FURMAN 7, THE CITADEL 3
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Will Stembridge went 2-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs to lead Furman to a 7-3 Southern Conference win over The Citadel Saturday afternoon in the rubber game of three-game series at Furman Stadium and regular season finale for both teams.
Stembridge, a senior right fielder from Norcross, Ga., playing in the final home game of his career, delivered a two-run double in a five-run third inning in helping Furman (19-35, 11-16 SoCon) build a 7-0 lead. The Citadel (30-25, 12-15 SoCon) battled back with three runs in the fourth, but the Paladins’ bullpen shut out the Bulldogs over the final five frames to give Furman the series victory -? its second straight over its arch-rival ? and fourth win in its last five games.
Furman, which finished the SoCon regular season in eighth place, will play ninth place Wofford at noon Tuesday in the opening game of the Southern Conference Tournament at Charleston’s Joseph P. Riley Park. The Terriers claimed the eighth seed Saturday with a 6-4 win over Elon in the first game of a doubleheader.
The Citadel, which entered Saturday tied with Georgia Southern for sixth place, slipped to seventh place with the loss to Furman and Georgia Southern’s 5-2 win over Western Carolina on Saturday. The Bulldogs will play 10th seed Davidson in a first round play-in game at 3:30 Tuesday.
Furman roughed up Citadel pitching for 14 hits in Saturday’s contest, including 10 in the first four innings. Spence Gibbs led the way with three singles as part of a 3-for-4 performance. Tony Maccani, Jay Jackson, and Joey Rodgers joined Stembridge with two hits each. Bobby Hubbard also belted a two-run double.
The Citadel collected nine hits but managed only two base knocks from the fifth inning on. Richard Jones led the Bulldog attack with a 2-for-4 performance that included a two-run home run.
The Paladins jumped on top early against Bulldog starter and losing pitcher Matt Reifsnider (3-6) as Connor Lind led off the bottom of the first with a walk and Gibbs stroked a single to right field. Bobby Hubbard followed with a two-run double to right center field to stake Furman to a 2-0 lead.
The Paladins struck for five runs on five hits in the third. After Reifsnider gave up a leadoff single to Gibbs, Bulldog reliever Nick Sprowls came in an issued a walk to Hubbard and bunt single to Jackson to load the bases. Maccani followed with an RBI single to plate Gibbs, and Stembridge then drilled a two-run double into the right field corner, scoring Hubbard and Jackson. Justin Smith replaced Sprowls and appeared set to get out of the inning after striking out Paul Ortenzo and retiring Charlie Bailes on a soft liner to shortstop. But Rogers’ short pop fly fell in front of Bulldog centerfielder Chance Smith, allowing Hubbard and Stembridge to score and complete the five-run outburst giving the Paladins a 7-0 lead.
The Citadel’s bats came to life in the fourth as the Bulldogs belted out five conseuctive hits off Paladin starting pitcher Mason Smith, including a two-run home run to left field by Jones that sliced the margin to 5-2.
Matt Arnold followed with a single, and Bryan Altman doubled into the left field corner, but Arnold was thrown out at the plate on a relay throw from Lind to Maccani. The Bulldogs regrouped with a two-out RBI single by Kyle Jordan to make it a 7-3, but Smith avoided further damage by striking out the Bulldogs’ Chance Smith to end the inning.
Nick Hollstegge (3-6) came on and worked a perfect fifth and sixth innings, striking out two in the process, to qualify for the win.
Will Feemster pitched a scoreless seventh but walked Brown to lead off the eighth. He was relieved by Nicholas Karow, who, after giving up a single to Jones that put runners at first and second, turned Arnold’s comebacker into a force play at third base, retiring Brown. The Paladin freshman then induced Altman to hit into an inning ending double play.
Karow closed out the Bulldogs in the ninth with the help of another double play grounder and a strikeout.
In his last four appearances, the Lewis Center, Ohio, native has tossed six scoreless innings, allowing only three hits and no walks while striking out nine.
APPALACHIAN STATE 19, UNC GREENSBORO 7
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Appalachian State pounded out 19 hits and used a 10-run third inning to defeat UNC Greensboro 19-7 in the final game of the regular season Saturday afternoon at UNCG Baseball Stadium. With the win, ASU takes its first series win over UNCG since 2001.
ASU (32-24, 14-13 SoCon) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. After Wes Hobson reached on a one-out double, Andrew Franco connected for a single through the left side to score Hobson.
