ELON 7, UNC GREENSBORO 5
ELON, N.C. ? Trailing 4-0 after four innings, the Elon Phoenix rallied back to defeat the visiting UNC Greensboro Spartans by a 7-5 margin from Latham Park in Southern Conference baseball action on Saturday night. Freshman Ryan Addison’s pinch-hit, two-run homer, his first career home run, which capped a five-run bottom of the eighth was the difference in the contest as the Phoenix improved to 25-21 overall and 12-8 in SoCon play. The Spartans dropped their record to 23-20 overall and 9-8 in league play.
Guy Welsh continued his assault on Phoenix pitching in the first inning of game number two by doubling home Tim Carrier who had led off the inning with a walk.
Singles from Chris Vasami, Ryan Addison and Mike Melillo loaded the bases for Elon in the bottom of the second with one out. The Phoenix was unable to score, however, as Drew Davis grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat.
UNCG pushed its lead to 2-0 in the fourth when Carrier doubled home Brandon Harvey with two outs. Matt Gaski followed with a single to right, plating Harvey with run number three on the game. Following a catcher’s interference call that allowed Welsh to reach, Ricky Orton singled to left to score Gaski.
The Phoenix loaded the bases with a Melillo double, Davis walk and Chase Austin infield single to start the fifth. Chris Dove’s ground out allowed Melillo to score with Elon’s first run of the contest. Jordy Snyder’s ground ball out to short plated Davis and cut the Phoenix deficit to two runs at 4-2.
Pat Irvine led off the Phoenix eighth with a walk and went to third on Vasami’s single through the left side of the infield. A wild pitch scored Irvine and allowed pinch-runner Adam Weaver to move to second. Weaver scooted over to third on a ground out before Ryan Addison reached on an infield single, scoring Weaver to tie the game. On the play, the throw sailed high at first and Addison went to second. Addison swiped third before Melillo grounded out to first for out number two. Davis followed with a double to left to give Elon its first lead of the game as Addison scored to put the Phoenix on top 5-4. Elon tacked on two more when Adams blasted his pinch-hit, two-run homer to centerfield.
Welsh doubled to left-center to lead off the top of the ninth. He moved to third as Orton grounded out for the first out of the inning. Another ground out scored Welsh, but more importantly for Elon, the second out was recorded.
Vasami posted his third four-hit game of the season, going 4-for-4 while Addison, Melillo and Davis had two hits apiece. Five different Elon players drove home runs and six different players scored. Davis scored twice.
For UNCG, Welsh finished the night 3-for-4, his second such performance in as many days. No other Spartan had a multi-hit outing.
Jesse Lewter (3-2) earned his second victory of the week out of the bullpen for Elon. The junior lefty hurled 3.0 innings and allowed just one run on three hits. Will Romanowicz battled through 6.0 innings and surrendered four runs (three earned) on seven hits in the starting role. Romanowicz struck out five.
Taking the loss was Kory Judd (4-3). Judd, the third of five Spartan pitchers used on the night, was touched up for three runs on two hits in just one inning of action. UNCG starter Matt Gibbs left with a 4-2 lead after 5.0 innings. Gibbs scattered six hits and struck out three.
WESTERN CAROLINA 12, FURMAN 4
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Western Carolina scored runs in six of the nine innings and rode a trio of two-run home runs to even the seasonal series with the Furman Paladins with a 12-4 win Saturday evening at the Furman Baseball Stadium. Senior Kenny Smith and juniors Steven Strausbaugh and Jonathan Greene each delivered two-run home runs in the victory as the Catamounts snapped their longest losing skid since late March at two games.
The two teams will decide the series with game three at 1:00 pm on Sunday afternoon.
Tied at three, Western (29-14, 12-5 SoCon) broke open the close game with a four-run fifth inning to surge ahead, 7-3. Junior Barrett Shaft opened the inning by reaching on a hard-hit ball that was bobbled at short. Two batters later, Strausbaugh hammered a shot over the fence in right center field for the 5-3 edge. Using a pair of walks by Greene and pinch-hitter, freshman Adam Baker, sandwiched around an infield single by senior John Ingram, the Catamounts loaded the bases with two out for junior Blake Murphy, who erased an 0-for-2 start to the game with a two-RBI single up the middle to complete the four-run frame.
