#7 UNC Greensboro 5, #3 Furman 4
UNCG-FUR Box Score
CHARLESTON, SC ? UNC Greensboro’s Shane Thompson hit a game-winning bloop single just over the Furman third baseman’s head in the bottom of the ninth to score Adam Deleo from second base and give the Spartans a 5-4 victory in a loser’s bracket contest at the 2006 Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
With the loss the defending SoCon Tournament champion Paladins become the first team since 1991-1992 to win the championship and then bow out in their first two tournament games the next season. Ironically, the 1991-1992 Paladins were the last teams to accomplish the feat.
UNC Greensboro (26-32) moves on to face the loser of the #1 Elon-#5 The Citadel contest at 1 p.m. on Friday. Furman concludes it 2006 season with a 32-33 record.
The Paladins were down 4-3 going into the top of the ninth inning, but squared the game at 4-4 on a Will Stembridge single that hit off the pitcher and scored Joey Rodgers.
Furman was able to finagle the game’s first run in the top of the fifth inning on a home run by Joey Rodgers. The ball went over the left field wall, hanging just fair inside the foul pole.
In the bottom of the inning UNC Greensboro’s Logan Smith seemingly hit a ball over the wall for a home run, but the ball hit off the scoreboard at Riley Park in left field, giving Smith a double and scoring Adam Deleo and Roly Gonzalez to garner the Spartans their first lead at 2-1.
The Spartans added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Jermaine Mitchell hit for his first RBI of the day when he tripled down the right field line off Paladin relief pitcher Ryan Hudson to send Sean Snell to the dish.
Mitchell added the second run of the inning on the next batter, as Guy Welsh sacrificed bunted Mitchell home from third to put UNCG ahead at 4-1.
Furman had a stellar chance to even the game or go ahead in the top of the eighth inning, but the Spartans and relief pitcher Greg Martin were able to get out of the jam with a one-run lead.
Furman loaded the bases with no outs to commence the inning with Case Cassedy at the dish. Cassedy fanned looking to give the Spartans their first out of the inning.
Joe Daysh then grounded out up the middle into what could have been the final two outs of the stanza, but the Paladins were able to tally two runs on an errant double-play effort by shortstop Thompson that skipped past UNCG first baseman Logan Smith, allowing Furman’s Stembridge and A.J. Davidiuk the opportunity to score and place the Paladins one behind at 4-3.
The Paladins still had runners in scoring position with two outs in the inning, but Martin was able to strike out catcher Tony Maccani to end the inning and thwart the Paladins efforts at squaring the contest.
#4 Georgia Southern 5, #8 Appalachian State 2
GSU-ASU Box Score
CHARLESTON, SC ? Mike Economos drove in two of Georgia Southern’s five runs and scored another as the Eagles amassed 12 hits en route to their 5-2 win over Appalachian State. In the loser’s bracket round of games, 966 fans turned out at Riley Park to watch the two teams battle in an elimination game.
Dustin Evans (5-3) went 6.1 innings for the Eagles (31-26), giving up only four hits and striking out three as he recorded the win. Jonathan Reeder (4-7) was credited with the loss as Appalachian State ended their season at 24-31-1.
Georgia Southern struck early, scoring two runs in the top of the second. Jeremiah Parker laced an RBI single to left center to send Mike Economos across the plate. Two batters later, Brian Pierce sent a two-out RBI single down the left field line to score Griffin Benedict.
The Eagles struck again in the fifth as Economos drove in two runs on a bases loaded single up the middle, plating Matt Miller and Chris Hollins.
Appalachian State threatened in the bottom of the sixth as the Mountaineers held the bases loaded with one out, but consecutive strikeouts by Jason Rook and Kevin Butler ended the ASU threat.
Chris Baker drove in a run for ASU in the bottom of the seventh as the Mountaineers finally got on the board. However, Appalachian State then grounded into a double play to end the Black and Gold threat.
ASU struck again in the eighth as Kevin Butler’s RBI double down the left field line sent Nick DeRose across the plate with two outs for the Mountaineer’s lone run of the inning.
Georgia Southern will now face the loser of the Western Carolina-College of Charleston game at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 26.