UNCG (28-28, 14-13 SoCon) responded in the same inning with three runs to take a two-run advantage. Matt Gaski walked and Guy Welsh reached on a fielder’s choice before junior Ricky Orton blasted a three-run, one-out home run deep to right-center. The Spartans took a 4-1 lead in the second when Tim Carrier’s pop to rightfield dropped between two Mountaineers, allowing Adam Deleo to score.
The Mountaineers exploded for 10 runs in the third to take a seven-run advantage. Hobson began the ASU scoring when he sent a one-out homer to right-center. After loading the bases with two walks and a double, the Mountaineers drew two straight RBI walks and Tom Prosser added a run with single. Chris Baker chipped in with a two RBI double and Jason Altenhof picked up a RBI single before Hobson sent a two-run hit up the middle. David Rubinstein finished off ASU’s scoring when he tripled to right, plating Hobson and giving ASU the commanding 11-4 lead.
ASU tacked on two more runs in the fifth after capitalizing on a Spartan error and an Isaac Harrow single. Altenhof gave the Mountaineers a 14-4 lead in the sixth on a sacrifice fly. ASU struck for five runs in the eighth, highlighted by a two-out grand slam by Franco, 19-4 ASU.
The Spartans pushed across three runs in the bottom of the ninth after being held scoreless for six straight innings. Sean Snell reached on a hit by pitch and was followed by Carrier, who recorded his third hit of the game. Gaski scored Snell on a two-bagger to left-center. Orton picked up his fourth and fifth runs batted in with a single to center, making it 19-7 in favor of ASU.
Hobson finished 5-for-6 with four RBI, while Franco went 3-for-6 with six RBI for the Mountaineers. Matt Andress (6-4) picked up the win after allowing four runs on five hits in six innings of work.
Freshman Rob Gilliam (2-1) suffered the loss after giving up six runs on five hits in 2-1/3 innings of work.
Carrier led UNCG at the plate as the junior went 3-for-4 with one run batted in and a run scored. Orton finished 2-for-4 with five RBI for the Spartans.
UNCG honored seniors Ryan Falcon, Brandon Harvey, Jake Linney, Sam Martin, Nick Starnes and Guy Welsh prior to the game.
The Spartans and the Mountaineers will face each other again on Wednesday in round one of the 2007 Southern Conference Tournament. UNCG will enter the tournament as the No. 5 seed and ASU will take the fourth seed in the tournament. The two teams will play the first game of the day beginning at 10 am from Riley Park in Charleston, SC.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 5, WESTERN CAROLINA 2
CULLOWHEE, N.C. ? Western Carolina out hit Georgia Southern, 12-to-9, Saturday afternoon, but the Catamounts stranded a dozen base runners to fall to the Eagles, 5-2, in the 2007 regular season finale spoiling Senior Day at Childress Field/Hennon Stadium. With the series victory, though, Western (40-16, 20-7 SoCon) claimed a share of its 11th SoCon regular season title in school history.
The loss snapped WCU’s eight-game winning streak and was its first to GSU in their last five meetings. Sharing the regular season championship with the College of Charleston, Western is relegated to No. 2 seed in next week’s SoCon Baseball Championship at Riley Park in Charleston, S.C.
Georgia Southern (33-26, 13-14 SoCon) used a solid pitching effort from senior Josh Lairsey (4-1), who kept the Catamount hitters off-balance and pitched around 11 WCU base hits with five strikeouts, while allowing two earned runs. Closer A.J. Battisto closed the final 2.1 innings only allowing one base hit with four strikeouts to earn his 10th save of the year.
Trailing 2-0 after the Eagles manufactured runs in both the visitor portion of the second and third, the Catamounts cut their deficit in half on back-to-back doubles to open the fourth inning. Freshman Nick Liles, who finished the day 3-for-4, doubled to left center in front of designated hitter, classmate Adam Baker, who was lifted after fouling a 2-2 pitch off his face. Pinch hitter, freshman Tyler Kirkpatrick, laced the first pitch he saw from Lairsey down the right field line for an RBI double to score Liles. Later in the frame, WCU loaded the bases on a two-out double to left by junior Barrett Shaft and a hit batsman drawn by Blake Murphy, but ended up stranding three on a diving stab by the Eagle third-baseman who touched the bag to end the inning.
GSU surged back in front in the fifth with a solo home run to left field by Jeremiah Parker to lead 3-1 after four and a half. But the Catamounts answered in the home half as senior Kenny Smith punched his 23rd double of the season to left center and was plated on an RBI single up the middle by junior Jonathan Greene.
Parker struck again in the top of the seventh, blasting his second homer of the game, a two-run shot on an 0-1 pitch to stake GSU to the three-run lead, which concluded the game’s scoring. Battisto pitched out of a two-on, two-out jam in the seventh and all told struck out four of the seven outs he recorded to claim the save.
