COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 5, SOUTH CAROLINA 4 (10 innings)
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Chris Campbell’s one-out double in the bottom of the 10th innings scored Oliver Marmol with the game-winner as 30th-ranked College of Charleston edged 2nd-ranked South Carolina, 5-4, in college baseball action before 3,428 at Joe Riley Park on Tuesday.
Charleston, which won its eighth in a row, improved to 12-1. The Gamecocks fell to 10-2. The Cougars defeated their highest ranked opponent since knocking off top-ranked Florida State, 3-0, in Tallahassee on March 8, 1994.
Marmol drew a one-out walk in the 10th, moved to second when Gabe Marchant walked, and raced home when Campbell lined a 0-2 pitch from Gamecock righty Jordan Costner over the head of centerfielder Steven Reinhold for the victory.
Charleston built a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning thanks to an RBI grounder by Graham Maiden in the second and Michael Harrington’s two-run homer to right in the fourth, his fourth of the season.
The Gamecocks cut the margin to 3-1 in the sixth on Trent Kline’s RBI grounder to short, and then took the lead by scoring three times in the eighth with two outs.
With two outs and the bases empty in the USC eighth, Kline and Cheyne Hurst walked and Reese Haven’s delivered and RBI single to right to cut the lead to 3-2. After pinch hitter Robbie Grinestaff was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Hurst scored on a fielding error by Campbell to tie the game at 3-all. Justin Smoak forced in the go-ahead run with a bases loaded walk for a 4-3 USC lead.
Marmol led off Charleston’s eighth with a double down the left field line and scored on Alex Garabedian’s two-out single to right that tied the game at 4-all.
Brian Schlitter (2-0), the third CofC pitcher, picked up the win by blanking the Gamecocks on just two hits with two strikeouts over the final 2 1/3 innings. Curtis Johnson (0-1), USC’s fifth pitcher, suffered the loss allowing a run and two walks in 1/3 of an inning of work.
UNC GREENSBORO 10, NORTH CAROLINA STATE 8
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Despite a late push by North Carolina State, the UNC Greensboro baseball squad held on the for the 10-8 victory on Tuesday afternoon at UNCG Baseball Stadium. The win marks the first time the Spartans have defeated the Wolfpack since 1996.
Starter Kory Judd (1-0) picked up his first win of the season after allowing four hits and four runs while collecting two strikeouts in 5-1/3 innings of work.
Nate Karns (0-1) took the loss for the Wolfpack after being credited with three runs on three hits with three strikeouts in four innings on the mound.
NC State (10-4) used a pair groundouts to take a 1-0 lead after a half-inning of play. Lead-off hitter Joe Florio doubled to left center and advanced around the bases to home on a pair of groundouts to give the Pack the one-run advantage. NC State added another run at the top of third after a groundout and fly out advanced Marcus Jones, who singled earlier.
The Spartans (6-5) took the lead, however, with the help of Wolfpack errors at the bottom of the fourth. Adam Deleo drove in Scott Schneider and Joel Johnson on a double down the leftfield line to tie the game up at two.
Deleo reached third on an error by the pitcher and advanced to home after an error by the third baseman also allowed Tim Carrier to move to first. UNCG closed out the inning with the 3-2 lead.
UNCG used a big fifth inning to take the lead for good. Schneider opened up the scoring when he blasted his first homerun as a Spartan to right center.
A single by Johnson and a hit batter later, junior Matt Gaski sent a double down the right field line to bring Johnson in for the run. UNCG used a single from Deleo and a double from junior Ricky Orton to add two more runs before a double to center from Greg Feltes brought in three runs to give the Spartans the 10-2 lead going into the sixth. The seven runs put up by UNCG were more than the amount of runs NC State has given up in a single game all season.
The Wolfpack slowly began to close the gap beginning in the sixth. Ramon Corona drew a fielder’s choice to advance to first and a walk brought him to second. Ryan Pond singled to bring Corona in for the run. Jeremy Synan cut the score down to 10-4 after a sacrifice fly brought him home from third. NC State grabbed another run in the top of the eighth off another sacrifice fly to give the Spartans the five-run advantage.
NC State rallied in the top of the ninth and scored a run with the help of three walks, a wild pitch and a hit by pitch. A two-out error by UNCG allowed for two unearned runs for the Pack, but Clinton McKinney retired Pond on a fly out to leftfield to end the game.
Deleo led the Spartans as finished with a perfect 3-for-3 from the plate with three RBI. Feltes also tallied three RBI, while Schneider went 2-for-5 with a homerun.
