a 9-7 victory Sunday afternoon at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium to complete a three-game sweep of Kennesaw State (22-29). The Catamounts, who got a scare with a grand slam in the seventh by the Owls, improve to 30-22, marking the fourth time in the last five years Western has had at least 30 wins. Western will return to action on Tuesday (May 16) at 3 pm, which is a change in
the schedule, traveling to Johnson City, Tenn., to face East Tennessee State.
The Catamounts’ top five hitters each had two hits in the contest with Jonathan Greene contributing three RBI, while Barrett Shaft and Steven Strausbaugh each drove in two. Bryan Tupper picked up the win, improving to 5-1. He left the game after six innings with WCU leading 8-2. He scattered eight hits over six complete innings, allowing two runs with zero walks and six strikeouts.
Western Carolina took early control, scoring three runs in the first. Tim Hallam had a leadoff single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Trey McDaniel delivered an RBI single to right before Greene cleared the bases with a two-run home run to left-center field for his ninth blast of the season.
The Catamounts did more two-out damage, scoring twice in the second. Mitchell Hatley had a two-out single, moved to second on Hallam’s walk and scored on an RBI single to left-center by Shaft. Strausbaugh followed with an RBI double down the left field line.
The Owls got on the board in the third as Matt Nelson had a leadoff home run to left, marking his first home run of the season.
Western Carolina got that run back in the fifth thanks to a two-out, solo home run by Scott Ward, his second round-tripper of the season. However, Scott Hendrix answered in the top of the sixth with a leadoff, solo home run of his own. It marked the sixth homer of the year for Hendrix.
The Catamounts continued their two-out assault in the sixth. With two away, Hallam and Shaft had back-to-back doubles to give Western a 7-2 advantage, chasing KSU starter Micah Sales. Strausbaugh welcomed new pitcher Jamie Spear with an RBI single to left.
Kennesaw State used back-to-back doubles by Andrew Martin and Matt Hopkins to start the seventh to cut into its deficit. Walks to Martin Baker and Jay Morrow chased WCU relief pitcher Brian McCullen and set the stage for a one-out Hendrix grand slam, making the score 8-7.
The home run by Hendrix snapped a streak of 13 consecutive scoreless innings by Catamount closer Greg Holland. That was the only run Holland allowed in three innings as he struck out five to earn his ninth save.
Western added an insurance run in the eighth. With two outs, Strausbaugh walked, moved to third on McDaniel’s single and scored on Greene’s single to right.
For the Owls, Hendrix was 3-for-5 with five RBI, while Robbins, Baker and Martin each had two hits. Micah Sales suffered the loss, falling to 2-1 on the season. He allowed 11 his and eight runs over 6.1 innings.