Western Carolina 6, Elon 3
ELON, N.C. ? Blake Murphy homered twice, including a grand slam in the fifth inning, to lead the Western Carolina Catamounts past the home-standing Elon Phoenix by a 6-3 score in Southern Conference baseball action from Latham Park on Sunday afternoon. The loss snapped Elon’s SoCon winning streak at eight games as the Phoenix dipped to 28-9 overall and 12-3 in league play. The Catamounts improved to 16-18, 6-6 during the 2008 campaign and salvaged the weekend after dropping the first two games.
For the second straight game, Murphy led off the second inning with a homer. This one cleared the fence in left and was the 12th of the season for Murphy.
Tyler Kirkpatrick extended the Catamount lead to 2-0 with one away in the fifth by hitting his eighth home run of the year over the wall in left. Mitchell Hatley and Nick Liles followed with singles to keep the threat alive before Brent Greer’s ground ball out moved both runners up a bag. With two down, Barrett Shaft was plunked on a 1-2 pitch by Jesse Lewter to load the bases for Murphy. Murphy launched his second bomb of the day, a grand slam to left to push the Western lead to 6-0.
The Phoenix bats came alive in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, Cory Harrilchak singled and Bennett Davis walked before pinch-hitter Mike Lobacz doubled off the fence in left, scoring both runners and pulling Elon within 6-2.
Back-to-back walks to Chase Austin and Dallas Tarleton began the bottom of the ninth before Neal Pritchard lined a single to left to plate Austin. With two away, Chris Dove grounded into a game-ending double play to give the Cats the victory.
Murphy finished the day 2-for-3 with two runs scored and five RBI to pace the Cats. Every run scored in the three-game series by Western came via the home run.
Pritchard went 2-for-4 with a RBI while Lobacz drove home two during a 1-for-2 performance.
Lewter (3-2) took the loss after being tagged for six runs on eight hits in 7.0 innings. The senior tied a career-high with eight strike outs.
Corey Martin (1-1) picked up his first win of the season after throwing a solid 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits while fanning five.
Elon will head to High Point on Tuesday night to take on the Panthers at 7 p.m. while Western Carolina will visit Clemson for a 7:05 start that same night.
The Citadel 12, Davidson 7
Charleston, S.C. ? Chris McGuiness and Kyle Jordan went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI while McGuiness hit his fifth home run of the season as The Citadel rallied for a 12-7 win over Davidson Sunday afternoon at Riley Park. The win seals the series sweep for the Bulldogs, the first for The Citadel against a conference opponent this season.
The Citadel (22-13, 10-5 Southern) was down 6-3 heading into the bottom of the third, but tied the game in the third, again in the fourth and exploded for five runs in the fifth to get the 12-7 win. Davidson (8-22, 1-11 SoCon) dropped their ninth straight and remains winless on the road this season (0-11).
Brett Bull (1-1) earned his first win of the season, entering in the fourth in relief of Asher Wojciechowski, as he pitched 2.0 innings and allowed one run on one hit. Wojciechowski started the game for the Bulldogs, allowing six runs on seven hits in 3.0 innings on the mound.
Matt Sliwiak (2-2) was credited with the loss for Davidson, being one of six pitchers to take the mound in the game for the Wildcats.
Chris McGuiness’ home run broke the game wide open in the fifth. Richard Jones led off the inning with a walk ? the first of two walks in the inning for Jones ? prior to McGuiness sending a two-run home run over the left field wall. That home run gave The Citadel their first lead of the game with a 9-7 advantage and the Bulldogs never looked back.
After a Matt Arnold strikeout, Matt Reifsnider took first after getting hit by a pitch before Jordan’s RBI double down the left field line send him home. Jordan was sent home three batters later as Bryan Altman ripped an RBI single to center. Sonny Meade followed with the same to score Chris Swauger, who took first base on an intentional walk.
The Citadel pitching staff held Davidson to one hit over the final five innings to prevent a Wildcat rally late in the game. The win moves The Citadel to a 64-19 record against Davidson all-time when playing in Charleston. The Wildcats have not beaten The Citadel in Charleston since 1998, losing 21 straight to the Bulldogs.
