#6 Western Carolina 14, #3 Furman 1
WCU-FUR Box Score
CHARLESTON, SC ? Sixth-seeded Western Carolina amassed 15 hits en route to a 14-1 victory over third-seeded Furman on Wednesday morning at the 2006 Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
The Catamount pitching also held the Paladins to only six hits in the contest.
Western Carolina moves on to face second-seeded College of Charleston at 4 p.m. on Thursday. Furman will square off against seventh-seeded UNC Greensboro at 10 a.m. on Thursday in an elimination game.
Western Carolina first team All-SoCon outfielder Steven Strausbaugh placed the Catamounts ahead early with a three-run shot to left field to give Western Carolina a 3-0 advantage.
The home run padded Strausbaugh’s league-leading tally to 17.
In the top of the fourth inning the Catamounts plated two more runners.
Western Carolina started the inning by picking up singles from Blake Murphy and Scott Ward. Batting in the ninth position, the Catamounts’ Jason Haynes then drove in the two runners by tripling to centerfield.
One inning later, Western Carolina continued its onslaught, beginning with Strausbaugh singling in Barrett Shaft to pick up his fourth RBI of the day and a 6-0 lead for the Catamounts.
One batter later with Jonathan Greene, who singled to tally his 10th consecutive contest with a hit, at second and Strausbaugh at first, the Catamounts’ Trey McDaniel homered down the right field line to give the Catamounts a commanding 9-0 advantage.
Western Carolina scored its fifth and final run of the top of the fifth inning when Scott Ward made his way to the dish on a single by Tim Hallam.
The Catamounts scored their eighth run in three innings in the top of the sixth inning when Shaft scored on single by McDaniel to put the Catamounts ahead at 11-0.
Western Carolina chalked up three more runs in the top of the seventh inning to go up 14-0. Two of the runs came through a double to left centerfield from Strausbaugh.
The two RBIs were the fifth and the sixth of the game for Strausbaugh.
Furman was able to procure its first run of the game in the bottom of the eighth inning when SoCon Player of the Year A.J. Davidiuk singled to third base to score Joey Rodgers and set the game at the final score of 14-1.
#2 College of Charleston 13, #7 UNC Greensboro 5
CofC-UNCG Box Score
CHARLESTON, SC ? Senior Jess Easterling drove in a career-high five runs in the game as second-seeded College of Charleston held off a late rally for the 13-5 victory over seventh-seeded UNC Greensboro in Southern Conference Quarterfinal Championship action at Riley Park Wednesday afternoon.
The Cougars amassed 18 hits in the game while UNCG notched 12 hits, four of which came in the ninth. Meanwhile, the Spartan defense suffered through four errors in the game. UNCG rallied late, scoring four runs in the top of the ninth, but failed to overcome the large deficit incurred throughout the game.
The College of Charleston jumped on the board early, 2-0, as shortstop Jess Easterling hit a two-run triple to left field, scoring Chris Campbell and Larry Cobb who both reached on consecutive singles. Cobb’s single continued an 11-game hit streak for the junior centerfielder who scored one of his career-high four runs in the game.
UNC Greensboro cut the Charleston lead in half in the top of the third as Sean Snell hit an RBI-single in the top of the third to score Roly Gonzalez. Snell was then caught stealing to end the inning and the Spartan threat.
CofC added another run to their lead as Alex Garabedian hit a bloop single over the shortstop’s head with two outs, taking advantage of a drawn-in Spartan infield, as Cobb raced home for the run.
The Cougars broke it open in the bottom of the fourth to take a 6-1 lead. CofC sent four runs across the plate in an inning that was capped off by a two-run double by Easterling as the senior shortstop drove in his third and fourth runs of the game.
Easterling drove in his fifth run of the game ? a season high for any Cougar ? in the sixth as his single plated Cobb to make it an 8-1 game. The Cougars added another two runs in the inning, one unearned as Spartan leftfielder Brandon Harvey dropped an easy fly ball that hit his glove with two outs as Cougar catcher Alex Garabedian raced home to give CofC the 10-1 advantage.
The Cougars added three runs in the eighth as junior Ben Lasater hit a two-out, two-run single to right. Garabedian had previously scored in the inning off of Graham Maiden’s single. The 13 runs by the Cougars are the most scored by CofC in a SoCon tournament game.
UNCG rallied late, scoring four runs with one out and was sitting with bases loaded before leftfielder Brandon Harvey grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.
Graham Godfrey (8-2) picked up a career high eighth win for the Cougars (40-15) as Charleston became the first Southern Conference team to record three consecutive 40-win seasons.
The Cougars advance to Game 9 on Thursday, May 25 at 4 p.m., as CofC will face sixth-seeded Western Carolina. The Catamounts upset third-seeded Furman, 14-1, in earlier tournament action. UNC Greensboro (25-32) will face Furman on May 25 at 10 a.m., in the Loser’s Bracket. Nick Starnes (4-5) is credited with the loss for the Spartans.
