College of Charleston 7, Georgia Southern 6
Mt. Pleasant, S.C. -- Gabe Marchant homered and had four hits and Charleston's bullpen allowed only one run over the final eight innings in leading the College of Charleston to a come-from-behind 7-6 win over Georgia Southern in the rubber game of its Southern Conference series before 448 at windy Patriots Point Stadium on Sunday.
Charleston, which improved to 18-9 overall and 5-1 in league play, plays at Charleston Southern on Tuesday at 2:00. The Eagles fell to 15-10 and 4-2.
The trio of Mike Lynn, Casey Lucchese and Jesse Simpson allowed only five hits with five strikeouts over the final eight frames. Lynn allowed a run on five hits with two strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings of work. Lucchese (3-1) picked up the win working 2/3 of an inning and Simpson recorded his fourth save of the season allowing no hits with three strikeouts over the final two innings. Justin Davis (1-2) suffered the loss in relief for the Eagles.
Charleston, which trailed 6-1 entering the fifth inning, got an RBI grounder from Joash Brodin and a two-run homer from Marchant to right, his team-leading 11th of the season, that cut GSU's lead to 6-4.
Stuart Haywood's RBI single in the sixth scored Brandon Sizemore and pulled the Cougars to within 6-5. In the bottom of the seventh, Joey Bergman singled with one out and eventually scored on Jeremie Tice's triple to right. Tice scored to give the Cougars a 7-6 lead on a two-out error.
Marchant scored twice and drove in two runs, while Tice added two hits and two RBI. Georgia Southern got two hits each from Ty Wright and Chris Shehan.
Wofford 6, Davidson 4 (10 inn.)
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Davidson was two outs away from taking a three-game Southern Conference series, before Wofford scored two runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game and then won it in the 10th with two more runs to earn a 6-4 come-from-behind victory on Sunday at Wilson Field in the rubber match of the series.
Davidson fell to 8-14 overall and saw its SoCon mark fall to 1-5 on the season. Wofford, who also won on Friday night in the first game of the series, improved to 17-9 overall and an even 3-3 in league action.
Leading 4-2 with one out in the top of the ninth inning, Davidson's Mike Frongello (2-3) gave up a two-run single to Emre Caglayan that knotted the score at 4-4.
The Wildcats had a chance to win the game in the bottom half of the inning when they got a single from senior Hugh Eden and drew two walks by juniors Zach Kayne and Chase FitzPatrick to load the bases. But Michael Gilmartin, who came on to pitch from his shortstop position, got freshman Danny Weiss looking on a third strike to end the threat.
In the top of the 10th, Wofford got a lead-off double by Sterling Dye, who then came around to score on Shane Kirkley's RBI single up the middle, and the Terriers added one more insurance run on another double for the final score of 6-4.
Eden, who was the hero on Saturday with a walk-off home run, paced a seven-hit Wildcat attack with three base knocks and scored twice. Kayne followed with a couple of singles, while FitzPatrick drove in two of the four runs.
For the Terriers, Kirkley drove in two runs with two hits and seven other players picked up one hit each. Gilmartin (1-1) was credited with the win, going 1.1 innings and striking out two.
The Wildcats grabbed a 4-0 lead through the first three innings of play.
Chris FitzPatrick drove in Eden with a double down the left field line in the first inning and his brother, Chase, followed one batter later with a his own double to give Davidson a 2-0 lead.
Then in the third, Eden hammered out his third homer of the season to start the frame and Chase added a sac fly for a 4-0 Wildcat advantage.
Wofford scored its first two runs in the sixth on a Wildcat error and an RBI groundout by Kirkley.
Starter Chris Kennedy pitch very well for the Wildcats, going six innings and allowing just two runs, both unearned on four hits. He also struck out five and walked just two batters.
Davidson begins an eight-game road trip when it visits South Carolina on Apr. 2 for a 7 p.m. game.
The Citadel 9, Appalachian State 6
Charleston, S.C. ? Asher Wojciechowski notched his fourth win of the season while Matt Reifsnider collected his Southern Conference-leading seventh save as The Citadel edged Appalachian State Sunday afternoon, 9-6, at Riley Park. The Bulldogs earned their second SoCon series win of the season with the victory.
