Appalachian State 11, Gardner-Webb 5
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. ? Appalachian State University baseball bounced back from its first loss of the year on Tuesday night to hammer Gardner-Webb, 11-5, on Wednesday afternoon at Masters Field.
Appalachian (4-1), which fell into an early 9-0 hole in Tuesday’s 15-3 setback at Wake Forest, jumped out to leads of 7-0 and 11-1 en route to the easy win over GWU.
Third baseman Isaac Harrow led the way with a 4-for-5, seven-RBI performance, highlighted by a second-inning grand slam that gave ASU its early 7-0 advantage. He added RBI doubles in the first and fourth innings and an RBI single in the fifth to account for his career-best seven runs driven in.
Second baseman Wes Hobson and catcher Jeremy Dowdy chipped in with two hits apiece and first baseman David Towarnicky drove in two to help pace the Mountaineers’ 11-run, 14-hit effort.
Making his first career start, true freshman Andrew Webster limited Gardner-Webb (3-3) to a single run on three hits over five innings of work. He struck out five en route to his second win in as many collegiate appearances.
The Apps were buoyed by another impressive performance from its bullpen. Four Mountaineer relievers combined to limit the Bulldogs to no earned runs on three hits over the final four stanzas. All four of the ?Dogs runs in the sixth were unearned, thanks to one of the Mountaineers’ two errors on the afternoon.
Off to just its sixth 4-1 start in the past 20 seasons, Appalachian opens the true home portion of its schedule this weekend with a mammoth early-season Southern Conference series versus defending league champion Elon. Game times at recently completed Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium are set for 3 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
No. 8 Georgia Tech 5, Georgia Southern 3
STATESBORO, Ga. ? The Eagles could not overcome a two-run first inning from the Yellow Jackets as Georgia Southern dropped its first decision of 2009 to No. 8 Georgia Tech, 5-3, Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 25) at J.I. Clements Stadium. The loss evened the series at 1-1 as both teams now boast identical 4-1 records.
Georgia Tech struck first with a two-out two-run single off the bat of Jason Haniger, scoring Luke Murton and Matt Skole in the top of the first inning.
The Eagles answered in the bottom of the first when Matt Miller opened the inning with a single up the middle. Miller advanced to second on a single from Phillip Porter, reached third on a A.J. Wirnsberger fly to right and scored on a Griffin Benedict one-out RBI single, pushing the score to 2-1.
The Yellow Jackets called again in the top of the third, adding two runs off a Skole two-run homer to right center, helping lead Georgia Tech to a 4-1 lead.
The Eagles responded in the bottom of the third after Kevin Bowles reached on a lead-off walk. An error by the catcher advanced Bowles to second before Miller’s second single of the game put him on third. Porter drove in his lone RBI of the afternoon with a single through the right side, narrowing the score to 4-2.
Skole connected on his third RBI of the afternoon in the fifth with a run-scoring double, making it a 5-2 ballgame. The Eagles threatened the Yellow Jackets in the bottom of the seventh when junior Bowles nailed a two-out homer to left field forcing Zach Brewster come on in relief of Kevin Jacob with the score 5-3. Brewster ended the threat with a Miller third-out fly out.
Dexter Bobo closed the game for the Eagles coming in with two on in the top of the ninth. Bobo immediately forced an easy out from Murton followed by a fly out to left field and an inning closing Jason Haniger fielder’s choice with Thomas Nichols forced out at third on the play, leaving two runners on base.
Despite attempts to stage a comeback, Georgia Tech closed out the final two innings three-up, three-down. Mark Pope closed the game for the Yellow Jackets, earning his first career save.
Bowles went 2-for-3 in the game with his first home run of his career and a RBI. Miller and Porter both closed out the game going 2-for-4.
Georgia Southern will continue this 12-game season-opening homestand when they welcome Coppin State for a three-game series this weekend. Game times are set for Friday at 7 p.m., 2:30 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday at J.I. Clements Stadium.
