UNC GREENSBORO 6, DUKE 0
DURHAM, N.C. ? Freshman Rob Gilliam earned his career first win after he allowed just four hits in six innings of work as UNC Greensboro defeated the Duke Blue Devils 6-0 on Tuesday evening at Jack Coombs Field
The Chapel Hill, NC product struck out four batters and is now 1-0 on the season. Junior Clay Gibson pitched two scoreless innings of relief, while Clinton McKinney picked up two strikeouts in one inning of work.
Andrew Wolcott (3-3) picked up the loss after allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings on the mound.
UNCG (19-18) jumped out to the early 1-0 lead in the visitor half of the first on a RBI single by Ricky Orton. The Spartans plated two more runs in the fifth, taking the 3-0 advantage. With the bases loaded, junior Greg Feltes sent a single through the left side to score Tim Carrier, who had singled earlier. Junior Matt Gaski came home on a Duke (23-16) error to close out the inning.
The Spartans struck for three runs in the ninth to take the 6-0 advantage.
Corey Overholtzer led off with a single to left and was brought home two batters later when Welsh sent a single up the middle. Feltes laced a single to center, allowing Carrier to come home. Welsh scored the final run of the night when Joel Johnson singled up the middle for his third hit of the game.
Feltes finished 3-for-5 with two RBI, while Johnson also went 3-for-5 and tallied one RBI. Welsh was 2-for-3 with a RBI and two walks.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 13, SAVANNAH STATE 8
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - Gabe Marchant belted a three-run homer and Mike Lynn struck out seven in relief as 30th-ranked College of Charleston used a nine-run sixth inning to rally past Savannah State, 13-8, in college baseball action before 316 at Patriots Point Field on Tuesday.
With the win, the Cougars improved to 28-9 on the season. The Tigers fell to 26-17. Charleston, which rallied from an 8-2 deficit, plays at Winthrop on Wednesday at 6:00.
Marchant's three-run homer to right field was his seventh of the season and cut the Tigers' lead to 8-6 in the sixth inning. Chris Campbell's RBI grounder cut the margin to 8-7 and Michael Harrington followed with an RBI single to center that scored Stuart Haywood and tied the game at 8-8. Campbell scored on a passed ball and Graham Maiden's two-run single to right capped the uprising and gave Charleston an 11-8 lead.
Haywood's two-run single in the seventh scored Oliver Marmol and Marchant for the final margin.
Lynn (2-1), who picked up the win, allowed no runs on four hits with just one walk over the final 3 2/3 innings. Marcus Phillips (0-1) suffered the loss in relief.
John Keene had four hits and Brandon Javis belted a first inning two-run homer to left center to pace the Tigers.
The Cougars, who had 15 hits, got four hits from Alex Garabedian and three hits from Harrington.
MERCER 12, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 5
MACON, GA. ? Georgia Southern banged out 14 hits in the game, but the Eagles fell behind early and could not catch up losing 12-5 to Mercer on Tuesday night (April 17). GS dropped to 20-21 overall while Mercer improved to 23-18.
Matt Miller (Canton/Woodstock) and Chris Shehan (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) led off the game with consecutive singles. The Eagles eventually loaded the bases with two outs but could not capitalize. Mercer used the long ball to take an early lead in its half.
Eric Renfroe and Josh Thompson hit back-to-back solo home runs for a 2-0 lead. The Bears sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning. After a leadoff triple, Brian Wilkerson (Bonaire/Houston County) got two quick outs. But the Bears would string together six straight singles off Wilkerson and Josh Lairsey (Waycross/Ware County), eventually grabbing a 7-0 lead after two innings.
Kyle Blackburn (Marietta/Walton) led off the fourth inning hitting his fourth home run this season. Mike Economos (Atlanta/Marist) singled with one out, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Jeremy Beckham’s (Griffin/Griffin) RBI double. The Eagles missed on tacking on another run that inning, but Miller’s sinking line drive was snared by Eric Renfroe, who made a layout dive in centerfield for the final out.