The Citadel (16-10, 5-4 Southern) scored nine runs on 11 hits and made two errors while Appalachian State (14-13, 1-5 SoCon) scored six runs on 12 hits and committed one error.
Wojciechowski (4-0) collected his fourth win of the season behind a 6.0 inning performance in which he gave up four runs on seven hits. Raymond Copenhaver made his Southern Conference-leading 19th appearance of the season as he gave up two runs, one earned, on three hits in two innings on the mound.
Matt Reifsnider (7) earned his seventh save, leading the Southern Conference. Reifsnider faced five batters in one inning on the mound, allowing two hits but no runs.
Jason Rook (0-4) was credited with the loss after giving up five runs on four hits in 2.2 innings of work. Rook walked three and struck out six in his performance.
Swauger gave the Bulldogs the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, leading off with a double to center field. That marked Swauger’s 63rd career double, putting him tied for sixth in Southern Conference history in career doubles. He would eventually score on Sonny Meade’s sacrifice fly.
After allowing the Mountaineers to tie the game in the second, the Bulldogs erupted for four runs in the bottom of the fourth, all coming with two outs. Meade started the stretch with a double to center. Chris McGuiness was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second and Richard Jones followed with an RBI single to center, scoring Meade from second.
Matt Arnold and Sid Fallaw drew consecutive walks while McGuiness scored on a wild pitch. Kyle Jordan singled up the middle, scoring Jones and Arnold before ASU brought in Aubrey Edens in to pitch. Edens forced Felder to ground out to the mound to end the inning.
Back-to-back RBI singles in the sixth by McGuiness and Jones added three more runs to the Bulldogs’ total, giving The Citadel an 8-1 lead.
Appalachian State added four runs in the seventh with three of the runs coming off a three-run home run by pinch hitter Andrew Franco. Pitcher-turned-designated hitter Jason Rook scored on a Copenhaver wild pitch, cutting the Bulldog lead to 8-5. Both teams added one more run in the eighth inning before Reifsnider entered to seal the 9-6 victory for The Citadel.
The Citadel hosts No. 7 South Carolina on Tuesday, April 1 at 7 p.m. at Riley Park. For complete coverage of Bulldog Baseball, visit the official home of The Citadel Athletics at CitadelSports.com.
Elon 10, Furman 2
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Bennett Davis homered twice and drove in three runs to power Elon to a 10-2 win over Furman in Southern Conference baseball action Sunday afternoon at Furman Stadium.
With the victory Elon (22-6, 7-2 SoCon) completes the three-game series sweep of Furman (12-11, 1-5 SoCon), which has dropped five of its last six games.
Davis, who also scored three runs, homered in the first inning to give Elon a 1-0 lead and tacked on a two-run clout in the ninth to account for the Phoenix's final two runs. Donny Jones also had two of Elon's nine hits and scored three times.
Daniel Britt (2-1) earned the win after working six innings and allowing four hits, two runs, and three walks. He struck out five.
The losing pitcher was Kevin Gaid (0-1), who went 6 2/3 innings and surrendered four hits, seven runs, just four of which were earned. He walked six and struck out five.
Campbell Lewis led Furman's tame seven-hit attack with two hits, and Bobby Hubbard drove in both Paladin runs. The Paladins also commited three errors, which led to four unearned runs.
Davis's solo home run to center field in the top of the first gave Elon a 1-0 lead, but Furman tied the game in the bottom of the frame after Marcus Rose reached on an error, advanced to second on a groundout, stole third before coming home on a Bobby Hubbard RBI grounder.
Elon scored three times in the third on just one hit and pair of Furman errors. Harry Austin walked
to lead off and moved to second on a balk. After Chris Dove struck out, Donny Jobe's chopper over Gaid's head went under the glove of charging Paladin second baseman Marcus Rose and into center field, allowing Austin to score. Jobe then stole second and with two outs came around to score on a Ryan Adams single that got past Paladin center fielder Joey Rodgers. Adams, who moved around to third on the error, later scored on a wild pitch to give Elon a 4-1 lead.