Corey Martin (5-3) suffered the defeat for Western, allowing three earned runs on seven hits with a career-best eight strikeouts. Freshman Chris Masters tossed an inning and a third of one-run, one-hit relief fanning a pair, with junior Greg Holland pitching the final 2.2 innings, allowing one run on one-hit also with a pair of strikeouts.
In addition to Liles, Greene finished with three base hits filling in at first base for senior John Ingram, who was ineligible for today’s game after being thrown out Friday night. Shaft posted Western’s only other multi-hit game, going 2-for5 with a double to shallow left center.
WOFFORD 6-1, ELON 4-8
ELON, N.C. ? Zach Booker needed just 95 pitches to record his first complete game of the season as the Elon Phoenix defeated the Wofford Terriers by an 8-1 score in game two of a Southern Conference baseball doubleheader. In the opener, the Terriers (25-31, 8-19 SoCon) grabbed a 6-4 decision over the Phoenix (29-27, 15-12). Wofford took the series two games to one in the final games for both squads before the 2007 SoCon Tournament begins on Tuesday in Charleston, S.C.
In game number two, Elon got things started in the bottom of the first. Adam Weaver drew a 3-2 walk and went to second on Chris Dove’s single. Drew Davis’ double down the leftfield line plated Weaver before Dove scored on Ryan Addison’s single. Zach Booker’s ground out advanced Addison to second for Chris Vasami. Vasami singled down the leftfield line to score both runners, but was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double.
Matt Hill doubled off the wall in left to lead off the second for Elon. He went to second on Weaver’s sacrifice bunt after the Terriers tried to make a play at third that was unsuccessful. Hill would come home when Weaver got hung up between first and second on a stolen base attempt.
Weaver started the Phoenix seventh with a single to center and went to second on an error by the Wofford centerfielder. Before a pitch was thrown to the next hitter, Weaver stole third. Dove walked and stole second before Davis reached on an infield single to plate Weaver. Booker’s bloop double into right drove home both Dove and Davis to push the Elon lead to 8-0.
Wofford erased the shutout in the eighth inning when Adam Kearney, who had reached with a pinch-hit double, scored on a ground ball to second.
Booker (5-4) earned the win by allowing just one run on five hits over 9.0 innings of action. He walked just one and fanned two and had faced the minimum threw five.
Whit Kennedy (0-1) was tagged with the loss after allowing four runs in just 2/3 of an inning. He surrendered four hits and walked two.
In the bottom of the first of game one, Dove lined a one-out single back up the middle before going to second when Pat Irvine was hit by a pitch. Davis’ infield single loaded the bases. Wofford starter Kearney then fanned Mike Melillo. On an 0-1 pitch, Dove broke from third and beat the pitch to the plate with a steal of home. Irvine went to third on the play. Addison followed with a single to right which plated Irvine with Elon’s second run of the game.
Wofford evened the score at two in the third when Eric Sturkie homered to right-center, a two-run shot that also scored Keith Munns.
In the fifth inning, Dove led off with a single through the left side of the infield and stole second. Irvine followed with a walk before Davis grounded into a 5-3 double play. Irvine scored from second on Melillo’s single to right to put the Phoenix back on top.
Shane Kirkley started the Terrier sixth with a single and went to second on a wild pitch. Brandon Waring’s single back up the middle drove home Kirkley to knot the game at three. Waring scored from third on a two-out double to right off the bat of Sterling Dye as Wofford took a 4-3 lead.
Wofford added two runs, including a solo homer from Mike Gilmartin, in the ninth inning to finish off the Terrier scoring.
Elon loaded the bases thanks to two singles and a walk in the bottom of the ninth before Davis lifted a sac fly to left to cut the Phoenix deficit to 6-4, but Elon could get no closer.
Will Romanowicz (5-3) suffered the defeat after allowing four runs on eight hits over 6.0 innings of work.
Kearney (3-5) earned the victory by throwing 7.0 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits. Gilmartin came on and allowed one run on three hits in 2.0 innings for his seventh save of the season.
On the day, Elon was paced by Davis who went a combined 3-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBI. Addison added a 3-for-8 day and scored a run and drove home two. For Wofford, Sturkie logged a 3-for-7, one-run, two-RBI day and Gilmartin finished 3-for-9 with a run and two RBI.
Both teams will enter the Southern Conference tournament which begins on Tuesday in Charleston, S.C. Tournament pairings will be released later by the Southern Conference, but Elon will be the number three seed.