SoCon Baseball Recaps for March 5, 2008
APPALACHIAN STATE 19, HIGH POINT 14
HIGH POINT, N.C. ? Appalachian State University baseball scored 11 runs over the sixth, seventh and eighth innings and withstood a furious High Point rally in the bottom of the ninth to collect 19-14 win on Wednesday afternoon at Willard Stadium.
The contest was knotted at 6-6 after five innings, but Appalachian (5-5) exploded for two runs in the sixth inning, six in the seventh and five in the eighth to take a 19-6 lead. The long ball was the key to the outburst, as shortstop Jason Altenhof belted a two-run home run in sixth inning and center fielder Rand Smith and right fielder Jason Rook added two-run blasts in the eighth.
High Point (3-7), however, scored eight times in the bottom of the ninth to cut the deficit to 19-14. HPU put the tying run on deck with only one out in the ninth before Zach Quate ended the four-hour, 10-minute affair with back-to-back strikeouts.
Second baseman Wes Hobson started the Mountaineers’ homer brigade with a two-run shot in the third inning that capped the Apps’ third-straight two-run inning to start the game and gave them a 6-1 lead. Appalachian’s four home runs on the afternoon more than doubled its season total, as it had belted just three coming in.
High Point (3-7) erased ASU’s five-run advantage with a single run in the fourth inning and four more in the fifth. However, Right-hander Adam Mills quelled the HPU rally with 2.1 innings of scoreless, one-hit relief. Mills, who has surrendered no runs on just five hits in 8.2 innings of work this season, earned the win to move to 2-0 on the year.
Smith led Appalachian’s 17-hit attack by going 4-for-5 with the homer, a double, four RBI and four runs scored on the afternoon. Rook also drove in four runs with a 3-for-6 effort and first baseman David Towarnicky also collected three hits to go along with two RBI and three runs scored.
The Mountaineers were helped by eight walks, a hit batter and four errors committed by the Panthers. HPU starter Zach Scott (0-2) allowed seven runs in 5.2 innings to suffer the loss.
Appalachian returns to action this weekend with three games at Wilson Field, the home turf of Southern Conference-rival Davidson. ASU opens the weekend with a doubleheader versus Yale beginning on Saturday at 2 p.m. and closes the trip to Davidson with a 1 p.m. showdown versus Quinnipiac on Sunday.
THE CITADEL 10, USC UPSTATE 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? The Citadel capitalized on three USC Upstate errors that contributed to four runs as the Bulldogs topped the Spartans, 10-1, in a continuance of Tuesday afternoon’s halted game at Riley Park. Sonny Meade went 3-for-5 for The Citadel with a home run and two RBI in the game.
The Citadel (5-3) scored 10 runs off 11 hits and committed one error while USC Upstate (4-5) managed only one run off eight hits and committed three errors. Six of the Bulldogs’ 10 runs were earned runs charged against the Upstate pitching staff.
Timmy Martin (1-0) recorded the win in his first decision since 2006 after pitching 4.2 innings and allowing only two hits while striking out two. The 4.2 innings was Martin’s longest outing since throwing for 5.0 innings against NC State in 2005.
Tyler Oliver (0-1) went 1.2 innings for USC Upstate and allowed five runs (only two earned) off six hits and was one of three Spartan pitchers to hit a Bulldog batter.
The Bulldogs jumped on an Upstate pitching staff that walked 11 batters but still left 15 runners on base in the game. Brian Dempsey threw 3.1 innings for USC Upstate and walked four but did not allow an earned run.
Matt Talley, who started the game on Tuesday, combined with Martin and Chris Boyce to strike out seven Spartan batters throughout the game.
The game was originally begun on Tuesday, March 4, before rain brought a halt to the action 37 minutes into the game. Play was resumed at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 5 and lasted 2:30 hours in total.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 12, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 4
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. -- Mike Hentz, Michael Kohn and Michael Harrington homered and Clay Caulfield pitched into the sixth inning leading the College of Charleston to a 12-4 win over rival Charleston Southern in college baseball action before 411 at Patriots Point Stadium on Wednesday.
The Cougars, who open a three-game series with Texas-San Antonio on Friday at 5 p.m., improved to 8-2 on the season. The Bucs fell to 2-7.