Overall, including the fifth, Western scored nine runs in the fifth through the eighth innings en route to the win. All told, the Catamounts pounded out 15 base hits on the evening.
Ingram led the Catamounts with a 4-for-5 outing at the plate with his classmate, Smith, finishing 2-for-4 to extend his current hitting streak to his season-best 10. Greene was 2-for-3 with a game-high four RBI, while Strausbaugh was 2-for-5 with a double and a home run. The Venice, Fla., native was inches away from a second long ball to straight away center, but Paladin centerfielder Joey Rodgers reached over the fence to rob him.
Western jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a two-run homer by Smith, his team-best 16th of the year. Furman answered with a two-run long ball of their own in the home portion of the second to tie the game at two apiece. A Strausbaugh double, followed by consecutive ground outs pushed across the go-ahead run for Western, 3-2, in the third only to see Furman answer in the home half of the fourth, tying the game a three to set up the decisive fifth inning.
WCU would add one in the sixth and seventh, with a three-spot in the eighth, including Greene’s home run to pull out for the 12-4 victory.
Red-shirt sophomore Drew Saberhagen (5-1) went six innings, allowing four runs -- three earned -- while scattering nine base hits. The Calabasis, Calif., native walked just one while striking out three to score the victory. Senior Brock Thornburg and freshman Daniel Ottone combined to pitch the final three in scoreless relief, giving up just one base hit over the final three frames.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 15, THE CITADEL 9
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? The Citadel and College of Charleston each posted three runs in the first, but the Cougars pulled ahead with a five spot in the third to take the lead for good and clinch the series with a 15-9 win in front of 5,111 fans at Riley Park Saturday night. The 25th ranked Cougars improve to 33-10, 14-3 SoCon, while the Bulldogs fall to 24-18, 8-9 SoCon.
A single and an error allowed two Cougars to reach base in the first with one out. Michael Harrington then lifted one over the right field wall to quickly put College of Charleston up by three.
The Dogs responded with three of their own to even it up in the home half of the frame. Freshman second baseman Bryan Altman was hit by a pitch to start things off before junior left fielder Chris Swauger went down swinging. Sophomore right fielder Sonny Meade blasted a home run to left to plate two. Senior center fielder Chance Smith then knocked in the third run with a two-out single to center.
After a scoreless second, CofC rallied for five runs in the third to take a 7-3 advantage. All five runs were driven in by base hits as Chris Campbell pushed across one with a single to right. Ben Lasater and Alex Garabedian each knocked in two.
Freshman catcher Richard Jones got a run back for the Dogs with a solo shot over the wall in left center for his seventh round-tripper of the season. Jones has registered a home run in each of The Citadel’s last four SoCon series.
The Dogs pulled within one as they scored three over the fourth and sixth innings. Altman crushed the first pitch he saw over the left field fence in the fourth. Jones belted a two run triple to center with two outs in the sixth to chase Cougar reliever Jake Goldberg from the mound. After two consecutive hit batsmen, righty Russ Tomlinson was lifted for right-hander Mitch Besselievre who forced freshman Chris McGuiness to groundout to first to end the Bulldog threat and keeping the Cougars on top, 8-7.
CofC scored seven more runs in the final innings to The Citadel’s two. Campbell homered and Garabedian collected his third and fourth RBI of the night with a base hit up the middle in the seventh. Graham Maiden picked up an RBI with a single through the left side before Bergman notched a bases-clearing double to plate three more, giving the Cougars four runs in the ninth.
McGuiness roped a two-bagger in the eighth to push one across the dish for the Dogs in the eighth. Another RBI-double by Brown in the ninth capped off the scoring to make the final, 15-9.
The Citadel defense struggled again as the Bulldogs allowed three unearned runs while committing four errors on the night. The Dogs actually out hit the Cougars, 17-15 but also left 14 runners stranded.
Campbell and Lasater paced the Cougars as they both registered three hits in the contest. Garabedian knocked in four with a pair of singles to lead the club.
Jones was a single short of the cycle and tallied three RBI on the night. Meade batted 4-for-6, tying a career-best.
