GEORGIA SOUTHERN 16, WOFFORD 9
STATESBORO, GA. ? A.J. Wirnsberger (Tuscaloosa, AL/Paul Bear Bryant) had only three RBI in Southern Conference play heading into the Wofford series. The freshman third baseman collected a team season-high seven RBI leading Georgia Southern to a 16-9 win over Wofford Sunday afternoon (April 29) at J.I. Clements Stadium. The Eagles’ first SoCon series sweep this season also extended their winning streak to seven straight.
Wirnsberger finished 4-for-5 at the plate tallying a single, two doubles and a home run. Those four hits also match a season-high hit total. His seven RBI matched the highest total by an Eagle since Jason Hurst collected seven in a March 2005 win over Davidson.
The Eagles (27-22 overall, 8-10 SoCon) jumped out to an early lead in the see-saw affair before taking control in the middle innings.
Jeremy Beckham (Griffin/Griffin) started the first inning with a single to center. Mike Economos (Atlanta/Marist) continued to feast on Wofford pitching, lining a RBI double into the left field gap. That was his 16th RBI against Terrier pitching in the last six meetings (dating back to last year).
Jeremiah Parker (Carrollton/Carrollton) extended his hitting streak to 14 games, hitting a 2-run opposite field home run. It was the junior catcher’s seventh round-tripper this year. Justin Klinger (Hatfield, PA/North Penn) walked and Will Southwell (Moultrie/Colquitt County) singled through the left side. Wirnsberger doubled down the line scoring Klinger for a 4-0 lead after one inning.
John Brandt hit a leadoff double in the second then went to third when Chris Shehan (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) let the ball get by him. He scored on Emre Caglayan’s sacrifice fly. The Eagles got that run back in their half of the frame. Economos lined a two-out single right past the head of relief pitcher Reid McElveen. Matt Miller (Canton/Woodstock) hit a double off the centerfield wall, his team-leading 18th, to extend the lead to 5-1.
Wofford (21-24, 4-13) put the first two runners on in the third inning. Brian Wilkerson (Bonaire/Houston County) struck out leading hitter Brandon Waring, but both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Sterling Dye tried scoring on a groundout, but the Eagles caught him in a rundown for the second out. Caglayan hit a RBI single up the middle, and thanks to Beckham’s range he kept a second run from scoring on the play.
In the fourth, the Terriers put runners on the corners with one out. Dye lined a RBI double, chasing Wilkerson. Shane Kirkley greeted Josh Lairsey (Waycross/Ware County) with a 3-run homer to take a 6-5 lead. McElveen, who had only 3.2 IP all season, matched that total in the game before GS responded in the fifth to regain the lead, all coming on two outs.
Shehan singled up the middle and Southwell walked. On a 3-2 pitch, Wirnsberger lined a double into the gap to score both. Brian Pierce (Roswell/Roswell) doubled off the right field wall to make it an 8-6 lead.
The Terriers got two singles to start the sixth inning. Head coach Rodney Hennon brought in David Cogswell (Toccoa/Stephens County) and in his second straight at-bat, Kirkley greeted an Eagle relief pitcher by hitting a 3-run homer. That was his 15th home run of the season for a
9-8 advantage. But it would be short-lived.
Miller walked to start the bottom of the sixth then Parker was hit by a pitch. Relief pitcher Charles Vartanian entered the game and walked pinch-hitter Griffin Benedict (Dunwoody/St. Pius). Shehan lined a 2-run single up the middle, and he took second base on the throw. With one out, Wirnsberger hammered a 3-run shot off the scoreboard in left field ? his second round-tripper this year.
Wofford threatened in the seventh, getting two singles to start the frame. That brought in reliever Kyle Kamppi (Savannah/Benedictine). He got aThe sophomore right-hander struck out Dye and got Kirkley on a flyball to right field keeping Wofford off the scoreboard.
Economos was hit by a pitch to start the seventh. With two outs Benedict reached on a catcher’s interference and Shehan beat out an infield single to load the bases. Southwell punched a single through the left side scoring two. Wirnsberger added to his RBI total thanks to a run-scoring single down the left field line, extending the lead to 16-9.
“Coach Tidick told me to just relax, see the ball and hit it. I’ve been trying to do exactly that,” said Wirnsberger, whose five hits in the series bumped his overall average up 17 points after dropping to a season low .268 last weekend. “This is a big sweep, it gets us back in the (SoCon) mix and gives us a boost heading into our next SoCon series.
It has been real frustrating (lately at the plate), but it was something I had to overcome and hopefully I’ve done now.”