Mark Perry's homer down the left field line on the game's third pitch gave Charleston Southern a 1-0 lead. Harrington's RBI ground out in the bottom of the first tied the game at 1-all.
Gabe Marchant's two-run single in the second inning extended Charleston's lead to 4-1. Austin Morgan's two-run single in the third and Hentz's three-run homer to left in the fifth inning gave the Cougars a 9-1 advantage.
After Charleston Southern's Tom Burkett belted a three-run homer in the top of the sixth to cut the Cougars' lead to 9-4, Kohn belted his club-leading sixth homer of the season to give Charleston a 10-4 lead.
Harrington's fifth homer of the season, was a towering two-run shot to center in the eighth gave Charleston a 12-4 lead.
Clay Caulfield (2-0) allowed two runs on eight hits with five strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings of work. Brandon Roberts (0-3) allowed nine runs, eight earned, on five hits with four walks over the first 4 1/3 innings.
UNC WILMINGTON 10, ELON 1
ELON, N.C. -- The Elon Phoenix rallied for eight runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, but fell two runs shy of completing a monumental comeback and fell 18-16 to the UNC Wilmington Seahawks in front of 607 fans from Latham Park on Wednesday evening. The loss was the first of the year for Elon who dropped to 10-1 following the game which lasted four hours and 16 minutes. UNCW upped its mark to 6-4 on the campaign.
Things started out well for the Phoenix who took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Chris Dove belted a 3-2 pitch over the scoreboard in left-center for his third homer of the season.
UNCW evened things up when Matt Holt hit his first homer of the year in the top of the second.
The Phoenix jumped right back on top with a two-spot in its half of the second. Dove's double plated both Harry Austin and Greg Annarummo to build a 3-1 Elon edge.
The Seahawks continued scoring in the third by pushing across three unearned runs thanks to an Elon error to start the inning. Jason Appel's one-out double to the gap in right drove home Mike Rooney for the second UNCW marker. The game became knotted at 3-3 when Mark Carver lifted a sacrifice fly into foul territory down the leftfield line which drove in Daniel Hargrave. The Seahawks would later grab the lead when Appel scored on Nate Hall's single.
After Elon tied the game back up at 4-4 on Chase Austin's second home run of the year in the bottom of the third, UNCW pushed across two to go back on top 6-4. Justin Barefoot hit a solo homer and Hargrave pushed across a run with a fielder's choice.
Elon looked like it may try to take control of the contest in the bottom of the fourth by scoring four times to regain a two-run cushion at 8-6. After Annarummo was hit by a pitch to lead things off, Harry Austin's bunt single put runners on first and second for Dove. Dove's perfect bunt down the third base line should have loaded the bases, but the throw from the Seahawk third baseman sailed past the first baseman and allowed Annarummo to score, Austin to move to third and Dove to end up on second. Donny Jobe was plunked to load the bases up before the first out was recorded when Pat Irvine lifted a sac fly to center, scoring Austin with Elon's sixth run. A failed pick-off at second allowed both Dove and Jobe to move up a base prior to a UNCW error on a fly ball to center off the bat of Bennett Davis. Davis was credited with a sacrifice fly as Dove scored. Jobe would later cross the plate on a balk.
UNCW fought right back, scoring four runs of its own in the top of the fifth to claim the lead for good. Carver started things off by homering to left on a 3-2 pitch. It was his third home run of the season. Hall singled and went to second when Holt reached on an error. A wild pitch moved both runners up 90 feet before Barefoot put down a bunt base hit to score Hall with one out. Another wild pitch brought Holt home with run number three in the frame. Rooney lifted a fly ball to left-center which Dove caught at the wall, but as Dove became entangled in the fence, Barefoot was able to tag and score from second base.
The Seahawks added four more in the sixth on RBI from Hall and Rooney. A sac fly from holt in the seventh drove home Hargrave with UNCW's 15th run of the game.
Following a scoreless eighth, UNCW got back to work in the top of the ninth, scoring three on Hall's fifth homer of the season.