No. 19 Clemson 8, Wofford 2
CLEMSON, S.C. ? The Wofford College baseball team matched Clemson with nine hits, but was defeated 8-2 by the Tigers on Wednesday afternoon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The game was tied at 1-1 after five innings, but three runs by the Tigers in the bottom of the eighth put the game away.
Wofford is now 2-3 on the season, while Clemson is 4-0 overall. The Terriers were led by Alex Lee with two hits and Jake Williams with two hits and an RBI. The Tigers, who are ranked #19 by Baseball America, were led by Ben Paulsen with three hits and two RBIs.
The Terriers opened the game with singles from Michael Gilmartin and Kyle Behrendt in the top of the first and had Jake Williams and James Foster reach base in the top of the second.
In the bottom of the third, a single from Ben Paulsen scored Addison Johnson from second base to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Wofford answered in the top of the fourth when James Foster reached on a walk. Konstantine Diamaduros then hit a stand-up triple that was barely inside the first base bag and went down the right field line to score Foster.
Neither team scored in the fifth, but in the bottom of the sixth the Tigers had runners at first and second with one out. Jeff Schaus then hit a double down the right line to score both runners for a 3-1 lead.
The Tigers added to the lead in the bottom of the seventh when a double from Ben Paulsen scored Mike Freeman. A sacrifice fly from Kyle Parker scored Paulsen, who was at third after a wild pitch to give Clemson a 5-1 advantage.
Wofford opened the top of the eighth with a double to left field by Josh McKinney, who advanced to third on a passed ball. Jake Williams hit a single to score McKinney. Mac Doyle came in and notched a single as a pinch hitter with two outs, but the Terriers stranded both runners and were down 5-2.
Clemson had a runner on base when John Nestor hit a home run over the left fence. On the next pitch, Matt Sanders hit one over the left fence as well, giving the Tigers an 8-2 lead after eight innings. Graham Stoneburner came in for Clemson in the top of the ninth and struck out the side to end the game.
For Wofford, freshman Bobby DeLuria went three innings in his first career start and allowed one run on three hits. J.D. Osborne threw an inning with one strikeout and no hits. Bobby Streisel had three strikeouts and one hit in the fifth inning. Anthony Rowland (0-1) went a third of an inning with two hits and two runs allowed. Drew Sheridan went 1.2 innings with one hit, two runs and a strikeout. John Cornely pitched in the eighth and gave up three runs on two hits with one strikeout.
Clemson starter Kevin Brady went 4.2 innings and allowed six hits and one run with three strikeouts. Casey Harman (1-0) threw 1.1 innings with two strikeouts and no hits. Craig Gullickson went an inning and recorded two strikeouts without a hit allowed. Scott Weismann went 0.2 innings with three hits and a run allowed. Ryan Hinson got a strikeout, while Graham Stoneburner struck out three to close the ninth.
The Terriers will be home on Thursday night for a 7:00 pm contest against USC Upstate. This weekend, Wofford will host Xavier for a four-game series. The Musketeers won the Atlantic 10 regular season title last season.
North Carolina State 3, Elon 1
ELON, N.C. ? The Elon Phoenix opened its 2009 home season by out-hitting the North Carolina State Wolfpack by a 6-3 margin, but found itself on the short side of a 3-1 final score in non-league baseball action from Latham Park on Wednesday night. Elon dropped to 2-2 on the year while NC State upped its mark to 3-2.
The Phoenix is now 7-3 in home openers since moving to NCAA Division I play. Two of those three defeats have been at the hands of the Wolfpack.
State started the scoring in the second when Dallas Poulk singled home Pratt Maynard who had reached as part of back-to-back walks to start the frame.
The Wolfpack received walks to Drew Martin and Brian Bello to begin the top of the fifth. After a Kyle Wilson sacrifice bunt moved both runners up a bag, Bobby Kennedy got Devon Cartwright to pop out to the catcher. With two down, Drew Poulk bounced a ball up the middle to plate both runners to put State on top 3-0.
