THE CITADEL 8, ELON 6
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? The Citadel posted their 12th come-from-behind win with an 8-6 victory over Elon on Saturday afternoon at Riley Park. The Phoenix took an early 2-0 lead, but the Bulldogs ignited for four runs in the fifth to take the lead for good. The Dogs improve to 16-6 overall and 1-1 in the SoCon, while Elon falls to 13-12, 3-2 SoCon.
Elon put up one in the third and fourth frames to go up 2-0. First baseman Chris Vasami notched an RBI-double to right center and right fielder Ryan Addison smacked a solo shot to left to begin the fourth.
The Citadel cut the Phoenix lead to one in the bottom half of the frame on an RBI-single off the bat of freshman shortstop Kyle Jordan. Elon then pushed their advantage back to two in the fifth as Vasami knocked in another run with a base hit to left.
The Bulldogs then rallied for four runs in the home half of the fifth as freshman second baseman Bryan Altman and junior left fielder Chris Swauger roped back-to-back singles. With runners on the corners, sophomore right fielder Sonny Meade picked up an RBI with a sac fly to center to chase Elon starter Zach Booker from the mound. Brian Ebert came on in relief and hit the first batter he faced before surrendering a single up the middle to junior third baseman Matt Arnold.
Ebert then hit freshman center fielder Matt Simonelli with the bases loaded to drive in a run. The Phoenix then called Jesse Lewter to the mound, who gave up a bases loaded walk to the first batter he faced. Freshman designated hitter Chris McGuiness hit into a fielder’s choice, allowing Arnold to score before Jordan flied out to right to make it, 5-3.
The Citadel extended their lead to five in the sixth on RBI-doubles off the bat of Meade and Simonelli. Meade knocked in one with a two-bagger down the left field line, while Simonelli drove in his second and third runs of the day with a double to the gap in left center.
Vasami registered his third RBI of the afternoon with a base hit up the middle in the eighth. Elon then pulled within two in the ninth as the Dogs called senior closer Link Saunders to the hill. Saunders gave up a leadoff walk to left fielder Pat Irvine, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. Shortstop Chase Austin then hit a fly ball to center that was dropped by Chance Smith, allowing Austin to reach safely. A single by Ryan Adams filled the bases with no outs for second baseman Matt Hill who hit a fly ball to right that was too shallow for Irvine to tag up on. Saunders forced center fielder Jordy Snyder to pop out to short before giving up a base hit to Mike Melillo that plated two. With the go-ahead run at the plate, Vasami flied out to center to end the Elon threat and make the final, 8-6.
Sophomore Matt Crim (2-2) was credited with the win for the Bulldogs as he tossed 5.0 frames, allowing three runs on eight hits while striking out four and walking one. Ebert (0-2) suffered the loss for Elon as he did not register an out but gave up two runs on one hit.
Freshman side-armer Raymond Copenhaver tossed three innings of relief and retired six straight batters before giving up a double to Melillo in the eighth. Copenhaver allowed one run on two hits while striking out two.
Meade paced the Dogs at the plate as he batted 2-for-3, including his fifth double of the season, two RBI and scoring once. Simonelli enjoyed a career-high three RBI, while Brown was hit by a pitch in his first three at bats, one shy of Jeff Dantzler who was hit four times in one game in 2003. Elon combined to hit five batters in the contest.
The Phoenix were lead by Vasami as he went 3-for-5 and also enjoyed his fifth double of the year while driving in three.
FURMAN 9, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 3
STATESBORO, GA. -- Jay Jackson pitched seven solid innings and Tony Maccani doubled twice and drove in three runs to lead Furman to a 9-3 win over Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon in the second game of a three-game Southern Conference series at Clements Stadium.
The victory was the third straight for Furman (7-14, 3-2 SoCon) and the Paladins’ sixth triumph in the last seven meetings with Georgia Southern (16-11, 0-2 SoCon).
Jackson (1-1), a Taylors, S.C., product and former Christ Church Episcopal School standout, earned his first win of the campaign after allowing seven hits, three runs, and three walks while striking out two in his longest outing of the season. His strong work on the mound followed Friday night’s contest that saw him belt a three-run home run in the Paladins’
8-1 win over the Eagles.
One of Maccani’s two doubles came in the pivotal sixth inning when, with the score tied 1-1, he cleared the bases with three-run two-base hit to give Furman a 4-1 lead. The Paladin senior also scored two runs as Furman made the most of nine hits, including three by freshman Cole Franklin, who delivered a two-out, two-run single in the eighth inning.
In a game that began as pitcher’s duel, Georgia Southern broke on top first with a run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Griffin Benedict.