Elon made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth and took advantage of six walks issued by Seahawk pitchers. Matt Hill led off with a pinch-hit walk which was followed by a walk of Ryan Adams. Cory Harrilchak singled home Hill to make the score 18-9. Following a strikeout, Mike Lobacz walked to load the bases. Yet another balk brought home Adams before Harry Austin's infield single plated Harrilchak and trimmed Elon's deficit to 18-11. Jay Sinclair drew a walk in a pinch-hit role to reload the bases before a wild pitch scored Lobacz. Jobe drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch, loading the bases again. Irvine drew another 3-2 walk which forced in Austin and the Phoenix was withing 18-13. Now with two away, Adams lined a double to the gap in left-center, clearing the bases as Irvine, Jobe and pinch-runner Chris Lopez and pulling Elon to within two. Harrilchak, representing the tying run at the late, grounded out to first to end the game which proved to be the first blemish on Elon's slate this year.
Of the 18 runs scored by UNCW, seven were unearned while four of Elon's markers were of the unearned variety. Each team used seven pitchers.
Daniel Britt (0-1) took the loss by allowing six runs (four earned) in 1.2 innings in relief of starter Jesse Lewter. Lewter surrendered six runs (three earned) on seven hits in 3.1 innings of work.
Cameron Roth (1-0) picked up the win in relief of Kyle Lewis. Roth hurled 2.1 scoreless inning and gave up just one hit while striking out four. Lewis was tagged for eight runs (six earned) on eight hits in 3.0 innings. Allen Flood was charged with six earned runs in just 0.1 inning while Chris Johnson gave up two without recording an out.
Larry Salefsky came on to record the final two outs and picked up his second save.
Dove and Harry Austin each recorded three hits while Dove drove in three and scored twice and Austin scored three times and had one RBI. Irvine also drove in two for the Phoenix. Despite scoring two times, Jobe went 0-for-2, snapping his hitting streak at 10 games.
For UNCW, Hall went 3-for-6, scored three times and drove in five. Rooney plated three and scored twice while both Holt and Barefoot finished with two RBI.
The loss also snapped a 10-game home winning streak for Elon which dated back to last season.
Up next for the Phoenix is a three-game set with North Carolina A&T from Latham Park beginning at 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon.
CLEMSON 9, WOFFORD 7
CLEMSON, S.C. ? The Wofford College baseball team was defeated 9-7 by Clemson on Wednesday afternoon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Both teams scored five runs in the fourth inning, but two runs by Clemson in the bottom of the seventh secured the win.
Wofford is 6-2 on the season, while Clemson improves to 6-2. The Terriers were led by Michael Gilmartin and Shane Kirkley, each with two hits and an RBI. For Clemson, Jeff Schaus and Ben Paulson each had three hits.
After a scoreless first inning, the Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when a sacrifice fly by Stan Widmann drove in Jeff Schaus.
In the top of the third, Jake Williams led things off with a single. A double by Sterling Dye drove in Williams for a run. Michael Gilmartin added a single to score Dye and the Terriers took a 2-1 lead. Clemson answered in the bottom of the inning when Ben Paulson hit a double and scored on a single by Jeff Schaus for a tie game at 2-2.
For Wofford in the fourth inning, Emre Caglayan and Jake Williams walked. Sterling Dye reached first on a fielder’s choice, but two errors on the play allowed all three players to score and the Terriers were up 5-2. Back-to-back doubles by Michael Gilmartin and Shane Kirkley added a run. Kirkley scored when Adam Kearney reached first on an error to give Wofford a 7-2 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, Clemson scored two runs when Stan Widmann doubled drove in Chris Epps and Matt Sanders. Ben Paulson reached first on a fielder’s choice, which drove in Stan Widmann. A triple to right field by Jeff Schaus scored two runs and tied the game at 7-7.
Neither team scored in the fifth or sixth innings. The Terriers left two runners on base in the top of the seventh. Clemson scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh when Wilson Boyd singled and drove in J.D. Burgess and Chris Epps to take a 9-7 lead. Neither team added runs in the final inning and a half.
For Wofford, starter Tom Dolinak went 4.2 innings, giving up five runs on eight hits. For Clemson, starter Casey Harman lasted three innings with six hits allowed, two runs scored and four strikeouts. The game was the first road game of the season for the Terriers. Wofford will not play another game on the road until March 28 at Davidson.
The Terriers host Niagara on March 8 and 9. Both days will feature seven-inning double headers beginning at 1:00 pm. On Monday night, Wofford will host Quinnipiac at 7:00 pm.