The Citadel heads to UNC Wilmington on Tuesday, April 15 for a 7 p.m. game against the 22nd-ranked Seahawks. UNC Wilmington lost to The Citadel on Feb. 27 in Charleston, 5-3, before winning 21 consecutive games to become nationally ranked. The Bulldogs will then head to Greenville, N.C. on Wednesday, April 16 for a 6 p.m. game at East Carolina. Davidson hosts Wake Forest at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Furman 9, College of Charleston 5
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Marcus Rose went 2-for-5 and drove in four runs and Kevin Gaid pitched effective baseball over six innings to propel Furman to a 9-5 win over College Charleston Sunday afternoon at Furman Stadium.
The victory completed the three-game sweep for Furman (20-13, 6-6 SoCon), winners of eight of its last 10 games, and marked the first time since 2003 the College of Charleston (23-12, 8-4 SoCon) had been swept in a league series. Saturday's 5-3 Paladin win halted the Cougars' consecutive conference road series winning streak at 21.
Rose delivered a two-run single to left field in a five-run Furman second inning and in the third added a two-run double, also to left field, to highlight a three-run rally that staked the Paladins to an 8-3 lead.
In earning his first collegiate victory, Gaid (1-1) kept the College of Charleston's high powered offense in check over his six innings of work, limiting CofC to three runs on four hits. The redshirt freshman right-hander pitched around four walks and two hit batsmen with the help of four strikeouts, including an inning ending called third strike on the Cougars' Matt Leeds in the third inning with the bases loaded.
In addition to Rose, Furman, which recorded 12 hits against CofC, got identical 3-for-4, RBI performances from Reese Wade and Brian Harrison.
Paladin senior center fielder Joey Rodgers, meanwhile, capped a brilliant week with a two-run double in the second inning and also scored two runs in Sunday's triumph. The Cincinnati, Ohio, product, who hit a pair of three-run home runs in Friday's 11-9 Paladin win and drove in nine runs in the series, went 8-for-16 (.500) at at the plate, homered three times, totaled 15 RBI, scored seven runs, and swiped three bases in five games this week, helping Furman to a 4-1 record.
The College of Charleston, which entered the Furman series sporting a .340 team batting average and the nation's top scoring team, averaging 11.2 runs per game, hit just .274 and scored 17 runs in the three losses to Paladins. The Cougars managed just eight hits on Sunday and stranded 10 baserunners.
Stuart Haywood and Jeremie Tice had two hits each for CofC, which got most of its offense from Brandon Sizemore, whose three-run home run in the third inning made it a 5-3 game before the Paladins answered with three of their own in the bottom of the frame.
Reese Wade's RBI single in the sixth extended the Paladin advantage to 9-3.
A Michael Harrinton solo home run and Haywood RBI single in the seventh off Paladin reliever Ian Parry cut the lead to 9-5, but the Cougars stranded a pair of base runners after Rose threw out CofC pinch hitter Joash Brodin on a grounder from behind second base to end the threat.
After Chris Newell worked a perfect eighth for Furman, the Paladins turned a sharp line drive off the bat of Clay McCord into a game ending double play to nail down the win.
Danny Meszaros (2-3) took the loss for the Collge of Charleston after lasting just 2 2/3 innings and yielding eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits and three walks. He struck out five.
Furman returns to action on Wednesday when it entertains UNC-Asheville for the second time this season at Furman Stadium in a 3:00 p.m. game. The Cougars visit Charleston Southern at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.
Furman Notes: The Paladins (6-6 in SoCon) have now completed series play against the top four teams in the SoCon standings: Elon, The Citadel, College of Charleston, and UNC Greensboro and have gone 5-1 in SoCon action over the last two weekends.
Appalachian State 5, Georgia Southern 3
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Georgia Southern committed five errors and stranded seven runners in scoring position, dropping the Southern Conference series finale to Appalachian State 5-3 Sunday afternoon (April 13) at J.I. Clements Stadium. The Eagles fell to 18-16 overall and 5-7 in the league.
App State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first. Jason Rook reached on a fielder’s choice and later scored on Isaac Harrow’s two-out single.
Andy Moye (Alpharetta/Alpharetta) settled down after the first, retiring 11-of-12 batters in a stretch from the second to the fifth inning. After two quick outs to start the fifth, GS committed four throwing errors during the next two at-bats, but only one run scored. Moye finished off the frame striking out Jason Altenhof.
The Eagles had a runner in scoring position with only one out in each of the first four innings but could not come up with the key hit. It took an error in the fifth to help tie the game.