Furman tied the game in the fifth after Will Stembridge led off with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice, and scored on the first of two, two-out singles by Franklin.
The Paladins did their biggest damage in the sixth, scoring four runs off Georgia Southern starter and losing pitcher Drew Murray (3-4) and reliever Kyle Kamppi. Joey Rodgers was hit by a pitch to lead off, and Marcus Rose followed with a bunt single. A fielding error allowed Bobby Hubbard to load the bases, and Maccani then stroked a Murray offering into the left field corner for a three-run double. Maccani later scored on a passed ball to give the Paladins a 5-1 lead.
Georgia Southern narrowed the Paladin advantage to 5-3 in the seventh on A.J. Wirnsberger’s two-out, two-run double before Jackson rallied to retire the Eagles’ Mike Economos on a fly out to end the inning.
Furman broke the game open in the eighth. With one out Maccani doubled and moved to third on a groundout. Joe Daysh was intentionally walked, and Eagle reliever A.J. Batisto followed with a walk to Nicholas Karrow to load the bases. Franklin then delivered a two-run single to right field and moved to second on a passed ball. Spence Gibbs extended the rally with a two-run single to centerfield to give Furman a 9-3 lead.
Nick Hollstegge pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth to secure the victory.
UNC GREENSBORO 14, DAVIDSON 2
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? After holding a 4-2 lead in the fourth, UNC Greensboro used nine runs in the fifth to coast to the 14-2 victory and its first Southern Conference win of the season over Davidson on Saturday afternoon at Wilson Field.
Junior Tim Carrier went 4-for-5, including two home runs to lead the Spartans. Greg Feltes and Adam Deleo each finished 3-for-5 from the plate.
Freshman Corey Overholtzer gave the Spartans (12-10, 1-1 SoCon) a 2-0 lead in the second with his first collegiate homer. UNCG went up 4-0 on a pair of one-run roundtrippers in the third. Carrier opened the inning with a blast to centerfield. Two batters later, junior Scott Schneider sent his third homer of the season over the right field wall.
Davidson (14-11, 3-2 SoCon) answered with a pair of runs to cut the lead in the fourth. Zach Kayne singled to center and Matt Webb reached on an error before Alden Crissey sent a two-run single to right-center. The Wildcats narrowed the Spartan lead, 4-2, before UNCG opened up its scoring in the fifth.
Guy Welsh and Carrier began the inning with singles and advanced to second and third on a Sean Snell sacrifice. Schneider followed with a walk and with the bases loaded, Deleo singled to left-center to score Welsh and Carrier. After a Davidson walk loaded the bases again, junior Matt Gaski drove a two-run single to center. Feltes answered with a two-run double and scored on a Davidson fielding error before Carrier belted a two-run homer to left. UNCG finished with six hits in the inning and took the 13-2 lead.
UNCG starter Matt Gibbs (3-1) earned his third win of the season after only allowing two runs on five hits. The junior struck out a game-high six batters in eight innings of work. Freshman Rob Gilliam pitched an inning of relief and allowed only one hit and struck out one.
Davidson’s Matt Knight (2-3) was credited with the loss after allowing eight runs on eight hits in 4-2/3 innings on the mound.
UNCG closes out its three-game series with Davidson on Sunday at 1 pm at Wilson Field.
APPALACHIAN STATE 8, WOFFORD 2
HICKORY, N.C. ? Jason Rook held Wofford to two runs and two hits over seven innings to lead Appalachian State to an 8-2 Southern Conference win Saturday afternoon at L.P. Frans Stadium.
Rook (3-3) gave up two runs and two hits in the first inning, but did not surrender another over his last six innings to earn the win. He struck out six and retired 15 of 16 straight batters from the second through the sixth inning before walking two in the seventh. Appalachian State went to right-handers Brandon Graves and Garrett Sherrill in the eighth inning and the two needed only 19 combined pitches to end the game. Sherrill picked up the save after pitching 1 1/3 innings of hitless work.
Wofford (16-9, 0-2) started strong as Brandon Waring slammed a two-run home run to opposite field in the top of the first to give the Terriers an early 2-0 lead. The right-field blast came after a costly two-out error by Appalachian State, as center fielder Chris Baker dropped a fly ball to allow Shane Kirkley to safely reach second base. Baker had a bead on Kirkley’s fly ball, but lost it in the sun before it fell to the turf after hitting the heel of his glove.
With Kirkley on base, Waring mashed his third homer in his last four games for his conference-leading 12th of the season.
