SoCon Baseball Recaps for May 9, 2008
APPALACHIAN 5, FURMAN 0
BOONE, N.C. - Matt Andress (Charlotte, N.C./South Mecklenburg) tossed his first-career shutout and Wes Hobson (Winston-Salem, N.C./North Forsyth) snapped a scoreless tie with a two-run triple in the eighth inning to propel Appalachian State University baseball to a thrilling 5-0 win over first-place Furman on Friday evening at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium. Appalachian's triumph ended Furman's school-record 13-game Southern Conference winning streak.
Andress earned his eighth win of the season by outdueling Furman starter Jay Jackson, who entered the game leading the SoCon in wins (9), earned run average (2.59) and opposing batting average (.210). The aces matched each other pitch-for-pitch until the bottom of the eighth inning when ASU exploded for five runs off the Paladins' likely high-round selection in next month's Major League Baseball Draft.
Senior Adam Beasley (Hendersonville, N.C./West Henderson) opened the eighth with a bloop single to shallow right center field off Jackson. After a sacrifice bunt and a walk, Hobson drove in the first two runs of the game with a triple off the wall in right center field. Jackson then intentionally walked David Rubinstein (Charlotte, N.C./South Mecklenburg) and paid for it when Isaac Harrow (Hickory, N.C./Hickory) smashed a 420-plus-foot home run to straightaway center field that made it 5-0.
Jackson's very next pitch was his last of the evening, as Jason Rook (Greensboro, N.C./Western Guilford) chased the right-hander from the game with a double down the left field line. In all, he allowed five runs on seven hits in 7.1 innings of work and was saddled with only his second loss of the season and his first since March 28.
Buoyed by the five-run eighth, Andress completed the masterpiece by retiring three of the four batters he faced in the ninth. In all, the right-handed sophomore needed just 102 pitches to whitewash the Paladins. He scattered six hits over nine innings and struck out six while not walking a batter for his fourth-consecutive win. He has gone eight or more innings in three of those four triumphs.
With the victory, Appalachian (27-23, 11-11 SoCon) moved into sixth place in the SoCon standings, a half- game ahead of The Citadel (25-24, 12-13 SoCon), an 11-3 loser at home to Western Carolina on Friday night. The battle for sixth place is a critical one, as the seventh- through 10th-place teams in the regular-season standings must participate in a single-elimination "play-in" game to earn a spot in the eight-team, double-elimination field for the 2008 Southern Conference Tournament, which begins on May 20 in Charleston, S.C.
In addition to having its 13-game conference winning streak broken, Furman (29-18, 15-7 SoCon) dropped behind Elon (38-16, 19-8 SoCon) for first place in the SoCon standings.
The Mountaineers and Paladins continue their three-game series on Saturday evening with a 7 p.m. contest at Smith Stadium.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 14, UNC GREENSBORO 2
STATESBORO, GA. ? A.J. Wirnsberger (Tuscaloosa, AL/Paul Bear Bryant) and Chris Shehan (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) combined for nine RBI in support of Kyle Kamppi’s (Savannah/Benedictine Academy) career-best performance as Georgia Southern defeated UNC Greensboro 14-2 Friday night (May 9) at J.I. Clements Stadium. The Eagles improved to 29-20 overall and 13-9 in the Southern Conference.
Wirnsberger recorded his fourth career 2-home run game and Shehan added five RBI, including a home run of his own. Kamppi pitched a team season-high eight innings, bouncing back after the Spartans (30-21, 14-8) took an early lead.
During the second at-bat of the game Matt Gaski hit a solo home run. It didn’t take Georgia Southern very long to take the lead and Kamppi made it hold up.
Ty Wright (Montrose/West Laurens) worked the count full then drew a leadoff walk. Phillip Porter (Marietta/Sprayberry) executed a hit-and-run to put runners on the corners. Shehan hammered a 1-2 pitch off the trees in right field. He briefly took over the team lead hitting number 18 this year.
Griffin Benedict (Dunwoody/St. Pius) followed with his 11th homer of the season. Two batters later Wirnsberger rejoined Shehan for the team lead, hitting his 18th homer of the year for a 5-1 lead.
The Eagles plated another five runs in the second. Wright hit a RBI double, Shehan lined a RBI single then Wirnsberger hit his second home run in as many innings. A 3-run shot by the sophomore third baseman gave the Eagles a 10-1 advantage.
Wright and Porter hit back-to-back doubles with two down in the third to make it a 10-run game. The Eagles scored three more runs in the fifth without needing a base hit.
David Richardson (Dahlonega/Lumpkin County), who earlier in the game extended his hitting streak to 15 games, was hit by a pitch. Jeremy Beckham (Griffin/Griffin) walked then Wright reached on a fielder’s choice as second baseman Tim Carrier bobbled the grounder to load the bases. Porter walked then during Shehan’s at-bat James White uncorked a wild pitch to bring home another run. Shehan capped off the scoring on a RBI groundout to make it 14-1.
Ricky Orton greeted relief pitcher Michael Hester (Evans/Greenbrier) in the ninth with a solo home run for the final margin.
Kamppi, making his first career Friday night start as an Eagle, improved to 5-3 allowing the one run on four hits. He struck out six and walked two.