UNC WILMINGTON 13, ELON 2
ELON, N.C. -- The UNC Wilmington Seahawks put up six runs in the third inning en route to a 13-2 baseball victory over the host Elon Phoenix from Latham Park on Tuesday afternoon. UNCW never trailed in the contest and improved to 7-9 on the year. Elon fell to 8-7 in 2007.
The Seahawks scored two unearned runs in the second inning to grab the early lead. Mark Carver reached on a Phoenix error to start the inning before moving to third on Nate Hall’s one-out double. Carver scored when Grayson Evans singled. Justin Barefoot’s ground out knocked in Hall with the second run of the inning.
In the third, Matt Holt led things off with a single and scored on Daniel Hargrave’s triple to the gap in right. Steve Halford’s double brought home Hargrave before Carver reached on a bunt single. Jonathan Batts followed by driving in three of his four RBI on the day with a homer to center. Following a walk and a strikeout, Barefoot reached on a bunt single. Bobby Leeper’s single to center knocked in Hall with the final tally of the inning.
A three-run sixth extended the Seahawk advantage to 11-0. Batts and Barefoot each drove in one run with a sacrifice fly while another Elon error allowed the third run of the frame.
Elon got its two runs in the bottom of the seventh. Drew Davis earned a lead-off walk and moved to second on Ryan Addison’s single. With one out, Davis moved to third when Chase Austin reached on a fielder’s choice that erased Addison. Chris Dove followed with a double to left, plating Davis. A walk to Matt Hill loaded the bases before Robert Rodebaugh drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk to force in Austin with the second run.
UNCW scored its final two runs of the night on a two-run homer off the bat of Holt in the top of the ninth.
J.D. Reichenbach (3-2) took the loss after allowing eight runs (six earned) on seven hits in 2.0 innings for Elon.
Jon Cantrell (1-1) earned his first win of the season for UNCW. Cantrell lasted 6.0 innings and surrendered no runs on four hits while striking out eight Phoenix hitters.
At the plate for Elon, both Rodebaugh and Davis had two-hit outings. Davis extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
For UNCW, Batts finished 1-for-3 with a run and game-high four RBI while both Holt and Barefoot drove in two runs. Carver, while going only 1-for-4 at the plate, scored three times.
AUBURN 10, DAVIDSON 4
AUBURN, ALA. ? A six-run third propelled 13th-ranked Auburn to a 10-4 victory over the visiting Davidson Wildcats Tuesday evening on Hitchcock Field at Plainsman Park in front of 2,395 fans. With the victory the Tigers improved to 14-2 this season, while the Wildcats lost for just the second time, dropping to 8-2.
For Auburn, Josh Donaldson went 2-for-4 with a double, a two-run homer for his team-leading seventh of the year, and three RBIs. Robert Brooks and Eric Skinner each had a pair of hits also while Andy Bennett drove in three runs as well.
Seniors Alden Crissey and Rob Wilson both had two singles for Davidson, while Crissey and senior Gregory Zage drove in two runs apiece to account for the four Wildcat runs.
The Tigers stepped to the plate in the bottom of the third trailing 4-2 against Wildcat hurler Matt Knight. After a lead-off single, control problems got Knight into trouble as he walked the next hitter and hit a batter with one out to load the bases. It took Auburn just three more pitches to put five runs on the board.
Bennett cleared the bases with a double on the first pitch, Ross Smith bunted for a hit on the next offering, and Dustin Spruill stroked a two-run double on the next pitch and went to third on the throw. Freshman Chris Kennedy came on to pitch for Davidson, and Spruill scored on a slow roller to second, putting the Tigers up, 8-4.
Things started well for Davidson as it struck first with a pair of runs in the opening frame. Sophomore Matt Webb and Wilson singled before Zage brought both home with a two-out double into the gap in right-center. Auburn quickly tied the game up in its half when Donaldson launched a two-run home run to left.
In the second, the Wildcats went right back to work, loading the bases on a Zach Kayne bunt single sandwiched between a pair of walks. Crissey provided the two-out hit this time, sending a 2-2 pitch back through the box to score freshman Tommy Piacenza and Kayne.
Taylor Thompson (2-0), restricted by a pitch count, picked up the victory in his four-inning start, allowing four runs on six hits and a couple walks while fanning a season-high eight batters. Relievers Brett Butts and Austin Hubbard hurled the final five frames, never facing more than four batters in an inning.
Knight (2-1) was saddled with the loss in his first start in exactly 23 months, surrendering eight runs on seven hits, two walks and a hit batter in just 2.1 innings. The bullpen did a nice job holding the Tigers in check, giving up just two runs in 5.2 innings.