Goldberg (6-0) was credited with the victory as he came on in the second inning and tossed 4.2 frames, giving up four runs on nine hits while striking out two and walking one. Bulldog starter Matt Crim (4-3) suffered the loss as he threw 2.0 innings, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on six hits while fanning and walking two.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 12, WOFFORD 1
STATESBORO, GA. ?Aaron Eubanks (Moultrie/Colquitt County) gave his Georgia Southern teammates a career-best pitching performance when they needed it most. The junior left-hander recorded his first career complete game and the Eagles broke the game open during the seventh inning, handing Wofford a 12-1 defeat Saturday afternoon (April 28) at J.I. Clements Stadium.
Less than 24 hours after the Eagle bullpen logged eight innings during a 10-9 win in 12 innings, Eubanks went the distance throwing 137 pitches.
From the third through the eighth inning he retired 14 straight batters and 17 of 18, as the one batter reached on an error. Eubanks scattered six hits, walked two and struck out a career-high nine Terriers, which also matches a team season-high strikeout total.
“The key today was getting ahead in the count. Once we got the lead and continued building on it, I knew I had to go out there and keep runners off base. It’s the best feeling in world being able to come through when the team needed me. I think we’ll build off today like we did yesterday,”
said Eubanks. “I knew I wanted to finish the game but my pitch count early in the game was getting high. (Matt) Miller made a great play off wall then in-between innings I found my change up. If Matt doesn’t make that catch it’s likely a 2-1 game and a different story.”
Mike Economos (Atlanta/Marist) hit his second home run in as many days, a solo shot with one out in the bottom of the first to spot the Eagles a 1-0 lead. He moved into a share of the team-lead hitting his eighth this season.
Shane Kirkley tied the game at 1-all in the third hitting his 13th home run on the year. Eubanks walked the next batter and his pitch count was in the 60s, but from that point on he took control. Eubanks was able to work around the walk by striking out the final two batters of the inning. Emre Caglayan lined a shot to centerfield but Matt Miller (Canton/Woodstock) made a leaping catch against the fence for the first out of the fourth inning.
Ben Austin had retired 10 straight Eagles from the point of Economos’ home run. But in the fourth Jeremiah Parker (Carrollton/Carrollton) hammered a shot to right field, his sixth home run for a 2-1 lead. Parker’s round-tripper extended his hitting streak to 13 games.
Kyle Blackburn (Marietta/Walton) and Chris Shehan (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) hit back-to-back singles to follow up the homer. Will Southwell (Moultrie/Colquitt County) snapped a 0-for-8 streak thanks to a RBI single up the middle, extending the lead to 3-1.
Miller came through with another saving catch to end the sixth inning. Keith Munns sent a ball to center and Miller made a leaping catch at the fence to rob him of a home run. During the Eagles’ half of the frame timely two-out hitting extended the lead.
Parker hit a one-out double into the left field gap then Blackburn followed with a walk. Southwell drew a two-out walk to load the bases. A.J. Wirnsberger (Tuscaloosa, AL/Paul Bear Bryant) snuck a single through the left side, plating two runs for a 5-1 lead. Those were his second and third RBI in league play.
During the seventh GS broke the game wide open. Beckham opened by hitting a double to center off new relief pitcher Lance Player. Economos reached on an infield single and Miller walked to load the bases with no one out. Parker was hit by a pitch to bring home one run. Relief pitcher Chip Hunt walked pinch-hitter Justin Klinger (Hatfield, PA/North Penn) on a 3-2 pitch to make it 7-1.
Shehan lofted a fly ball to right field, but Sterling Dye lost the ball in the sun which allowed two more runs to score. Southwell drilled a 2-run double into the right field gap for an 11-1 lead as the first six batters of the inning eventually scored before an out was recorded. Economos scored on a wild pitch in the eighth inning for the final margin.
Wofford hit two singles in the ninth but Eubanks finished the job thanks to a flyball and his career-high ninth strikeout.
Economos, Parker, Shehan and Southwell had two hits apiece as the Eagles held a 12-6 advantage. Economos and Parker scored three runs while Southwell matched his career-high of three RBI.
Austin (8-4), who was the SoCon leader in victories, suffered the loss after allowing five runs on seven hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out seven. Six different Terriers recorded a base hit.