“The key tonight was just working ahead in the counts, being aggressive and letting my defense work. I really wanted to go after the hitters tonight, and with that big of a lead it makes me want to work that much harder to get ahead in the count and keep putting zeros on the scoreboard,” said Kamppi. “This is a great win for us. The remaining conference games we have are against teams ahead of us in the standings, so really we control our future.”
Wirnsberger now has 19 home runs this year and Shehan is right behind with 18, the most by an Eagle since Tommy Peterman led the country with 26 homers during the 1996 campaign. They both tallied two hits apiece.
Porter finished with a team-high three hits. Wright added two hits and scored four runs as the first three batters combined for eight runs and eight RBI. The Eagles out-hit UNCG 13-5.
UNCG starter Rob Gilliam (3-4) gave up 10 runs on nine hits in 1.2 innings. All five outs he recorded were on a strikeout. Orton finished with two of the team’s five hits.
Game two of the series is scheduled for 6 p.m. Another edition of the Clements Tailgate will take place prior to the start of the game with free food for the fans in attendance.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 10, WOFFORD 7
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. -- Michael Harrington homered twice and Brandon Sizemore broke an eighth inning tie with a three-run homer as the College of Charleston rallied for a 10-7 win over Wofford in the opener of a three-game Southern Conference series before 532 at Patriots Point Stadium on Friday.
With the win, the Cougars improved to 32-17 overall and 14-8 in league play. The Terriers fell to 21-30 and 4-18. The two schools conclude the series with a doubleheader at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Tied at 6-all entering the bottom of the eighth, Charleston's Mike Hentz walked and eventually moved to second when Clay McCord walked. Sizemore followed with his 15th homer of the season, a line shot to right that gave the Cougars a 9-6 advantage.
The Cougars added an insurance run in the inning when Harrington singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored when Jeremie Tice doubled to right for a 10-6 Charleston lead.
The Terriers built a 6-3 seventh inning lead. Sterling Dye homered on the game's first pitch and Jake Williams scored on a passed ball in the second inning to give the Terriers a 2-0 lead.
Harrington, who became just the 10th player in SoCon history to collected at least 21 homers in a season, belted a two-run homer to right in the third inning that tied the game at 2.
Shane Kirkley's RBI single and an error that allowed Mike Gilmartin to score gave Wofford a 4-2 advantage in the fifth inning. Harrington's 21st homer of the season was a two-out, solo homer to right in the fifth that cut Wofford's lead to 4-3.
Kirkley's two-out, two-run double to left in the sixth scored Kyle Behrendt and Dye to give the Terriers a 6-3 lead.
Danny Meszaros (4-3) picked up the win allowing a run with two strikeouts over one inning of work. Michael Kohn struck out the only batter he faced and earned his second save of the season. Ben Austin (4-6) suffered the loss in relief.
WESTERN CAROLINA 11, THE CITADEL 3
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Western Carolina junior Mike Tavernier scattered six base hits while limiting The Citadel to three runs as the Catamount offense pounded out 18 base hits in an 11-3 victory in game one of its Southern Conference series Friday night under the lights at Riley Park. WCU used a five-run fifth inning to seize control of the game to improve to 25-24 overall, 11-11 in conference play, stretching its current winning streak to a season-high tying six games.
Tavernier's career-best effort marks just the fourth, nine-inning complete game thrown by a SoCon pitcher this season. The right-hander from Clearwater, Fla., tied his career-high with nine strikeouts against two walks in improving to 4-3 on the season.
Due to the threat of impending inclement weather in the Lowcountry on Sunday, officials at The Citadel have decided to move the final game of the three-game series to Saturday evening making it a double-header. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 pm with game three slated for 30 minutes after the first game of the twin bill.
Senior Barrett Shaft led five Catamounts with multiple-hit games posting his third-consecutive, four-hit outing at 4-for-6 with three singles and a double. Sophomore Nick Liles finished 3-for-6 with a double and two RBI, while classmate Tyler Kirkpatrick was 3-for-5 with three singles. Senior Blake Murphy and sophomore Stephen Notaro each finished with two hits in the win.
Trailing 2-1 after The Citadel erased Western's early one-run advantage, the Catamounts exploded for five runs in the top of the fifth inning to take control of the game. Four-consecutive singles including an RBI drive up the middle by Shaft and a run-producing single to left center by Murphy pushed WCU ahead, 3-2. With the senior duo aboard, junior transfer J.C. Lyons belted his 10th home run of the year to left center to cap the rally, handing the Catamounts a 6-2 advantage.
In the top of the seventh, Western stretched its lead with a three-spot including a two-RBI double down the left field line by Liles. Next batter, Notaro, singled through the left side to plate the third run, giving the Cats a 9-3 advantage.
The Catamounts concluded scoring with two runs in the top of the eighth as sophomore Dylan de Graaf grounded out to drive in Lyons with Kirkpatrick doubling and coming home from third on a balk by Citadel reliever Timmy Martin.
Bulldog starter Matt Crim (5-6) was saddled with the loss after being chased in the fifth inning, facing five batters without recording an out. He worked 4.0 innings and allowed six runs on 10 base hits. Third baseman Matt Arnold led The Citadel with a 2-for-3 outing with a home run and two RBI.