CHARLOTTE 4, FURMAN 2
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Luke Stahl, Bryan Hamilton, and Matt Foard combined to toss a three-hitter and Aaron Bray’s two-run sixth inning double snapped a 2-2 tie to give 25th-ranked Charlotte a 4-2 win over Furman in non-conference baseball action Tuesday night.
With the win Charlotte improves to 35-9 on the season and earns the season split with Furman, which claimed a 4-3 10-inning win over the 49ers in Greenville in February. The Paladins slip to 13-32 on the season.
Joey Rodgers, Connor Lind, and Spence Gibbs accounted for Furman’s three hits -- all singles. Charlotte, meanwhile, managed just five hits against four Paladin pitchers, but two went for extra bases, including a solo home run by Kris Rochelle and Bray’s key two-out, two-run double.
Hamilton (4-1) picked up the win after hurling three innings of no-hit relief while striking out two. Matt Foard earned his first save of the season after tossing the final three frames and giving up only one hit.
Butch Pucetas (0-2) was charged with the loss in relief. His one-out walk in the sixth to Rochelle proved to be costly as Rochelle and Chris Taylor, who singled with one out, came around to score on Bray’s double to left center field off the Paladins’ Will Feemster.
Furman starter J.P. Goldsberry pitched well, surrendering only two hits over 4 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out two.
Rochelle’s solo home run to left field in the first gave Charlotte at 1-0 lead.
The 49ers made it 2-0 in the second on Spencer Steedley’s RBI single that plated Bray.
Furman tied the game with two unearned runs in the third on Bobby Hubbard’s RBI grounder and on a fielding error by 49er third baseman Bray, which allowed Marcus Rose to score.
GARDNER-WEBB 12, DAVIDSON 8
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? Nate MacDonald ripped two of the eight Gardner-Webb doubles, plus hit his second home run of the season to lead the visiting Bulldogs to a 12-8 victory over Davidson at Wilson Field on Tuesday evening. Gardner-Webb (20-28) has now won six of its last seven while the Wildcats (17-26) have lost each of their six contests played on Tuesdays this year.
Four consecutive first-inning RBI doubles by Jeremiah Lokken, Daniel Cooke, Josh Drewery and MacDonald gave Gardner-Webb a 4-0 lead it would never relinquish. Davidson countered with a run in its half on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by senior Rob Wilson.
But the Bulldogs got another RBI double in the second, this time by Jay McConnell, and a sacrifice fly of their own to boost their lead to 6-1.
In the bottom of the second, the Wildcats got both of those runs back after loading the bases with nobody out. A double play brought home one run, and sophomore Matt Webb ripped an RBI single to get the ’Cats back within three.
Gardner-Webb posted four more runs in the fourth, banging out three more doubles in the process. McConnell hit his second two-bagger to lead off the inning, and Daniel Cooke delivered an RBI single with one out. After a stolen base and the second out, MacDonald knocked his second double. Two walks later, Jonathan Ahearn joined the double parade to drive home two for a 10-3 advantage.
Back-to-back homers to start the sixth by MacDonald and Matt Rizzuto, the latter’s eighth of the season, made it 12-3.
Davidson tried to get back in the game in its half of the sixth, knocking out Bulldog starter Matt Tafazzoli. Wilson walked with one out, and sophomore Pat Brady singled him to second. Sophomore Graham Chapman narrowly missed his first career home run, instead settling for an RBI double off the top of the left-field fence. Following a Tommy Piacenza sacrifice fly, sophomore Zach Kayne laid down a bunt single and Brett Shore walked to load the bases. Webb chased Tafazzoli with a two-run single, but reliever Webster Beal ended the rally with a grounder to short.
But Davidson could only manage a solitary run in the eighth the rest of the way, coming on an RBI single by senior Alden Crissey.
Tafazzoli (3-1) earned the victory despite surrendering seven runs, all earned, on 10 hits and four walks in 5.2 innings. Beal did a nice job for his 2.1 frames on the mound, allowing three hits and a run, and Devin Campbell pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts.
Freshman Thomas Middour (4-6) was stuck with the loss after surrendering six runs, five earned, on six hits (five of which were doubles). He has now lost five of his last six starts after starting the year winning four of his first five decisions.
