SoCon Baseball Recaps for March 23, 2008
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 15, WESTERN CAROLINA 12
STATESBORO, GA. ? Jeremiah Parker (Carrollton/Carrollton) hit two home runs, his third career multi-HR game, as Georgia Southern University completed the Southern Conference baseball sweep of Western Carolina 15-12 Sunday afternoon (March 23). The Eagles (14-8 overall, 3-0 SoCon) won their fifth straight and now eight of their last 10.
The Eagles’ offense dominated all weekend long accumulating 47 runs on 43 hits, including 10 home runs.
Ty Wright (Montrose/West Laurens) continued to excel in the leadoff role, taking the first pitch of the first inning over the centerfield fence. His fourth home run of the year (in 39 at-bats) gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
The Catamounts tied the score during their half of the second. Justin Davis (Pulaski/Metter) walked two batters, and then a wild pitch with two outs tied the score. Jason Haynes lined a shot to the left field gap but David Richardson (Dahlonega/Lumpkin County) chased it down to end the frame.
A.J. Wirnsberger (Tuscaloosa, AL/Paul Bear Bryant) and Richardson each drew a walk to start the second. Brian Pierce (Roswell/Roswell) sacrificed the runners into scoring position then Jeremy Beckham (Griffin/Griffin) lined a RBI single to regain the lead.
Western finally got its first hit of the game during the third inning. Two walks, two hits and two hit batters led to a four-run frame and 5-2 lead for the Catamounts (6-14, 0-3).
The Eagles erupted in the third, scoring seven runs before recording an out. Phillip Porter (Marietta/Sprayberry) was hit by a pitch. Chris Shehan (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) dropped a single that right fielder Dylan de Graaf fell short of making a diving catch. Porter scored on a wild pitch by Garrett Ozar. Griffin Benedict (Dunwoody/St. Pius) was hit then Parker hammered a 3-run shot to left. But the Eagles weren’t done.
Wirnsberger and Richardson were hit by a pitch. Pierce dropped down a sacrifice bunt but Ozar mishandled the ball, which loaded the bases. Beckham cleared the bases with a double to center extending the Eagles’ lead to 9-5.
J.C. Lyons hit a two-out run scoring single in the fourth but the Eagles quickly responded. Corey Martin hit Parker with two down in the fourth. Wirnsberger ripped a 2-run shot to the left field gap. His sixth home run this year gave GS an 11-6 advantage.
Matt Johns hit a 2-run single in the fifth off Burt Barto (Columbus/Columbus). Charlie Strohecker (Alpharetta/Milton) entered the game and recorded two strikeouts and a flyball to end Western’s scoring threat.
Beckham added another RBI single in the fifth, matching his career-high RBI total of five. Blake Murphy hit a solo shot to start the sixth inning. But again the Eagles had an answer. Parker hammered an opposite-field shot to begin the sixth, making it 13-9. Parker also had a 2-home run game at Western in last year’s regular season finale.
Murphy added a 2-run double in the seventh. Wright, who drew a one-out walk, scored on a failed pickoff attempt then another throwing error by first baseman Barrett Shaft on the play. Benedict hit his eighth homer of the year during the eighth inning, a solo shot to start the frame. Nick Liles’ solo homer in the ninth accounted for the final margin.
“I’m awfully proud of our kids, they played hard and competed all weekend long. We had a lot of guys step up at different times over the weekend. One thing we’re proud of, when we got down we responded,” said head coach Rodney Hennon. “I think we did a good job of making every at-bat count. We took a good, solid approach and hope to continue to do just that. Blake (Nation) came in against a good hitting Western team and closed the door twice.”
Blake Nation (Brooks/Starr’s Mill) gave up only the one run on one hit in two innings to earn his third save this year. Strohecker (2-0) earned the win in relief, allowing one run on three hits in two innings. He matched his career-high of four strikeouts.
Parker drove in four runs and scored three times. In addition to matching his career-high RBI total, Beckham also matched his career-high of three hits. Shehan also had two hits to finish the series 9-for-14 at the plate.
Davis allowed five runs but on only two hits in three innings. He walked five and struck out three.
Ozar (2-2) was charged for nine runs (eight earned) on six hits in two innings. Five different Catamounts had two hits. Murphy and Johns led the way with three RBI each.
Western plays host to East Tennessee State on Tuesday night (March 25) at 7 p.m. The Eagles will have their longest break of the season, off until a three-game weekend SoCon series at Charleston. First pitch on Friday night (March 28) is set for 6 p.m. at Patriots Point.
UNC GREENSBORO 17, APPALACHIAN STATE 11
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University baseball scored seven runs in the first two innings, but UNC Greensboro put runs on the board in all but two innings en route to completing a three-game sweep of the Mountaineers with a 17-11 victory on Sunday afternoon at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
Appalachian (11-11, 3-0 SoCon) jumped out to leads of 5-3 after the first inning and 7-4 after two, but UNCG (15-5, 3-0 SoCon) scored four times in the top of the third to grab an 8-7 lead and never trailed the rest of the way. Greensboro scored in every inning but the fifth and eighth and tallied multiple runs in five different stanzas en route to the victory.
