SoCon Baseball Recaps for April 4, 2008
ELON 9, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 6
ELON, N.C. -- Cory Harrilchak went 4-for-5 with a run scored, two RBI and an inside-the-park home run to lead the Elon Phoenix to a 9-6 Southern Conference baseball victory over the Georgia Southern Eagles from Latham Park on Friday afternoon. The return to Latham Park ended a 10-game road swing for Elon who improved to 23-7 overall and 8-2 in SoCon action. The Eagles dropped to 16-12, 4-3.
Georgia Southern jumped on top in the first inning when Griffin Benedict singled home Chris Shehan who had doubled previously.
The Phoenix answered right back with a three-spot in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Donny Jobe walked and stole second before advancing to third on a Bennett Davis single. Ryan Adams' single to right tied the game by scoring Jobe and advancing Davis to third. A RBI ground out by Chase Austin put Elon on top as Davis scampered home while Adams moved to second. After a wild pitch, Harrilchak delivered a RBI single to center, giving Elon a 3-0 lead.
A four-run second pulled the Eagles back in front. Brian Pierce reached on an Elon error with one out to get things going for Georgia Southern. Jeremy Beckham singled to center and Ty Wright was hit by a pitch to load the bases. David Richardson drew a 3-2 walk to force home Pierce. Shehan followed by lacing a double to left to knock in Beckham and even the game up at 3-3. Benedict drilled the first pitch he saw for a double to score both Wright and Richardson to put the Eagles on top 5-3.
Elon knotted the game back up at 5-5 in the third inning thanks to a sacrifice fly from Neal Pritchard and a RBI single off the bat of Dallas Tarleton.
The Phoenix climbed on top for good in the fifth inning, scoring twice. Harrilchak drove a ball deep to rightfield that hit off the wall. The Eagle outfielder could not find the ball and Harrilchak raced around the bases for an inside-the-park homer, his second home run of the year. With two down, Tarleton singled to right and stole second. Harry Austin's single up the middle plated Tarleton with the go-ahead tally.
Georgia Southern got one back in the sixth when Shehan blasted his 11th homer of the season, this one clearing the fence in right-center.
Single runs by the Phoenix in both the seventh and eighth innings provided the final score. Harry Austin drove home one in the seventh while Mike Lobacz doubled home one in the eighth.
Despite giving up six runs, five of which were earned, in 6.0 innings Elon ace Steven Hensley picked up the win to improve to 6-0 on the year. The win was the 20th of the junior's career, moving him into a tie for 10th on Elon's career list. Hensley gave up eight hits, but only walked one while striking out seven. He now has 256 career K's, 18 shy of Matt Garner's school-record of 274 set from 2001-04.
Three Phoenix freshmen hurlers came on to slam the door on the Eagles. The trio of Jared Kernodle, Ken Ferrer and Thomas Girdwood combined to surrender just one hit and one walk to go along with four strike outs in 3.0 innings. Girdwood's perfect ninth earned him his seventh save of the season, already good enough to rank him in a tie for eighth on the program's single-season list and in a tie for eighth on the school's career chart.
Eagle starter Drew Murray fell to 3-1 after allowing seven runs on nine hits in 4.2 innings of work.
Along with Harrilchak, Elon's offense saw Harry Austin go 3-for-4 with two RBI, extending his hitting streak to a career-best eight games. Tarleton and Adams each added 2-for-4 outings. Elon's seven through nine hitters combined to go 10-for-16 with three runs scored and six RBI.
Shehan finished the game a triple shy of the cycle, going 4-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. Benedict posted a 2-for-4, three-RBI game for the Eagles.
The two teams are scheduled to play game two of this three-game SoCon set at 7 p.m. on Saturday night from Latham Park. Check elonphoenix.com or call the Elon Weather Line at 336-278-7660, to check on any possible weather-related schedule changes.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 16, APPALACHIAN STATE 13
BOONE, N.C. - College of Charleston scored 10 runs in the fifth inning and five more in the sixth to erase Appalachian State University baseball's six-run lead and defeat the Mountaineers, 16-13, on Friday afternoon at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
Appalachian (15-15, 1-6 SoCon) jumped out to a 6-0 lead on the strength of a five-run fourth inning. ASU sent nine batters to the plate in the five-run fourth and designated hitter Brett Stewart (Niceville, Fla./Niceville) provided the big blow, a three-run home run to left center field.
However, College of Charleston (20-9, 6-1 SoCon), the nation's leader in six offensive categories, sent 24 hitters to the plate over the next two stanzas en route to turning the 6-0 Mountaineer lead into a 15-6 deficit. The Apps helped Charleston's cause over the two-inning explosion by committing three errors, issuing three walks, hitting a batter and committing a balk that erased an inning-ending double play in the sixth.
The Mountaineers scored six runs and brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning, but C of C closer Jesse Simpson quelled the rally with an inning-ending strikeout that sent the game to the ninth at 15-12.
The teams traded solo home runs in the ninth and Appalachian once again brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the frame, but the game ended with two ASU runners stranded on base for the second inning in a row.
In all, the Mountaineers out-hit the Cougars, 17-15, but left 10 men on base, compared to five for C of C. The Apps also committed the three costly errors while the Cougars made just one fielding miscue.
In addition to homers from Stewart and Rand Smith (Bolivia, N.C./South Brunswick), Appalachian's 17- hit attack was paced by David Rubinstein (Charlotte, N.C./South Mecklenburg), who extended his ASU season-best hitting streak to 14 games with a 3-for-6, three-RBI performance. Charleston's Jeremie Tice led all players with four RBI.
The two teams continue their three-game Southern Conference series on Saturday with a 3 p.m. contest at Smith Stadium.
UNC GREENSBORO-FURMAN GAME SUSPENDED
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? After eight and a half innings of play, Friday night’s game between UNC Greensboro and Furman has been suspended due to heavy rains. Weather permitting, the game will be resumed at a time to be determined on Saturday.
Prior to the suspension, the Paladins were leading the Spartans, 5-2.
Furman took an opening inning, 2-0 lead following a sacrifice fly and a run scored off of a bases loaded walk. Greg Felts smacked a solo home run over the left center fence to put the score at 2-1.
In the home half of the third, first basemen Ricky Orton singled into right field to plate shortstop Matt Gaski and knot the game at 2-2.
The Paladins jumped out in front again in the top of the sixth inning with a 4-2 lead. Matt Hemingway came in off of a groundout to shortstop and Rob Fondu rounded home after a single to centerfield by Connor Lind.
In the following inning, an RBI double by Fondu put Furman out even further with a 5-2 advantage.
The game was suspended in the bottom half of the eighth inning with Furman still holding the 5-2 advantage and UNCG at the plate. When the decision was made, the Spartans had runners on first and third with one out and Feltes at the plate.
Due to the uncertainty of when Friday night’s game will resume, fans are encouraged to log onto UNCGSpartans.com for rain delay updates and start times.