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Game 4: #4 Georgia Southern 21, #5 UNC Greensboro 9
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Georgia Southern defeated UNC Greensboro, 21-9, in a back-and-forth affair before 522 fans in the opening round of the Bennett Hofford Southern Conference Championship at Joseph P. Riley Jr, Park in Charleston, S.C.
No. 4 seed Georgia Southern (33-23) exploded for six runs in the third inning. Jeremiah Parker launched a three-run home run to right center to open the scoring. Jeremy Beckham singled up the middle to drive in two runs and Ty Wright’s sacrifice fly added another run for the Eagles.
No. 5 seed UNC Greensboro (31-26) responded by scoring four runs in the fourth inning on a three-run homer by Sean Snell and Ray Quinones doubled in Cory Overholtzer for another run.
Georgia Southern scored a run in the bottom of the fourth frame when Parker belted his second home run of the game. UNC Greensboro struck for three runs to tie the game, 7-7, on a two-run homer by Greg Feltes and Overholtzer drove in Tim Carrier.
The Spartans added a run in the sixth inning when Feltes drove in Pedro Leon. But the Eagles added four runs on five hits in the bottom of the frame to take an 11-8 lead.
Both teams added runs in the seventh when UNC Greensboro scored a run in the top half of the inning and the Eagles scored seven times in the bottom of the frame. Quinones singled in Snell to account for UNC Greensboro’s run. The Eagles added seven runs on six hits and three walks and a UNC Greensboro error.
Georgia Southern tallied three runs on four hits in the bottom of the eighth inning to close out the game’s scoring.
In the 25-year history of the Southern Conference Championship, a team has scored 20 or more runs in a game on only four occasions --- and two of those were tonight. Elon downed Wofford, 21-12 earlier in the evening.
Parker had four hits and drove in five for the Eagles while Matt Gaski, Snell and Quinones each had two hits for the Spartans.
Aaron Eubanks earned the win in relief. He pitched 2.2 innings to improve his record to 6-1. UNC Greensboro’s Wes McCall pitched 1.1 innings in relief and was tagged with the loss. His record fell to 1-8.
Georgia Southern will take on No. 1 seed Elon on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. UNC Greensboro will face No. 9 Wofford at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday.
Game 3: #1 Elon 21, #9 Wofford 12
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No. 1 seed Elon outscored No.9 Wofford, 21-12, in the opening round of the Bennett Hofford Southern Conference Championship before 973 fans at Joseph P. Riley Park in Charleston, S.C.
Elon (40-16) scored three runs in the first inning on Dallas Tarleton’s two-out home run to leftfield. The Phoenix added another run in the second inning before Wofford (24-34) scored two runs on Shane Kirkley’s double to left center.
The Phoenix added two more runs in the fifth inning to take a 6-2 lead.
Elon set a Southern Conference Championship record by exploding for 15 runs on 10 hits in the sixth inning to put the game out of reach. At one point, the Phoenix had 11 straight batters reach base. Donny Jobe batted three times in the inning reaching on an error and a single before striking out. He scored twice in the inning.
"Offensively, we were able to put up the numbers we needed for the victory," said Elon coach Mike Kennedy.
In the seventh inning, Wofford tallied six runs on five hits to cut the deficit to 21-8. The Terriers continued to whittle away at the lead, scoring four more runs in the eighth inning making the score, 21-12.
Elon had 17 hits and were led by Chris Dove, who had three hits and five RBI, and Mike Lobacz, who had three hits and three RBI. Steven Hensley (10-1) pitched 6.0 innings yielding four hits while striking out seven to earn the win.
Kyle Behrendt, Michael Gilmartin, Jake Williams and Kirkley each had two hits for the Terriers and Kirkley had four RBIs. John Cornely (0-8) pitched 5.0 innings allowing seven hits and six runs and took the loss.
Elon will take on the winner of the Georgia Southern-UNC Greensboro game on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. Wofford will play the loser of the Georgia Southern-UNC Greensboro game on Thursday at 1:00 p.m.