Western Carolina 9, No. 24 Southern California 3
Los Angeles, Calif. ? Junior Brent Greer went 3-for-3 while sophomore Tyler Kirkpatrick had a 3-for-5 day at the plate with two RBI as Western Carolina beat the No. 24 USC Trojans, 9-3, Sunday to win the nonconference series at Dedeaux Field. True freshman Ross Heffley added two doubles for the Catamounts to finish with five hits in the series, four for extra bases.
Senior Corey Martin earned the win in his start for WCU (5-1), throwing five scoreless innings and allowing four hits with five walks and one strikeout. Sophomore Matt Benedict and junior Daniel Ottone had a scoreless inning in relief, with Friday’s hero, senior Garrett Ozar, tossing two innings with two strikeouts while surrendering all three Trojan runs, only two of which were earned
USC fell to 3-4 on the season as the Trojans committed five errors in the game.
Western led 5-0 until a three-spot for the home squad in the bottom of the eighth closed the game to within two runs. However, the Catamounts bounced back with four runs in the top of the ninth, capitalizing on two hits and three of USC’s errors to secure the victory.
Greer and Kirkpatrick led off the second inning with back-to-back singles off starter Anthony Vasquez. Junior transfer Trevor Collias grounded into a 6-3 double play, but scored Greer for the game’s first run. Heffley hit his first double to lead off the WCU fourth and scored on J.C. Lyons’ RBI single, who advanced to second when USC first baseman Keith Castillo mishandled the throw from center. Greer then singled and Kirkpatrick brought home Lyons with an RBI single. With the bases loaded, Dylan de Graaf hit a chopper to second as Trojan second baseman Joe De Pinto bobbled the ball to score the Catamounts’ fourth run of the game.
After Heffley’s RBI double for a 5-0 lead in the seventh, the Trojans got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth. Robert Stock blasted a two-run homer to right and pinch hitter Ricky Oropesa brought home Vasquez with an RBI groundout. WCU responded with the four-run ninth to close out the series win.
Western Carolina wraps up its four-game California road swing on Tuesday, March 3 when it visits San Diego, which is ranked as high as No. 11 in the Baseball America poll. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. PT / 4:00 p.m. ET
Boston College 19, Samford 13
FORT MYERS, Fla ? The Samford baseball team concluded play in the FGCU Classic with a 19-13 loss to Boston College Sunday afternoon.
With the loss, Samford drops to 3-4 on the season, while Boston College improves to 7-1 with the win.
Samford was led by Trey Hayes, going 4-for-5 with a home run and five RBI. Marcus Rodriguez was 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI. Mason Meredeth and Stephen Ballard had two hits each for Samford. Josh Martin pitched 3.2 innings, giving up five runs on six hits to take the loss on the mound.
For Boston College, Robbie Anston was 4-for-5 with a home run and four RBI. Tony Sanchez and Mike Sudol each homered for the Eagles as well. Mike Dennhardt pitched 5.0 innings, giving up nine runs on nine hits to earn the win. Mike Belfiore tossed the final 2.0 innings to earn the save for the Eagles.
Boston College jumped on top early with six runs in the top of the first inning. Samford came back with three runs in the bottom of the first to cut the lead to 6-3. The Eagles added two more runs in the second inning, and Samford plated one run in the bottom of the second to make the score 8-4.
Boston College plated a run in the top of the third inning, but Samford answered with three runs in the bottom of the third and two more in the bottom of the fourth to tie the score at 9-9.
The Eagles, however, took control of the game with four runs in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth to take a 16-9 lead. Samford plated four runs in the seventh inning to cut the BC lead to 16-13.
Boston College plated three more runs in the top of the ninth inning to make the final score 19-13.
The 19 runs were the most given up by a Samford team since May 11, 2005, when the Bulldogs dropped a 19-4 decision at Birmingham-Southern.
Samford will return to action on Wednesday, Mar. 4, when the Bulldogs travel to Troy, Ala., to take on the Troy Trojans.
ASU-Elon Finale Cancelled
BOONE, N.C. - The finale of this weekend's three-game Southern Conference baseball series between Appalachian State University and Elon has been cancelled due to inclement weather.
Appalachian (4-3, 0-2 SoCon) returns to action on Tuesday at North Caroilina A&T (3 p.m. first pitch). Elon (4-2, 2-0 SoCon) travels to High Point on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Sunday’s Games in The Citadel Memorial Challenge Have Been Canceled
Charleston, S.C. ? Both of Sunday’s games in The Citadel Memorial Challenge presented by the Charleston Crab House have been canceled due to inclement weather in the Charleston area.
Inclement weather in the South Carolina Lowcountry on Saturday and Sunday forced game officials to cancel the final four games of the tournament.
The Citadel returns to action on Wednesday, March 4 when the Bulldogs travel up the coast to Conway, S.C. to face No. 18 Coastal Carolina at 4 p.m.
For complete coverage of Bulldog Baseball, visit the official home of The Citadel Athletics at CitadelSports.com.
Wofford Baseball Cancels Sunday Game
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Due to continuing rain and the forecast of snow later on Sunday, the Wofford baseball game that was scheduled for Sunday against Xavier has been canceled. All four games of the series were affected by rain and will not be made up.
The Terriers are expected to add several games to the schedule in the near future to replace the series lost to Xavier.
Wofford will play at Georgia on Wednesday, March 4 at 6:00 pm. Xavier will play at Charleston Southern on Monday afternoon.