Shehan added three hits and three runs scored. Beckham, Economos and Southwell had two hits apiece. Economos scored three times while Parker, Benedict and Wirnsberger scored two runs apiece.
Cogswell picked up the win in relief, improving to 3-0. He gave up one run in an inning of work, striking out two. .Kamppi earned his third save after throwing three scoreless innings of relief. Wilkerson gave up five runs on eight hits in 3.1 innings. He walked two and struck out four.
Wofford starter Zack Parmer gave up four runs on five hits in an inning of work. Adam Kearney (2-4) suffered the loss, giving up two runs in one-third of an inning.
Kirkley was 4-for-5 with six RBI and three runs scored. Six other Terriers had a multi-hit game as they actually out hit Georgia Southern 18-16.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 10, THE CITADEL 4
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? The College of Charleston earned its first ever sweep over The Citadel with a 10-4 win over the Bulldogs in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Riley Park. The Dogs took their first lead of the weekend with a 3-1 advantage after the first, but the Cougars put runs on the board in every inning except two to run away with their sixth consecutive Southern Conference series victory.
The last time the Bulldogs suffered a sweep was in 1998 when UNC Greensboro took all three contests at Riley Park. The Citadel actually went on to win the SoCon Tournament that season. Previous to this weekend, the Dogs had won three straight SoCon series. The Citadel falls to 24-19, 8-10 SoCon while #25 College of Charleston improves to 34-10, 15-3 SoCon.
The Cougars took the lead in the first for the third straight contest as Oliver Marmol jumped on the first pitch of the game and sent it over the left field wall. The Bulldogs quickly retaliated with three runs in the bottom half as Cougar starter Michael Bunton issued two consecutive walks to begin the frame. Sophomore Sonny Meade loaded the bases with a single before senior first baseman Zach Brown stepped in and plated two with a base hit to the gap in left center. Meade then scored on a double-play ball to put the Dogs up, 3-1.
After a scoreless second, CofC scored six unanswered runs over the third through fifth innings. Chris Campbell notched an RBI-single. Michael Kohn pushed another run across with a triple off the left field wall and ended up scoring on a wild pitch. Michael Harrington registered another RBI-single for the Cougars before Ben Lasater added two with a homer over the fence in left center.
Marmol drove in his second run of the day with a base hit up the middle in the fifth but The Citadel finally responded in the home half of the frame as junior third baseman Matt Arnold was able to score on a fielder’s choice off the bat of sophomore catcher Sid Fallaw.
The Dogs kept the Cougars off the board in the seventh, but CofC added some insurance in their final two at bats. Graham Maiden notched a third homer for the Cougars as he led off the eighth with a solo shot to left-center. A wild pitch allowed Haywood to race home in the ninth, capping off the scoring to make the final 10-4.
Marmol and Campbell paced the Cougar offense as they both tallied three hits. Three other Cougars enjoyed a two-hit outing, while Marmol and Lasater each collected two RBI on the day. Freshman second baseman Bryan Altman led the Bulldogs at the plate as he batted 2-for-4 while Brown was responsible for half of the Dogs’ runs as he knocked in two.
Michael Bunton (4-0) was credited with the victory as he tossed 5.0 frames, allowing four runs on four hits while walking five but not striking out a single Bulldog batter. The Dogs only struck out one time on the afternoon.
Freshman Chris McGuiness (2-1) suffered his first loss for the Bulldogs as he tossed 4.2 frames, surrendering seven runs on 10 hits while fanning four and walking one. The College of Charleston enjoyed 16 hits to The Citadel’s six.
Russ Tomlinson picked up his second save of the season with the win as he finished out the final four frames, holding the Dogs scoreless and allowing only two hits while striking out one.
Senior reliever Jamie Maxwell had not allowed a single earned run in 11 appearances, but his streak was snapped as he allowed a homer to Maiden in the eighth.
WESTERN CAROLINA 8, FURMAN 5
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Steven Strausbaugh went 2-for-5 with a home run to propel Western Carolina to an 8-5 Southern Conference victory over Furman Sunday afternoon at Furman Stadium.
With the win Western Carolina (30-14, 13-5) took the series two games to one and remained in second place in the SoCon play behind first place College of Charleston. The loss marked the 16th setback in 22 home games this season for Furman (13-31, 8-13 SoCon).
Strausbaugh delivered an RBI double in a four-run Western Carolina second inning and later belted a solo home run in the seventh after Furman had narrowed the Catamount lead to 6-5. Blake Murphy also went 2-for-5 and drove in a pair of runs for WCU, which totaled 10 hits on the afternoon, including a solo clout by Nick Liles.
Furman managed only six hits against Catamount pitching, but two left the ballpark off the bats of Jay Jackson and Will Stembridge.