Blackburn ripped a RBI single in the fifth which chased starter Justin Boyette. Relief pitcher David Harden enticed a 4-6-3 inning ending double play but the Eagles made it a 7-3 game.
A pair of RBI singles in the fifth extended Mercer’s lead to 9-3. Beckham singled, stole second and scored on Miller’s RBI single in the sixth. That cut the deficit to 9-4. However, the Bears loaded the bases in the seventh. Kyle Kamppi (Savannah/Benedictine) entered the game with one out, and struck out Thompson.
The sophomore right-hander narrowly missed on a 2-2 pitch to Mike Armstrong, who on the next pitch singled up the middle for a RBI. Another 3-2 count to John Daugherty just missed and his single plated two more runs for a 12-4 lead.
Miller added another RBI single, his second run driven in and third hit of the game, during the eighth inning for the final margin.
Wilkerson (4-7), dropping his sixth straight decision, allowed four runs on five hits in 1.2 innings. Lairsey was charged for three runs. Burt Barto (Columbus/Columbus) struck out a career-high five batters in three innings of work. John Ducey (Augusta/Westside) just missed on turning a triple play during a scoreless eighth inning.
Miller and Beckham had three hits apiece. Economos had two hits, including his team-leading 14th double, and scored two runs. Shehan and Blackburn also added two hits apiece.
The Bears’ 2-3-4 hitters combined for nine hits, six runs and six RBI. Boyette improved to 4-2 despite allowing three runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings.
TENNESSEE 12, FURMAN 7
KNOXVILLE, TENN. -- Two years ago Furman claimed a 5-4 road win over Tennessee, but Yon Gomes and Shawn Griffin made sure there would be no repeat performance this year as the duo belted a pair of three-run home runs in the seventh inning to break a 5-5 tie and lead the Volunteers to a 12-7 win over Furman in baseball action Tuesday night.
With the win Tennessee improves to 21-14 while Furman falls to 10-26.
Tennessee’s six-run seventh came at the expense of Matt Klinker (3-5), making only his second relief appearance of the season. After coming on to get the final out in the sixth, the Paladin senior right-hander surrendered five earned runs on just two hits in 1 1/3 innings of work to absorb the loss.
Klinker retired Julio Borbon on a grounder to start the seventh and then struck out Tony Delmonico swinging, but Delmonico reached first base on the wild pitch third strike. Klinker then hit J.P. Arencibia to put runners at first and second, and Gomes followed with a three-run home run to left to give the Volunteers an 8-5 lead. Griffin later added a three-run roundtripper to cap the rally and give Tennessee an 11-5 advantage.
Furman’s Jay Jackson doubled to lead off the eighth and scored on an error to make it an 11-6 game. Joe Daysh and Nick Karow followed with singles to load the bases with no outs, but Joey Rodgers’ liner was speared by shortstop Danny Lima, who doubled off Daysh at second base. Connor Lind was retired on a fly to center field to end the Paladins’ comeback attempt.
Furman posted a 15-9 advantage in hits, but four of the Volunteers’ base knocks left the stadium. The 15 hits were the most by the Paladins since a season high 19-hit outing in a 12-5 win over Davidson on March 2.
Jackson and Daysh paced Furman’s attack with three hits each. Rose, Karow, and Rodgers added two hits apiece.
The Paladins jumped out to an early 2-0 lead against Volunteer staff ace Craig Cobb, scoring single runs in the first and second innings on a sacrifice fly by Jackson and RBI single by Rodgers.
After Tennessee tied the game with two runs in the third off Paladin starter Nick Hollstegge, Furman regained the lead in the fourth on Jackson’s solo home run to left field, his fourth of the season.