GEORGIA 12, WOFFORD 6
ATHENS, GA. -- The Wofford baseball team tied the school’s single season home run record, but could not overcome an early slump brought on by the Georgia pitching duo of Trevor Holder and Jason Leaver and fell 12-6 to the Bulldogs Tuesday evening at Foley Field.
John Brandt and Brandon Waring both blasted two-run homers for Wofford (21-25, 4-12 SoCon) to bring the team total to 78, which ties Wofford’s single season home runs record. Brandt’s homer was his 10th of the season, which marks only the second time in school history that Wofford has had four players with 10 or more homers. The only other time the Terriers had four hitters with double digit home runs was in 1992.
Despite the bombs from Brandt and Waring, Wofford could not overcome a slow start in which Holder and Leaver held Wofford without a hit over the first six innings. In three innings of work, Holder retired nine of 10 straight batters and struck out four. The only base runner he allowed was Eric Sturkie, who reached on a fielding error by Gordon Beckham at shortstop. Leaver picked up right where Holder left off and allowed only two runners to reach base from the fourth through the six innings, both on walks.
The Bulldogs (18-28) staked an early 2-0 lead with an RBI double and an RBI infield single in the bottom of the first inning. Georgia Shortstop Gordon Beckham drove in the first run with a double down the left field line to score Jonathan Wyatt, who reached on a walk. After a wild pitch advanced Beckham to third, Matt Olson drove him in with an infield single by beating out a dribbler down the third base line. The run was the first of three in the game for Beckham, who went 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI.
The Georgia offense continued to pour it on in the bottom of the second and scored four runs in the inning to go up 6-0. Left fielder Travis Parrott led off the inning with a double and scored from second on a single by leadoff man Ryan Peisel. Terrier starter Jordan Mickleberry then struck out Wyatt for the second out of the inning, but plunked Beckham to load the bases for cleanup hitter Rich Poythress. Poythress hit a check swing slow roller to Sturkie at second base, but Sturkie threw the ball just wide of Mickleberry who was running to cover first base. The throwing error allowed two runs to score before the Bulldogs added the final run of the inning on a base hit to left field by Matt Olson that scored Beckham.
Parrott led off the next inning with his second consecutive double and scored on a well-executed hit-and-run as Mike Freeman slapped a 3-2 fastball back up the middle for a base hit. A walk to Peisel then loaded the bases for Wyatt, who drove in a run with a ground ball to deep shortstop that Michael Gilmartin fielded and threw to Sturkie for the force out at second. Mickleberry then hit Beckham to load the bases again before being pulled in favor of Terrier southpaw Whit Kennedy, who struck out Poythress and forced Olson to ground out to end the inning without another run.
Kennedy cruised through the next three innings and allowed only one hit while striking out three of his 15 batters faced. The 3 2/3 innings of work was the longest of the season for the sophomore lefty, who also matched a career high with three strikeouts.
Brandt broke up the Bulldog no-hitter and the shutout with a two-run homer off right hander Iain Sebastian in the top of the seventh. Sebastian took the mound to begin the seventh and plunked Shane Kirkley to lead off the inning. Brandt took advantage of the opportunity and mashed a monster shot over the center field fence to drive in Kirkley and narrow the deficit to 8-2. The homer also extended Brandt’s hitting streak to eight consecutive games.
Georgia would reclaim the runs in the bottom of the seventh however, after scoring three runs on four hits following a Wofford pitching change. Senior right hander Lance Player took the mound for Wofford, but the Bulldogs tagged the fresh arm for three straight singles to lead off the inning while scoring a run on a passed ball. A sacrifice fly ball to center field from Poythress scored the second run of the inning while another sacrifice fly from Matt Robbins added the final run.
The Bulldogs added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single from Miles Starr to claim a 12-4 advantage into the top of the ninth, but the Terriers would rally to challenge the lead in their final series.
A leadoff single by Kirkley started a ninth inning rally for Wofford in which the Terriers scored four runs, including two with two outs. Waring followed his junior classmate’s single with a two-run blast to left center field for his 18th home run of the season. Sebastian then retired the next two batters, but outfielder Chuck Eller belted a single to right field to keep Wofford’s hopes alive. Pinch hit heroics from Kyle Behrendt and Mo Seay added the final two runs, as Behrendt slapped a base hit to deep left center field to score Eller, and Seay followed with an RBI double to score Behrendt. Fearing a late rally, the Bulldogs called on right hander Steve Esmonde to get the final out and he came through by forcing a ground ball to end the game.