WAKE FOREST 13, UNC GREENSBORO 6
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. ? Despite scoring first in the second inning, the UNC Greensboro baseball team fell 13-6 to Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, NC on Wednesday evening. The loss snapped a four-game win streak for the Spartans.
UNCG (5-2) scored first in the top of the second inning as first baseman Ricky Orton sent a solo homerun over the right field wall. This marked Orton’s first homerun of the season, seventh of his career.
The Demon Deacons (5-4) brought in a combined five runs in the second and third inning to take a 5-1 lead heading into fourth.
UNCG cut it down to three to top inning four. Right fielder Sean Snell brought in the first run with a sacrifice fly out to left field. The second run came in with the help of Wake Forest pitcher Ryan McGrath. After coming in to relieve Joel Ernst, McGrath’s first pitch of the game struck Adam Deleo and brought Orton in for the score.
A fifth-inning grand slam by Steven Brooks gave the Deacs a 9-3 advantage. The Spartans answered back with three runs, but Wake was able to put up two more before closing out inning six.
With the scores remaining unchanged through an inning and a half, another Wake Forest homerun put two more on the board and gave them the final 13-6 victory over UNCG.
The Spartan bats were led by Orton who was 2-for-5 with two runs, one RBI, and the second-inning homerun. Greg Feltes was 2-for-4 with a run, a hit, and a walk.
McGrath (1-0) is credited with the win after facing just three batters. Alex Shelton (0-1) took the loss for the Spartans in his first start on the mound. Warren Slack led the pitching staff with three strikeouts and zero walks.
GARDNER-WEBB 9, FURMAN 1
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. -- Josh Drewery pitched five solid innings and Gardner-Webb scored seven runs over the first two frames en route to a 9-1 win over Furman in basebal action Tuesday afternoon at Varsity Field.
Drewery surrendered an RBI double to Furman’s Jay Jackson in the first but rebounded by limiting the Paladins to only three hits and no walks over five innings to earn the victory for Gardner-Webb (3-5). The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for Furman (5-2).
The senior right-hander received all the run support he would need in the bottom of the first when the Bulldogs combined three hits with two hit batsman and a walk by Paladin starting pitcher J.P. Goldsberry (0-1) to grab a 4-1 lead. Ozzie McFarland, Jr.’s two-out, two-run single to left field proved to be the inning’s big blow.
The Bulldogs stretched their advantage to 7-1 with a three-run second that included four singles and a pair of sacrifice flies. Matt Rizzutto’s RBI infield single plated Jamall KInard for the frame’s second run and chased Goldsberry. His replacement, Ian Parry, then gave up a sacrifice fly to Jeremiah Lokken that completed the scoring in the three-run frame.
Goldsberry went only 1 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits and seven runs (all earned), and a walk. He also hit two batters and did not record a strikeout.
Kinard, Lokken, and Daniel Cook collected two hits each for the Bulldogs, who finished the contest with 12 hits.
Connor Lind collected two of Furman’s seven hits to lead the Paladins.
Furman returns to action on Friday when it entertains Albany at 5:00 p.m. in the opener of a three-game series.
GEORGIA TECH 4, WESTERN CAROLINA 1
ATLANTA, GA. --- Western Carolina took an early lead, but were unable to hold on for the win, falling to Georgia Tech 4-1, Tuesday afternoon in Atlanta, Ga.
WCU (3-5) got on the board first in the top of the second inning on J.C. Lyons’ solo home run over the left center field wall. It was the junior’s third home run this year, which is good for tops on the team.
Georgia Tech (8-1) responded in their half of the frame when, after running the count from 0-2 to a full 3-2, shortshop Derek Dietrich turned on a Drew Saberhagen pitch and put it over the wall in center field, scoring two runs and giving GT the 2-1 lead, which they would never relinquish.
The Yellow Jackets put across two more runs in the rest of the game to push the final score to 4-1. In the third inning, Jason Haniger followed his leadoff double with a stolen base to move to third, then scored on a fielder’s choice. Haniger then scored his second run of the game on a wild pitch that got away from WCU catcher Blake Murphy.
Junior Brett Saberhagen, who was saddled with the loss, threw 7.0 impressive innings on the day, only allowing a single earned run on six hits while striking out five. After coming on in the eigth inning in relief, sophomore Chris Masters struck out one batter, while giving up one run and one hit.