The Mountaineers tied the game with a two-out rally in the bottom half of the second. Jason Altenhof drove in the first of two runs with an RBI single to the right side to score Jerod Faggart, who reached base with a walk earlier in the inning. The base hit advanced Nick DeRose to third, and Appalachian State followed with a double steal to tie the game at 2-2. Wofford catcher Adam Kearney opted to throw out Faggart at second, but his throw was off line, allowing the run to score and Faggart to come up safe. Wofford starter Ben Austin followed by striking out the next batter to end the inning.
The game became a pitching duel until the fifth when Andrew Franco sent a solo shot over the center field fence to put Appalachian State up 3-2. Franco went 4-for-4 in the game with a home run, a double and two singles while driving in a run.
Austin bounced back to retire the side in order in the sixth inning before being pulled in favor of Michael Gilmartin in the seventh. Austin (6-2) took the loss for Wofford after allowing three runs over 6 1/3 innings. The junior right-hander scattered nine hits while striking out five.
Following Austin’s departure, Appalachian State blew the game open in the bottom of the eighth after scoring five runs to go up 8-2. David Towarnicky led off with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Rook, who stayed in the designated hitter spot after leaving the mound. An RBI double by Baker scored Towarnicky, and a Wofford fielding error on the next at bat scored Baker. Following an RBI single from Altenhof, Wofford misfired to first base on a potential double play line drive which allowed another run to score. The Mountaineers capped their offensive explosion as Tom Prosser scored from second on a failed pickoff attempt.
Wofford could not recover from the offensive foray as Sherrill retired the side in order in the ninth to end the game.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 18, WESTERN CAROLINA 8
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? The College of Charleston scored in six of the eight innings in which it batted on Saturday afternoon, out slugging Western Carolina for an 18-8 win at Patriots Point. Western’s Jonathan Greene belted a solo home run to left center field in the top of the fourth inning to pull the Catamounts even at seven apiece, but the Cougars outscored WCU 11-to-1 over the next five frames to secure the win and earn the series victory.
Greene led Western on Saturday with a 4-for-5 performance including the solo shot in the fourth, also adding a double. Freshman Brent Greer, who came into the game with only two RBI on the season, drove in five for the Catamounts, four coming off two doubles. The Manassas, Va., native also legged out the first triple of his collegiate career.
Junior Steven Strausbaugh continued his turnaround this weekend, posting a 1-for-2 showing with a RBI walk and three runs scored.
The College of Charleston (17-6, 2-0 SoCon) drew first blood with a three-run bottom of the first inning capitalizing on an RBI triple, double and single, respectively, to lead 3-0. Yet, Western retaliated in the top of the second, as Greer laced his first of two, two-RBI doubles to left center field scoring John Ingram, who walked, and Strausbaugh who singled to left.
However, the Cougars plated four runs in the home half of the second to surge back in front, 7-2, before the Catamounts pulled back within a run with a four-spot of their own in the top of the third. With two down, Greene ripped a single to the gap in right center field and was advanced to third after back-to-back walks to both senior transfer Kenny Smith and Ingram, who had his 12-game hitting streak snapped despite drawing four walks on the day. Strausbaugh drew a third walk to bring home the first run of the inning, with freshman Nick Liles also walking to drive in the second marker. With the bases still loaded, Greer came through with his second, two-run double to left field to complete the four-run frame and a 7-6 count.
After rolling up a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the third, Greene blasted a 1-0 pitch over the fence in left center to tie the game at seven. The Cougars answered, however, with a two-run bottom of the fourth to take the lead for good, 8-6, with Western pushing across its seventh run in the fifth.
All told, seven of Western’s eight runs scored in the game were tallied after two were out in the inning, with the eighth tallied on a ground out that resulted in the second out.
The Catamounts used six pitchers on the afternoon with starter Tyler Johnson lasting an inning and two thirds, surrendering seven earned runs on seven hits with three walks and a pair of strikeouts. Sophomore Brian Corbett pitched the longest for WCU, pitching two and a third of three-hit, two-run ball also walking and fanning a pair in suffering his first defeat of the season. Also seeing action on Saturday were Ryne Nelson, Corey Martin, Andrew Larrimore and Daniel Ottone, with the latter tossing one inning of hitless and scoreless.
College of Charleston starter Jeff Beliveau was chased after two and two thirds innings, allowing six earned runs on just three hits with four walks and a pair of strikeouts. After an inning and a third of relief work, by Curtis Dowling, mid-week starter Jake Goldberg settled things for the Cougars, tossing 4.1 innings, scattering six hits and holding the Cats to one earned run. He was in line for the save after pitching three-or-more innings of effective relief, but was chased in the top of the ninth after Western loaded the bases. Yet, reliever Mike Lynn shut the door on WCU with a pair of strikeouts to end the game.