Story courtesy of Davidson sports information
Davidson 13, Gardner-Webb 4
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? Davidson blasted five home runs, including three on three consecutive pitches in the sixth, to defeat the visiting Gardner-Webb Bulldogs on Senior Night Tuesday evening, 13-4. The five home runs are the most for the Wildcats in more than five years as they improved to 17-27 on the season, while Gardner-Webb dropped to an even .500 at 22-22.
Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth, junior Alden Crissey greeted reliever Matt Rizzuto (0-1) by singling to right field. Junior Rob Wilson fouled off some two-strike pitches and worked the count full before hitting a towering fly to left-center that just cleared the fence for a game-tying home run. Junior Blake Osborn crushed the very next pitch to left for another home run, and senior Dan Obermeier followed by lining the next pitch over the fence as well. It was the first time in over 100 years of Davidson baseball that the Wildcats had hit three consecutive four-baggers.
The Bulldogs put the tying runs in scoring position in the eighth with one out, but Wilson shifted from his position at first to the mound and got a called third strike and a lazy fly to center to snuff the would-be rally.
In the bottom half, the Davidson offense exploded for seven runs, three coming on a round-tripper off the bat of senior Alex Entrekin.
The game began as a well-played pitchers’ duel. But the ’Cats broke through first in the fourth on a prodigious blast to right by junior Gregory Zage, his team-leading ninth home run of the year.
Gardner-Webb finally touched Wildcat starter Matt Meade for a run in the fifth on doubles by Shea Harris and Daniel Cooke.
Davidson answered with a run in its half of the fifth on a one-out single by sophomore Hugh Eden, a sacrifice bunt and an RBI single from Entrekin.
In the top of the sixth, the Bulldogs scored three times to take a short-lived 4-2 lead. Matt Maloney stroked an RBI single, Jeremy McCann came home on a grounder that was misplayed, and Jonathan Ahearn squeezed home the third run. The Wildcat home run barrage came in the bottom half.
Entrekin finished the game as the offensive star, going 3-for-5 with four RBIs and his sixth home run of the year. Six other Wildcats had two hits as Davidson banged out 17 hits in the contest. The last time Davidson hit five home runs in a game was at VMI on April 22, 2001. Both Entrekin and Obermeier, the Wildcats’ catching duo for the past four years, homered in their final at-bat at Wilson Field.
Senior reliever Michael Kaufman (2-4) picked up the win after pitching an inning. Meade did not get a decision, but tossed five innings of one-run ball, yielding five hits, one walk and a pair of strikeouts.
McCann and Ahearn each had two hits to bolster the Bulldog nine-hit attack.
Davidson does not play again until after final exams, which start later this week. When the Wildcats return to the diamond, they will head to Charleston, S.C., for a three-game Southern Conference series against The Citadel. Gardner-Webb hosts North Florida in an Atlantic Sun doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Story courtesy of Elon sports information
Elon 3, UNC Wilmington 1
WILMINGTON, N.C. -- Robert Rodebaugh posted a 1-for-4 night at the plate, scoring once and knocking in two as the Elon Phoenix swept the home-and-home series with the UNC Wilmington Seahawks with a 3-1 victory on the road Tuesday night. Rodebaugh now has 14 RBI in his last five games and Elon upped its record to 36-13 on the year with the victory. UNCW fell to 31-15 in 2006.
Elon scored twice in the third inning when Donny Jobe led the frame off with a double. A one-out double from Rodebaugh plated Jobe with the first run of the night. Rodebaugh would later score from third when Chris Vasami reached on an error for what should have been the second out of the inning.
Rodebaugh's RBI groundout allowed Adam Weaver, who began the inning with a walk, to score the third Phoenix run in the fourth inning.
The Seahawks pushed across their only run in the bottom of the fourth when Chris Hatcher singled to center, driving in John Raynor who had walked.
For Elon, Chris Price posted a 3-for-3 day at the dish, but teammate Grant Rembert saw his 15-game hitting streak come to an end after an 0-for-2 night. Rembert did reach twice via a hit-by-pitch. Jobe recorded a 2-for-5 outing.
UNCW tallied just four hits on the night, one each from Hatcher, Jonathan Batts, Justin Barefoot and Mike Mabry.
Kevin Regan (1-1) earned the victory after throwing 3.1 innings in relief of starter Kory Radford. The Seahawks got two hits against both of those pitchers and their lone run off of Radford. Chad Tilley earned his eighth save of the season by throwing the final 1.2 innings and not allowing a hit.
Jeff Hatcher (4-3) was saddled with the loss for UNCW. Hatcher, the third of 10 Seahawk pitchers in the game, surrendered two runs on three hits in 1/3 of an inning.
Elon will remain on the road this weekend as the Phoenix visits Furman in a showdown of two of the top three teams in the Southern Conference. Friday's game is slated for a 7:00 p.m. first pitch in Greenville, S.C.