#1 Elon 4, #8 Appalachian State 3
Elon-ASU Box Score
CHARLESTON, SC ? Elon’s Adam Weaver went 3-for-5 with two RBI, including the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, as the top-seeded Phoenix came from behind to rally for a 4-3 victory over eighth-seeded Appalachian State. The teams battled a grueling match in front of 1,721 fans in the Quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Championships at Riley Park in Charleston.
Both teams were used to close games as Elon (43-14) moved to 10-5 on the season in one-run games while Appalachian State (24-30-1) recorded their school record 16th one-run game of the season, including their fifth-straight.
Appalachian State took the early lead in the first off a squeeze bunt by Adam Beasley. Beasley’s bunt landed between the plate and the mound and he was thrown out at first as Nick DeRose raced across the plate for the Mountaineer run.
The Mountaineers held Elon hitless until the fifth when Donny Jobe hit a single to center, sending Paul Bennett to third, who then scored for Elon’s first run. Jobe advanced to second on the throw as ASU tried to get the out at home, then went to third on an error by ASU third baseman DeRose. Adam Weaver sent Jobe home with a single to right field.
ASU answered in the sixth as Beasley drove in his second run of the game with a double, scoring DeRose. Beasley then raced home as he was followed by Kevin Butler’s single to right as the Mountaineers took the 3-2 lead.
Elon fought back to tie the game in the seventh as a two-out single by Robert
Rodebaugh gave Jobe the opportunity to score and tying the game at three runs apiece.
Weaver became the Phoenix’ hero in the bottom of the ninth with one out and the bases loaded as he lined a single to center field to score junior Ryan Addison for the winning run.
Elon recorded their school record 43rd win as Chad Tilley (5-0) was awarded the win for two-thirds of an inning pitched. Josh Fish (2-1) was given the loss after going 1.1 innings and giving up the run in the ninth.
Elon will face the winner of The Citadel-Georgia Southern game on Thursday, May 25 at 7:30 p.m., while Appalachian State will spar with that game’s loser on Thursday, May 25 at 1 p.m.
#5 The Citadel 6, #4 Georgia Southern 3
CIT-GSU Box Score
CHARLESTON, SC ? Sonny Meade picked up four RBIs and fifth-seeded The Citadel defeated fourth-seeded Georgia Southern 6-3 during quarterfinal action at the 2006 Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
The Citadel (31-25) advances to the semifinals of the winner’s bracket on Thursday where they square off against top-seeded Elon at 7:30 p.m. Georgia Southern will play eighth-seeded Appalachian State at 1 p.m. on Thursday in an elimination contest.
Down 3-1 in the top of the seventh, the Bulldogs commandeered the lead for the first time in the contest at 4-3.
Matt Covington picked up his first RBI of the game on a double down the right field line off Georgia Southern (30-26) starting pitcher Everett Teaford that sent Graham Couch homeward.
Two batters later with the bases juiced The Citadel designated hitter Meade hit a laser towards the wall in left field that looked as if it may leave the ballpark. The ball dropped near the left field line just shy of the wall, but had enough on it to plate the two runs.
The Bulldogs positioned themselves for one more on the play, but Chris Swauger ? intentionally walked one batter prior to Meade ? was gunned down at home on a relay from Eagles’ shortstop Brian Pierce to catcher Griffin Benedict.
In the top of the ninth the Bulldogs accumulated two insurance runs on a Meade double to give him four RBIs on the evening and The Citadel the final tally of 6-3.
Georgia Southern was able to plate the contests first run in the bottom of the third inning. Designated hitter Jeremiah Parker commenced things by doubling down the left field line. Three batters later centerfielder Matt Miller doubled down the right field line to earn the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
The inning would prove to be the first of three straight one-run innings for the Eagles.
The second run of the day for the Eagles in the fourth inning came when Parker tallied his second RBI in as many innings to garner a 2-0 advantage, grounding out on a fielder’s choice to score Mike Economos, who had reached base on a fielder’s choice when The Citadel third baseman Matt Arnold threw out Greg Dowling at second base.
In the fifth inning Georgia Southern acquired its third consecutive one-run inning through a Chris Shehan single to right field.
The run gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead going into the top of the sixth, but The Citadel responded with its first score of the contest to make it 3-1. It was made plausible on a Swauger double to right centerfield that sent Covington to the dish.
The Citadel’s Wes Wrenn (6-2) hurled 6.0 innings of five strikeout baseball to win his sixth of the campaign, while Teaford (10-4) was saddled with his first loss in eight games after winning seven straight coming into the quarterfinal tilt with The Citadel.