SoCon Baseball Recaps for May 15, 2008
UNC GREENSBORO 9, DAVIDSON 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? A dual RBI single by Ricky Orton sparked a four-run rally for UNC Greensboro in the third. After giving up just one run in the seventh, the Spartans broke a five game losing streak with a 9-1, Southern Conference victory over Davidson, Thursday afternoon at UNCG Baseball Stadium.
UNCG will go into the evening’s finale with an overall record of 31-24 and are now 15-11 in the conference. Davidson dropped to 11-37 overall with a 3-23 league mark.
Mound starter Greg Martin (7-3) notched his seventh win of the season after throwing for 7.0 innings. While on the mound, the junior from Chapel Hill, NC retired a team high seven batters and gave up just three hits. Davidson’s Zac Long (1-7) took the loss after giving up all four runs during UNCG’s third inning rally.
At the plate, the Spartan sticks were led by sophomore centerfielder Corey Overholtzer who was 2-for-4 with three RBI and a double that bounded off of the centerfield wall. Senior designated hitter Greg Feltes set a new UNCG standard after getting hit by a pitch in three consecutive at-bats. He leads UNCG after being hit by 35 pitches. Davidson was led by Matt Webb who hit 2-for-4 with a run. He was the only Wildcat to garner more than a single hit.
After two and a half scoreless innings, the Spartans laid out their first attack on the Wildcats. A pair of singles and a hit batter put runners on the bases for senior first baseman Ricky Orton. Orton got a hold of a full count and drove it up the middle to bring around both Ray Quinones and Matt Gaski. In the next at-bat, senior second baseman singled up the middle to allowed Greg Feltes to come in from third. Orton scored the inning’s final run off of a sacrifice fly to left field.
UNCG upped their lead to 5-0 as junior Pedro Leon was plated off of a wild pitch in the sixth.
The Wildcats put their first scratch on the board in the seventh as Webb scored off of a Danny Weiss double to center field.
The Spartans increased their advantage by four more with a pair of runs in the seventh and the eighth inning. Both runs in the seventh were drove in off of a left center double by Leon and Overholtzer brought in both in the eighth with a single through the right side.
Friday's game is slated for 7pm. Prior to the finale first pitch, the ball club will take a moment to recognize its 10 senior student-athletes.
2008 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament action will get underway Tuesday, May 20 in Charleston, SC.
THE CITADEL 3, PRESBYTERIAN 2
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Sonny Meade hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth as Chris Swauger scored the winning run in the Bulldogs’ 3-2 win over Presbyterian Thursday afternoon in front of 714 at Riley Park.
Swauger scored the winning run in the eighth, as well as the tying run in the third when he hit a two-run home run over the right field fence. Swauger’s home run was one of The Citadel’s seven hits in the ballgame. The Bulldogs (26-27) committed three errors in the game.
Presbyterian (13-38) scored two runs on 10 hits but the Blue Hose only recorded four hits in the final six innings of the game.
Asher Wojciechowski (5-1) recorded his first win since March 30 as he pitched 5.0 innings in relief, holding the Blue Hose scoreless and only allowing three hits while striking out seven. Matt Reifsnider (8) earned his first save since March 30.
Mitchell Odom (1-6) took the loss for Presbyterian after surrendering Swauger’s run in the eighth.
Presbyterian had a 2-0 lead after single run innings in the second and third before Swauger’s two-run home run home run tied the game, a hit that broke the senior’s career-long four-game hitless streak.
The Citadel will face Presbyterian in the second game of the three-game series on Friday, May 16 with a new start time set at 1 p.m. The game has been moved up due to possible inclement weather in the Charleston area on Friday.
The Citadel will host Southern Conference Tournament for the 19th consecutive year starting May 20 at Riley Park. By virtue of UNC Greensboro’s 9-1 win over Davidson, Wofford clinched the No. 9 seed and will face the eighth-seeded Bulldogs on Tuesday, May 20 at 3:30 p.m. in a single-elimination opening round game.