The Volunteers pushed across single runs in the fourth and fifth to take a 5-4 lead before Furman tallied twice in the sixth on RBI singles by Daysh and Karow to grab a 6-5 advantage.
Tennessee plated an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth on a throwing error by Paladin reliever Spencer Hale to knot the game at 6-6.
Volunteer reliever Aaron Everett (1-0) was the beneficiary of Tennessee’s six-run seventh, earning his first win of the season after working 2 1/3 innings and yielding three hits and a run.
UNC WILMINGTON 8, ELON 7
WILMINGTON, N.C. ? Junior Jason Appel singled in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth to give UNC Wilmington head coach Mark Scalf his 500th career win as the Seahawks rallied for an 8-7 win over Elon Tuesday night at Brooks Field.
With the win, the Seahawks snap a four-game losing streak and improve to 17-22 on the season. The Phoenix, who dropped both games of the season series to UNCW, dipped to 22-17.
Junior reliever Larry Salefsky (1-1) earned the win with two innings of relief.
Elon southpaw Jesse Lewter was saddled with the loss to fall to 1-2. Lewter allowed two hits and two unearned runs in 1/3 of an inning.
Senior catcher Jonathan Batts led an 11-hit UNCW offense with three hits, including a pair of doubles. Junior third baseman Nate Hall and Appel added two hits apiece.
Senior shortstop Jordy Snyder collected three hits for the Phoenix.
Elon jumped on UNCW sophomore starter Bradley Holt for three runs in the top of the first. Senior Adam Weaver brought in the first run with a RBI single in which he moved to second when sophomore centerfielder Grayson Evans misplayed the ball. A passed ball moved him to third and senior first baseman Chris Vasami plated him with a ground ball. Senior designated hitter Robert Rodebaugh pounded his eighth homer of the season, one batter later, to close out the scoring.
Freshman second baseman Chase Austin, the reigning Southern Conference Player-of-the-Week, pushed it to 4-0 in the top of the second with a sacrifice fly to right that scored sophomore outfielder Chris Dove, who singled to lead off the frame.
UNCW plated runs in the second and third to narrow its deficit to 4-2. Junior second baseman Daniel Hargrave drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly in the second and junior first baseman Jes Snyder added a RBI single in the third.
In the fourth, senior right fielder Ryan Addison connected on his eighth roundtripper of the season to lead off against Seahawk freshman reliever Jesse Haney and restore Elon’s three run advantage at 5-2.
Hargrave drove in his second run of the game in the bottom of the sixth to bring the Seahawks within two runs, 5-3. Snyder drew a lead off walk and moved into scoring position on Batts’ single to left. A fielder’s choice put runners at first and third for Hargrave who singled through the left side and drove in Snyder.
Two runs in the top of the eight extended Elon’s lead to 7-3. Dove, who also scored twice, made it 6-3 Elon with a RBI double in the eighth off reliever Larry Salefsky. He would score on a throwing error by sophomore shortstop Steve Halford later in the inning.
A five-run eighth would rally the Seahawks as they were able to combine four hits and three Elon errors. Snyder reached base to open the inning on Weaver’s ninth error of the season and Batts and junior leftfielder Mark Carver followed with back-to-back doubles to score two runs. Lewter then hit Hargrave with a pitch to put runners at first and second with none out. Both runners would score as the Phoenix committed two throwing errors on a sacrifice bunt by Hall. Senior catcher Drew Davis made the first error with a throw wide of first and Addison committed the second throwing error when he tried to throw out Hargrave, who was going to third on the play.
With Hall at second, junior Shane French, who extended his hitting streak to a personal-best five games, singled to left to move Hall to third. With one out, Appel lined a 1-2 pitch from Lewter into left to score Hall.
SOUTH CAROLINA 8, WOFFORD 0
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Blake Cooper combined with four members of the No. 4 South Carolina bullpen to hold Wofford to four hits and no runs while earning an 8-0 victory Tuesday evening at Sarge Frye Field.