Catamount starting pitcher Corey Martin (4-1) earned the victory after going 5 1/3 innings and surrendering five earned runs on six hits and one walk while striking out one.
Mason Smith (2-6) absorbed the loss for Furman. He was touched up for five hits and five runs, all earned, in 3 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out two.
Western Carolina broke on top in the third after Liles singled to lead off, Donnie Wilson walked, and Mitchell Hatley was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Barrett Shaft hit into a force play at second, allowing Liles to score the game’s first run, and Murphy drilled a two-run double down the left field line to give WCU a 3-0 lead. Strausbaugh followed with an RBI double to left field to complete the four-run outburst.
The Catamounts made it 5-0 an inning later on Liles’ solo home run.
Furman got untracked in the bottom of the fourth after Marcus Rose was hit by a pitch, stole second, and advanced to third before coming home on a Jackson groundout.
After Kenny Smith’s RBI double in the fifth stretched the advantage to 6-1, Furman rallied for four runs against Martin in its half of the fifth, highlighted by a pair of two-run home runs by Jackson and Stembridge to left field.
The Catamounts answered with two runs in the seventh. Strausbaugh’s two-out solo home run to left center field off Paladin reliever Ian Parry made it 7-5, and Kenny Smith later made it 8-5 after getting hit by a pitch, stealing second, and coming around to score after Jackson dropped a sinking fly ball in left field off the bat of Jonathan Greene.
Chris Masters kept Furman’s bats in check for 2 2/3 innings before walking the leadoff batter in the ninth and giving way to Greg Holland, who set the Paladins down in order for his eighth save of the campaign.
ELON 9, UNC GREENSBORO 2
ELON, N.C. ? The Elon Phoenix sent 11 hitters to the plate in the fourth inning, scoring seven times, en route to a 9-2 Southern Conference baseball victory over the visiting UNC Greensboro Spartans from Latham Park on Sunday afternoon. With the win in the rubber match, Elon (26-21, 13-8 SoCon) won the series two games to one over UNCG (23-21, 9-9). The Phoenix has won each of the four season series match-ups with the Spartans since moving to the SoCon for the 2004 season.
For the first time in the series, Elon struck first. With one out in the bottom of the second, Mike Melillo homered to left-center, his third of the year, to put the Phoenix ahead 1-0.
Tim Carrier led off the Spartan second with a bouncing single through the left side of the infield before going to third on Matt Gaski’s hit-and-run single to center. Guy Welsh picked up an RBI when he reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring Carrier and eliminating Gaski at second. Ricky Orton reached on an infield single, but on the play, Welsh tried to advance to third and was gunned down on a close play. Greg Feltes followed with a single to center before Zach Booker fanned Sean Snell to end the inning.
Drew Davis led off the Phoenix third with a double down the leftfield line and went to third on Chase Austin’s infield single. Davis scored Elon’s second run when Chris Dove reached on a fielder’s choice that put out Austin at second.
Chris Vasami took a 2-0 pitch from Nick Starnes and lined a ball over the wall in left-center for his fifth homer of the season to lead off the bottom of the fourth. After Melillo walked, Ryan Addison grounded a ball to short that was mishandled by Gaski and put runners on first and second for the Phoenix. A ground out moved both runners up a base before Davis delivered his second double of the game. This one drove home both Melillo and Addison to put Elon ahead by a 5-1 score. After Davis swiped third, Austin doubled to the gap in left to drive home Davis. Jordy Snyder delivered another blow the UNCG pitching staff, launching his second home run of the season over the wall in left to add three runs to Elon’s total.
Snell’s bases loaded single to right with two away in the fifth, plated Carrier to cut the Elon advantage to 9-2.
Zach Booker (4-3) allowed two runs on seven hits over 5.1 innings of work to pick up the victory for Elon. Booker struck out four. Tom Porter, J.D. Reichenbach and Daniel Britt combined to throw 3.2 scoreless and hitless innings out of the Phoenix bullpen.
Nick Starnes (3-3) suffered the defeat after giving up six runs (five earned) on five hits in just 3.1 innings of action. Wes McCall was charged with the other three runs and did not record an out.
Davis continued his hot hitting and finished the day 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. With his two doubles, Davis climbed into Elon’s career top-10 in that category and now sits in a tie four eighth with 40 doubles with Paul Bennett (2003-06) and Grant Rembert (2004-06). Snyder finished with three RBI while Austin posted a 2-for-3 day, scoring once and driving in one. For the third time this season, Elon belted three home runs in a game.
Carrier was the only Spartan to have a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 and scoring both UNCG runs of the game. Welsh and Snell each had one RBI.