#2 College of Charleston 1, #6 Western Carolina 0
CofC-WCU Box Score
CHARLESTON, SC ? SoCon Pitcher of the Year Nick Chigges pitched a complete game shutout for the College of Charleston, striking out four Catamounts, as the Cougars edged Western Carolina 1-0 in front of 1,794 fans at the Southern Conference Championships.
The contest was the first 1-0 game in the tournament since Western Carolina defeated Georgia Southern 1-0 in the final’s of the winner’s bracket in 2003.
The two teams battled on the defensive side after both teams recorded wins in their opening draws by scoring more than 10 runs. WCU upset Furman, 14-1, while CofC scored 13 runs to UNC Greensboro’s five.
Chigges (10-1) pitched the first complete of his career as he held the Catamounts to only four hits on the night. The College of Charleston (41-15) made short work of the WCU offense after scoring early on.
Sixth-seeded Western Carolina (32-26) suffered their first loss of the double-elimination tournament, but remains alive to face fourth-seeded Georgia Southern on Friday, May 26 at 10 a.m. The Catamounts’ Bryan Tupper (5-2) was credited with the defeat in six innings of work, giving up seven hits and the lone run of the game.
The Cougars scored as Jess Easterling smacked a one-out double to left field as Clay McCord raced home from second.
The College of Charleston advances in the winner’s bracket to face the victor of the Elon-Citadel game on Friday, May 26 at 4:30 p.m.
#1 Elon 12, #5 The Citadel 3
Elon-CIT Box Score
CHARLESTON, SC ? Top-seeded Elon (44-14) commandeered 19 cumulative hits en route to a decisive 12-2 victory over fifth-seeded The Citadel (31-26) before 3,078 in game No. 10 of the 2006 Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
The Phoenix’s victory marks the first time that they commenced the tournament 2-0 and sets up a match-up in the winner’s bracket final with second-seeded College of Charleston at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 25 at Riley Park. The Citadel will square off with seventh-seeded UNC Greensboro in an elimination game at 1 p.m. on Friday.
Elon leadoff hitter Donny Jobe acquired the contests first run and a 1-0 lead for the Phoenix in the top of the fourth inning. Jobe doubled to left field to send leftfielder Chris Price homeward.
In the top of the sixth inning Elon put the game out of reach for The Citadel by placing a five spot on the scoreboard.
With the bases jammed and one out, Elon third baseman Adam Weaver hit a double that hit just below the scoreboard in left centerfield to plate Paul Bennett and Ryan Radford.
The double by Weaver left two Phoenix on base in Donny Jobe - who originally was the final player put on base to load the bases for Elon after being pelted by The Citadel starting pitcher Ryan Owens ? and Weaver.
Batting in the third spot, Elon designated hitter Robert Rodebaugh doubled to the warning track in right centerfield to score Weaver and Jobe.
The Elon onslaught in the inning did not stop there, as two batters later Phoenix catcher Grant Rembert singled off Bulldog relief pitcher Sonny Meade, who had replaced Owens one batter earlier, to garner Elon a commanding 6-0 advantage at the conclusion of the top of the sixth inning.
After the Phoenix secured two more runs in the top of the seventh to go up 8-0, the Bulldogs were able to procure their first two runs of the game in the bottom of the frame.
The Citadel’s first run was scored after an error by Jobe at second base that allowed Matt Matulia to score and make the game 8-1. The second run was scored when Matt Arnold was able to trot home after Elon chalked up two outs on a fielder’s choice double play, making the game 8-2.
Elon entered into the final stanza with a 9-2 lead and added three more as Grant Rembert hit his ninth home run of the campaign to give the Phoenix a double-digit lead at 12-2.
The Citadel placed the final run of the game in the bottom of the ninth on a Matt Covington RBI to set the game at the final score of 12-3.
Matt Chastain (10-2) earned his 10th win of the season with the victory, hurling 8.0 innings while giving up just eight hits. The 10th win obtained by Chastain leaves him as the fifth pitcher in the Elon annals to win 10 or more games and the first since 1987 when Chris Cole won 11.