Furman made it a 4-2 game in the fifth on another RBI grounder by Bobby Hubbard.
The Paladins loaded the bases in the sixth with a hit, a walk, and a hit batsman, but Britt recovered by striking out Rose to end the threat.
Elon blew the game open in the seventh with four runs, highlighted by a pinch-hit home run to left field by Greg Annarummo.
Furman threatened again in the seventh when Connor Lind singled to lead off and Ryan Lee followed with a one-out base hit. Campbell Lewis then drilled a ball into the right center field that Phoenix outfielders Chris Dove and Cory Harrilchak attempted but failed to snag with diving attempts. In a moment of indecision as to whether the catch had been made, Lewis passed Lee in the base path between first and second and was called out, and Reese Wade bounced into a fielder's choice ground out to end the inning.
Furman returns to action on Tuesday when it travels to Clinton, S.C., to take on Presbyterian in a 3:00 p.m. game. The contest will mark the Paladins' first clash against the Blue Hose in Clinton since 1964.
Western Carolina 9, UNC Greensboro 5
Cullowhee, N.C. ? Western Carolina pushed across eight runs in the final three innings to rally past the UNC Greensboro Spartans, 9-5, Sunday afternoon at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. With WCU’s win in the rubber match, the Catamounts won the three-game Southern Conference series.
Senior Barrett Shaft led the WCU with a 3-for-5 showing at the plate including a double and two RBI as one of five Catamounts with multiple-hit games. Sophomore Tyler Kirkpatrick was a perfect 2-for-2 with two walks and his seventh home run of the season, while classmates Brent Greer and Nick Liles, and senior Jason Haynes each collected two singles in the win.
UNC Greensboro (18-7, 4-2 SoCon) jumped out on top with a three-run third inning, capitalizing on four base hits including a two RBI double just inside the bag at first by Corey Overholtzer. Western answered with a solo run in the home half of the frame as Greer singled in Kirkpatrick to trim the deficit to two, 3-1, after three innings.
The Spartans added to their advantage with two runs in the top of the fifth utilizing two Catamount errors. With Greg Feltes aboard with a lead-off walk, first baseman Ricky Orton singled but advanced to second, scoring Feltes, on a throwing error. Then, with the bases loaded, Overholtzer grounded into one of two double plays turned by Western to drive in the second run.
Western started its rally in the home half of the sixth inning, trimming its deficit to two with a two spot. Greer was hit by a pitch to open the frame with Shaft doubling him to third ahead of sophomore Dylan de Graaf who flew out right to drive in the first run. The next batter, freshman Matt Johns, fouled out down the right field line which allowed Shaft to scamper home to make it 5-3 after six.
In the seventh, the Catamounts exploded for four runs to take their first lead of the afternoon. Haynes led off with a bunt single with Kirkpatrick walking to put two aboard ahead of catcher Stephen Notaro who sacrificed the two over with a bunt. Liles singled through the left side to score Haynes, with Shaft singling through the right side with the bases loaded to score Kirkpatrick. WCU plated two additional runs scoring on a Spartan infield error and the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Johns.
Kirkpatrick belted a solo homer as a part of a two-run eighth as Western claimed its first conference series
Sophomore left-hander Chris Masters (2-2) earned his second win of the week tossing five innings of hitless and scoreless relief, pitching around four walks with three strikeouts. Junior Corey Martin went four innings in his first start of the season allowing all five runs, four of which were earned, with three strikeouts and four walks.
For UNC Greensboro, Wes McCall was charged with the loss after only officially pitching one third of an inning, surrendering four earned runs on three hits with two walks. Feltes was the only Spartan to record a multi-hit game on Sunday going 2-for-4 with a double.
Western Carolina (10-15, 2-4 SoCon) will step out of conference for two mid-week games beginning with a Tuesday afternoon tilt at Gardner-Webb. First pitch is set for 3:00 pm with coverage being provided by the Catamount Sports Network on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 at 2:45 pm. The Catamounts return home on Wednesday to host mountain-rival UNC Asheville at 7:00 pm at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.