With two outs, Ty Wright (Montrose/West Laurens) reached on an infield single then Harrow’s throw from third sailed past first baseman Brett Stewart which allowed him to advance. Phillip Porter (Marietta/Sprayberry) singled to right putting runners on the corners. Chris Shehan (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) hit a grounder to third. Harrow stepped back and tried making a back-handed play but the ball rolled under his glove and down the left field line, allowing both runners to score.
The Mountaineers regained the lead in the sixth, taking advantage of a base hit and error all with two outs. Moye walked the next two batters to load the bases, which prompted head coach Rodney Hennon to bring in Aaron Eubanks (Moultrie/Colquitt County). He got a groundout from Rand Smith to end the scoring threat.
David Rubinstein hit a leadoff homer in the eighth then App scored an insurance run in the ninth.
The Eagles attempted a ninth inning rally. With one out, David Richardson (Dahlonega/Lumpkin County) and Brian Pierce (Roswell/Roswell) walked. They advanced on a wild pitch. Jeremy Beckham (Griffin/Griffin) brought home one run on a RBI groundout. Wright stepped to the plate, representing the tying run, but he was retired on a popup to end the game.
Moye (2-4) turned in his best outing of the year, allowing just one earned run (three in all) in a career-long 5.2 innings pitched. He walked three and struck out three. Eubanks gave up two runs over the final 3.1 innings.
Wright, Porter and Beckham combined for six of the team’s eight hits.
Josh Dowdy (2-6) allowed two unearned runs on seven hits in six innings of work, striking out seven. Garrett Sherrill allowed one run without giving up a hit over the final two innings for his fourth save.
UNC Greensboro 9, Wofford 6
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? On Sunday afternoon, UNC Greensboro defeated the Wofford Terriers, 9-6, to record their first home sweep since the March 15-17 series against Princeton and their second Southern Conference sweep of the season. The Spartans began the three game series with a 3-2 victory on Friday evening and followed up with a 16-9 win on Saturday afternoon at UNCG Baseball Stadium.
UNCG trailed 6-3 after the fourth inning, but a hit batter and a two-run single by Pedro Leon knotted the game at 6-6 coming out of the seventh. UNCG took the three-run lead in the eighth following consecutive doubles by Tim Carrier and Sean Snell.
Despite allowing two Terrier home runs, the Spartans claimed the game three victory and moved to 22-12 on the season with a 8-4 conference mark. After dropping all three games in Greensboro, Wofford is now 19-16 overall with a league record of 4-8.
UNCG’s first run of the game came in by way of a sacrifice fly to centerfield by shortstop Matt Gaski in the first inning. Wofford answered back by putting up four runs between the second and the third. One of those runs was a solo home run out of right field by Jake Williams.
In the home half of the third, second baseman Tim Carrier singled to the Terrier shortstop as Gaski made his way down the third baseline and put the game at 4-2.
The Terrier lineup fought back in the fourth with their third two-run inning of the game. Shane Kirkley drove a two-run shot over the left field wall to put his team up 6-2.
In the fourth, a Gaski hit towards the Wofford second baseman brought left fielder Pedro Leon in from third and cut the lead down to 6-3.
After two scoreless innings, UNCG tied the game up at six apiece. With the bases loaded, Snell was struck by a pitch to bring Gaski across the plate. The Terriers immediately made a pitching change, but it was to no avail as left fielder Pedro Leon singled up the middle and brought in both Carrier and first baseman Ricky Orton.
The blue and gold assumed the lead in the eighth after holding the Terriers to just one hit in the top half of the inning. With runners on first and second, Carrier slammed a two-run double into left field just feet from the foul line. In the next at-bat, Snell sliced his own double out to right center to bring in Carrier and put the Spartans up, 9-3.
The Spartans gave the Terriers no chance to make a comeback in the ninth as they closed out the game with a 4-6-3 double play and a Rob Gilliam strikeout.
At the plate, UNCG was led by Tim Carrier who was 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and a double. Matt Gaski went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored. Wofford was led by Shane Kirkley and Jake Williams. Both were 2-for-4 with a home run.
UNCG reliever Rob Gilliam (2-3) is credited with the win after coming to the mound in the seventh inning. In his three innings of work, he allowed just two Terrier hits. Chip Hunt (2-2) took the loss for Wofford after allowing the Spartans to take the lead in the eighth.
Join the Spartans on Tuesday evening at UNCG Baseball Stadium as they take on the North Carolina Tar Heels for a 6pm non-conference game. Wofford hosts UNC Asheville Tuesday at 6 p.m.