Elon threatened in the sixth when Cory Harrilchak singled, extending his streak of reaching base safely to 37 games, and Pat Irvine walked to start the inning. Jake Buchanan then retired Bennett Davis, Mike Melillo and Chase Austin to end any chance of the Phoenix pushing across a run.
The Phoenix repeated the task in the seventh when Mike Lobacz drew a walk and Justin Hilt looped a single to right before Dallas Tarleton, Neal Pritchard and Harrilchak were set down.
Elon finally got on the board when Davis ripped a ball over the wall in left-center for his second home run of the year.
Davis finished the day 2-for-4, the lone Elon hitter with more than one basehit on the day. Austin saw his career-best 18-game hitting streak come to an end following an 0-for-4 performance. The Phoenix stranded eight runners.
Drew Poulk had two of State's four hits and drove in two, while his cousin Dallas Poulk drove home the other run with a 1-for-4 day. All three of the Wolfpack runs reached base via a walk.
Kennedy (0-1) went 5.0 innings and struck out four, but walked five. He was charged with all three runs. The Phoenix bullpen was dominant, striking out nine of the 11 hitters the five relievers faced. The bullpen did not allow a hit or a walk.
Buchanan (1-0) was the winner after 6.0 shutout innings of work for the Wolfpack. He allowed a walk and four hits while fanning seven. Sam Brown earned his first save with 2.2 innings of work out of the pen. Brown gave up the one run and one hit, but struck out four.
Elon opens Southern Conference play this weekend by travelling to Boone, N.C. to take on the Appalachian State Mountaineers in a three-game series beginning Friday at 3 p.m.
Campbell 17, UNC Greensboro 3
BUIES CREEK, N.C. ? Despite jumping out to an early lead, Campbell used three big innings to defeat UNC Greensboro, 17-3, on Wednesday night at Taylor Field.
Zach Johnson went 2-3 from the plate with three RBI and a home run to help pace the Camels (4-0) and Josh Fish allowed just three runs in six innings to pick up the win.
Rob Gilliam picked up the loss for the Spartans (0-4) after allowing six earned runs in four innings of work. Ray Quinones was the top batter for UNCG after going 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
The Spartans jumped out to an early 2-0 lead to start the game in the top of the first. Drew Gehringer led off the game with a walk and Corey Overholtzer advanced him to third on a single through the right side. Gehringer put the first run of the game on the board after scoring on a Ray Quinones fielder’s choice. Quinones advanced to third on a Trevor Edwards single and scored on an Ed Jayjack fly ball to left field for the 2-0 advantage.
The Camels would quickly respond back with four runs in the bottom half of the first to take the lead for good. After a Chris Bangi groundout to lead off the inning, Campbell used a single, walk and another single to quickly load the bases. Matt Keen got the Camels on the board after he reached on an error to make the score 2-1.
Back-to-back singles by Johnson and Josh Holskey scored three more runs to make the score 4-2 after the first.
Campbell made the score 6-2 in favor of the home side after Johnson’s two-run home run in the third inning. After a groundout to lead off the inning, Keen singled through the left side of the infield to reach base. Johnson followed that with his third home run of the season over the left field wall.
UNCG got back on the board in the top of the fourth inning after Michael Wall lead off the inning with a single up the middle. He advanced to second on a stolen base and then moved over to third on a passed ball. Wall pulled the Spartans within 6-3 after scoring on a Brent O’Berry groundout.
The Camels scored five more in the bottom of the fifth inning for their second big inning of the evening. After Zach Johnson reached on an error, Campbell hit three consecutive singles before Bangi hit a two-run double down the right field line to make the score 10-3.
Campbell followed that inning up with six more runs in the sixth inning to cap off the scoring for the night.
UNCG returns to the diamond on Friday for a three game series this weekend against Princeton. Friday’s game is scheduled for a 4 pm first pitch.