The Mountaineers outhit the Spartans, 14-13, but UNCG took advantage of 11 walks and two hit batters issued by ASU pitching on the afternoon.
Catcher Jerod Faggart (Concord, N.C./Northwest Cabarrus) led the Apps offensively by belting his first two home runs of the season. The sophomore finished the day 3-for-5 with a double, three RBI and three runs to go along with the two long balls. Brett Stewart (Niceville, Fla./Niceville) and David Towarnicky (New Bern, N.C./New Bern) also homered for the Mountaineers.
Five different players drove in multiple runs for the Spartans, led by designated hitter Greg Feltes, who went 3-for-6 with a double, home run, three RBI and three runs.
ASU starting pitcher Jason Rook (Greensboro, N.C./Western Guilford) surrendered eight runs in 2.1 innings of work to suffer the loss and fall to 0-3 on the season. UNCG's Greg Smith came out of the bullpen to limit Appalachian to four runs (two earned) over five innings to move to 2-0 on the campaign.
The Mountaineers will close a six-game homestand this week when they host mid-week affairs versus High Point (Tuesday) and North Carolina A&T (Wednesday). Both games are slated for 3 p.m. at Smith Stadium.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 8, DAVIDSON 6
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Tied at 6 entering the ninth inning, the Davidson Wildcats allowed two runs in the top of the inning, as the College of Charleston Cougars secured the SoCon sweep with an 8-6 win on Easter Sunday at Wilson Field.
Charleston (16-7, 3-0) scored five times with two outs in the third inning to take a 5-2 lead. Jeremie Tice's two-run double to left center tied the game and Michael Harrington followed with a base hit to right that plated Tice and gave Charleston a 3-2 lead. Kohn added an RBI double, and Sizemore a run producing single to cap the inning.
Davidson (7-11, 0-3) tied the game at 5-all on two-out RBI singles by Pat Brady and Hugh Eden in the seventh inning. The Wildcats tied the game at 6-all when Zach Kayne scored on a passed ball in the eighth inning.
Charleston starter Jake Goldberg scattered 10 hits over the first six innings. He struck out four and left with a 5-3 lead. Jesse Simpson (3-2) picked up the win in relief working the final three innings with four strikeouts. He allowed three runs, two earned, on four hits.
Ian Horkley (0-3) suffered the loss surrendering three runs on four hits over 1 1/3 innings of relief.
Tice, who finished with two hits and two RBI, led off the decisive ninth with a double to center. Brady and Danny Weiss led Davidson with three hits each.
THE CITADEL 5, FURMAN 2
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Chris Swauger went 5-for-5 with two singles, two doubles and a home run as The Citadel recorded a 5-2 victory over rival Furman to notch their first conference series victory of the season in front of 881 at Riley Park Sunday afternoon.
Swauger’s perfect day at the plate helped the Bulldogs to victory as the senior from Tampa, Fla. scored three of The Citadel’s five runs on the day. Swauger’s second double of the day was his 60th career double, tying him for second all-time in school history in career doubles with Bo Betchman (1994-97).
Swauger is now listed in the school’s Top-10 charts in at bats (9th, 798), runs (7th, 177), hits (5th, 268), total bases (2nd, 456), doubles (T-2nd, 60), triples (1st, 16), home runs (T-3rd, 32) and RBI (9th, 155).
The Citadel (14-7, 3-3 Southern) scored five runs on 11 hits and committed one error while Furman (11-8, 1-2 SoCon) scored two runs on four hits and committed three errors.
Asher Wojciechowski (3-0) went 7.0 innings, allowing only one run on two hits and striking out five. That strikeout tally gives Wojciechowski a Southern Conference-leading 41 strikeouts this season.
The final two innings were evenly split between Raymond Copenhaver and Matt Reifsnider. Copenhaver made his league-leading 16th appearance of the season, allowing one unearned run on one hit in 1.0 innings pitched. Reifsnider earned his SoCon-leading fifth save after pitching one inning and allowing only one hit.
Furman starter Will Feemster (0-1) took the loss after giving up four runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings pitched.
Furman took the lead in the top of the first as Matt Hemingway laced a bases-loaded RBI single into right, scoring Marcus Rose. Down 1-0 in the bottom of the first, Swauger tied the game after scoring on a Sonny Meade sacrifice fly with no outs.
Neither team scored until the fourth when Matt Arnold scooted home as Kyle Jordan hit into a double play to short with no outs.
The Citadel added to its lead in the bottom of the fifth as Swauger led off with a double to right field. Bryan Altman sent him to third with a single to center. Meade sent Swauger across the plate for the second time in the game with a fielder’s choice to short as Furman forced Altman out at second.
After Chris McGuiness flied out to right, Meade went to second on a wild pitch by Feemster. Richard Jones notched an RBI in his third straight game with a single to right field, sending Meade across the plate. Sid Fallaw flied out to right after an Arnold walk to end the inning as the Bulldogs took the 4-1 lead.
Furman tacked on one run in the eighth as Bobby Hubbard scored on a wild pitch by Copenhaver.
Swauger added one more run with a solo shot beyond the right field fence in the bottom of the inning, giving the Bulldogs the final 5-2 advantage.