Catamount first baseman Tyler Kirkpatrick led the team with two hits on the day, with Brent Greer, Ryan Mathews, and Lyons each recording a single base knock in the game.
Western will now travel down to Houston, Texas to compete in the Rice University Tournament, March 6-8. The Cats will take on Michigan State, Creighton, and the host Owls on the weekend. Stay tuned to CatamountSports.com for complete coverage of the tournament.
BETHUNE-COOKMAN 10, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 7
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. ? Georgia Southern fell behind early and could not recover in a 10-7 loss at Bethune-Cookman Tuesday night (March 4). The Eagles dropped to 4-5 overall while BCU improved to 4-3.
The bullpen gave up two runs over the final six innings but could not rally from a 6-run deficit after three innings.
The Eagles staged a two-out rally in the first inning. After freshman Roman Lancara struck out the first two batters he faced, Chris Shehan (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) drew a four-pitch walk. Kyle Blackburn (Marietta/Walton) hit a single to put runners on the corners. Head coach Rodney Hennon successfully put on a double-steal as Blackburn recorded his first career stolen base and Shehan scored to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
Bethune-Cookman got a two-out 2-run single from Chris Brown in the first inning. During the second, an unsuccessful double steal still plated a run. A throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt by Justin Davis (Pulaski/Metter) plated another run for the Wildcats. Osvaldo Torres lined a RBI single extending their lead to 5-1.
GS got two runs back during its half of the third. Matt Miller (Canton/Woodstock) hit a leadoff infield single. He advanced to second on a groundout then scored on Shehan’s RBI double. Two batters later A.J. Wirnsberger (Tuscaloosa, AL/Paul Bear Bryant) lined his second career triple making it a 5-3 deficit.
The Wildcats plated four runs in the third. Mark Brooks hit a 2-run single then Jose Lozada lined a shot that hit off first base then rolled into right field to score two more runs. That gave BCU a 9-3 lead.
During the fifth GS scored three times. Miller started with a leadoff single. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a balk. Shehan lined a RBI triple, the third triple of his career. Wirnsberger hit a two-out RBI double then Jeremiah Parker (Carrollton/Carrollton) knocked his first extra-base hit of the season, a double down the left field line to cut the deficit to 9-6.
Jeremy Beckham (Griffin/Griffin) was hit by a pitch with one down in the sixth. He took third on Miller’s single. Phillip Porter (Marietta/Sprayberry) dropped down a safety squeeze, reaching on the single and Beckham scored.
Davis (0-1) was charged for eight runs on seven hits in two innings. He walked three and struck out three. Charlie Strohecker (Alpharetta/Milton) struck out a career-high four batters in three innings. Burt Barto (Columbus/Columbus) gave up an unearned run in 1.2 innings while Kyle Kamppi (Savannah/Benedictine) fanned three in 1.1 scoreless innings.
Miller had three hits while Porter and Shehan added two apiece. The 1-3 batters combined for five runs scored and three RBI.
Lancara (1-0) gave up six runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings, in his first collegiate start. Jose Lozada had four hits, two runs scored and two RBI.
Georgia Southern travels to East Carolina this weekend to participate in the Keith LeClair Classic. The Eagles will face 23rd-ranked Michigan in the first game Friday (March 7), first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
AUBURN 10, DAVIDSON 2
AUBURN, Ala. - Junior Brett Shore and freshman Danny Weiss each collected two hits, but the Davidson baseball team dropped a 10-2 decision to Auburn at Plainsman Park Tuesday night.
Junior Zach Kayne and classmate Chase FitzPatrick also registered hits for the Wildcats (3-6).
With Davidson trailing 6-0 in the fifth inning, Pat Brady led off with a walk, and Shore followed later with a one-out single. FitzPatrick's two-out single plated two runs and trimmed the margin to 6-2.
Auburn (5-4) struck for four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to open a 10-2 lead, and Davidson managed just one hit for the remainder of the game.The Wildcats stranded seven runners in the contest.
Luke Greinke led off the bottom of the first with a solo homer, and Kevin Patterson led off the third with a home run to help the Tigers to a 6-0 cushion.
The Tigers will host the Wildcats again tomorrow at 6 p.m. (CST).