Cooper (5-0) allowed only four hits and a walk while striking out two through 5 1/3 innings. Wynn Pelzer, Curtis Johnson and Sean Wideberg all contributed innings out of the bullpen for South Carolina while holding Wofford without for the remainder of the game.
In a battle between the top two home run hitting teams in the nation, only one ball escaped the confines of Sarge Frye Field. James Darnell hit the only home run of the game in a 3-for-5 outing that included three RBIs and a run.
South Carolina got on the board in the first inning with an RBI infield single to take a 1-0 lead. Darnell drove in Harley Lail from third base with a ground ball to deep shortstop after the speedy leadoff man walked and then stole second before advancing to third on a walk pitch. Darnell was gunned down on the next at bat, however, after catcher Keith Munns fired to second base in time to catch the third baseman trying to steal a base.
After the one-run first inning, Terrier starter Tom Dolinak held the Gamecocks to one hit over the next two, but surrendered two runs in the fourth as South Carolina went up 3-0. Darnell added the first run of the inning with a solo blast over the left-center field fence for his team-leading 12th bomb of the season. South Carolina would then load the bases with no outs on a walk and two singles, but Dolinak forced a ground ball to second baseman Shane Kirkley, who flipped the ball to second base to start a double play. Justin Smoak would score on the play, however, after reaching base earlier in the inning with a single to extend his hitting streak to 18 games.
Wofford finally got to Cooper in the top of the sixth and loaded the bases with one out on a leadoff walk to Munns and base hits from Kyle Behrendt and Bradford Eaves. The Gamecocks would escape the inning unharmed, however, after calling on Pelzer, who forced a popup and a strikeout to end the inning.
South Carolina followed with two more runs in the bottom half of the sixth to go up 5-0. After allowing a leadoff double to catcher Phil Disher and a walk to Robbie Grinestaff, Wofford pulled Dolinak in favor of southpaw Chip Hunt. Inheriting runners at first and second with one out, Hunt forced a ground ball to second base for a potential double play, but the Terrier middle infielders settled for one out after Cheyne Hurst reached first base quickly enough to prompt Gilmartin to hold the ball. Hurst would then steal second before Hunt allowed a base hit up the middle from Reese Havens that just escaped the reach of a leaping Michael Gilmartin to send two runners across the plate.
Pelzer opened the top of the seventh with control problems and put the first two batters on base after hitting John Brandt and walking Sterling Dye. A sacrifice bunt from Emre Caglayan moved the runners into scoring position and another hit batter put Munns on first to load the bases. South Carolina head coach Ray Tanner then went to the mound to speak with Pelzer, and he responded with a strikeout and a groundout to first base to escape his second one-out bases-loaded jam of the game without allowing a run.
A throwing error by Gilmartin in the seventh proved costly as the runner eventually crossed the plate to give the Gamecocks a 6-0 lead. Travis Jones knocked a ground ball up the middle that Gilmartin cut off behind the bag, but the freshman shortstop’s throw sailed wide of first baseman Brandt and went into the South Carolina dugout to give Jones a free pass to second. Jones then advanced to third on a groundout to second base and scored on a wild pitch during the next at bat.
A two-run eighth inning cemented the win for South Carolina. Pinch hitter Adam Crisp led off with a single through the right side and advanced a base after Hurst was hit by a pitch. Gilmartin then took the mound for Wofford and forced a popup, but allowed a run to score on a fielder’s choice ground ball that Wofford could not convert into a double play. Darnell followed with a line drive back at Gilmartin that he swatted in self defense, but knocked behind him to allow Hurst to cross the plate.
Dolinak (0-2) took the loss for Wofford after pitching 5 1/3 innings in his first career start. The freshman right hander held the SEC powerhouse to only three runs over his first five innings before giving up two more in the sixth for five total earned runs allowed on six total hits. Dolinak struck out two while walking six of his 25 batters faced.