Samford 13, UNC Greensboro 1
GREENSBORO, NC ? Samford scored four runs in the fourth and five in the fifth to break open a scoreless game as UNC Greensboro fell, 13-1, on Saturday morning at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. Due to rain on Friday, the game was moved to 10 a.m. Saturday in order to get in the first game of the series. Game two has been postponed until Sunday and will be played as a doubleheader beginning at noon.
Samford starter Michael Jarry allowed just one run in eight innings for the Bulldogs (8-15, 4-6 SoCon) and Bo Smith went 2-3 with a grand slam.
Senior Pedro Leon went 2-4 with a triple and run scored to lead the Spartans (7-11, 0-5 SoCon) at the plate.
After three scoreless innings to begin the game, Samford jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Stephen Ballard led off the inning with a single and advanced to second after Mason Meredith was hit by a pitch. David Shulze advanced the runners over on a sacrifice bunt and Smith followed with a walk to load the bases with one out. Trey Hayes then hit a bloop single to right field to score Ballard from third, but right fielder Leon threw out Smith at second to leave runners on the corners. Marcus Rodriguez then belted a three-run home run to left field to put the Bulldogs up 4-0.
The Bulldogs added five in the fifth inning to give Samford a 9-0 lead. After the Bulldogs loaded the bases on a single, error by UNCG and a walk, Smith hit a towering shot over the right field wall for a grand slam and his first home run of the season.
Samford added two more runs in the sixth and again in the eighth to make the score 13-0.
The Spartans lone run came in the bottom half of the eighth inning. Pedro Leon led off the inning with a triple down the left field line before Corey Overholtzer singled up the middle for an RBI.
The Spartans and the Bulldogs will wrap up the final two games of the series on Sunday with a doubleheader beginning at noon at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
College of Charleston 18, Furman 4
Furman 10, College of Charleston 9
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The College of Charleston belted a school-record eight homers, including three by Cole Rakar in a 18-4 win over Furman in the opener of a Southern Conference doubleheader before 233 at Patriots Point Stadium on Saturday. Brian Harrison's three-run homer in the eighth lifted Furman to a 10-9 win in the second game.
With the split, the Charleston's record stands at 18-5 overall and 9-2 in league play. The Paladins are 10-12 and 4-7. The series finale is Sunday at 1 p.m.
In the opener, Rakar, who tied the school record for most homers a game, hit two-run homers in the second, third and fifth innings. Ryan Daniels hit a two-run homer in the first to give Charleston a 2-0 lead. Brandon Sizemore's three-run shot to left in the second gave the Cougars a 7-0 lead.
In Charleston's four-run sixth inning, Joash Brodin hit a two-run homer and Matt Mansilla and Austin Morgan hit back-to-back homers that stretched Charleston's lead to 17-3.
Jesse Simpson earned the win and improved to 5-1. Simpson allowed three runs on seven hits over seven innings. Jay Friedman (0-2) suffered the loss surrendering seven runs on six hits over the first two innings.
In the second game, Furman erased a 7-3 deficit in the fifth inning en route to the win. Justin Holloway's first homer of the season was a two-out, grand slam to right center in the fifth that tied the game at 7-all. Harrison belted an 0-1 pitch to left for a three-run homer, his fourth of the season, and a 10-7 Furman advantage.
Hutson Dodds and Joey Bergman hit solo homers in the eighth that cut Furman's lead to 10-9.
Barry Benton (2-3) picked up the win in relief allowing two runs on four hits over 3 2/3 innings of work. Spencer Hale recorded the final four outs for his first save of the season. Aaron Bouronich suffered the loss in relief and fell to 3-1.
The Citadel 8, Air Force 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Sonny Meade went 3-for-5 with three RBI and Matt Crim struck out five batters and did not issue a walk in 8.0 innings on the mound as The Citadel coasted to an 8-1 win over Air Force in front of 627 at Riley Park Saturday afternoon.
The Citadel (13-9) scored all eight runs over the first five innings as the Bulldogs sealed their season-best fourth win in a row. Most notably, the win gave head coach Fred Jordan his 599th career victory. A win over Air Force in the series finale on Sunday would make Jordan the fastest coach to reach the 600 win plateau in school and Southern Conference history.
Air Force (8-16) allowed the Bulldogs to run up the early lead and only could score one run ons even hits in the game.
Crim (2-2) held the Falcons to just one run on seven hits in his longest outing of the year. Chris Boyce closed the game by striking out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth, preventing a Falcon rally.
Matt Barattino (1-1) took the loss after allowing all eight Bulldog runs on six hits while walking three and hitting four batters.
The Citadel got on top early as Bryan Altman and Richard Jones both drove in runs in the bottom of the first inning. An RBI single by David Greene in the third gave the Bulldogs a 3-0 advantage.
Meade’s three RBI all came in the fourth when he doubled down the right field line with the bases loaded, scoring all three runners and widening the Bulldog lead to six runs. RBI singles by Sid Fallaw and Johnny Dangerfield in the fifth inning added two more runs to the Bulldog scoreboard as The Citadel extended their lead to an 8-0 advantage.
Air Force prevented the shut out in the top of the seventh when Parker Mayo hit an RBI double to left center to score the Falcons’ lone run of the game.
The two teams will conclude their four-game series on Sunday at Riley Park with a new time of noon.
Georgia Southern ? Elon
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Baseball and Elon made it to the top of the fourth inning before rain forced Saturday's game two of the series to get postponed.
The game will resume where it left on Sunday (March 29) at 12 noon. Elon is leading 5-1 with one out and no one on base and a 1-2 count to leadoff hitter Zeth Stone.
Georgia Southern freshman Matt Murray struck out the side in the first inning and got the first out of the second frame on a lineout. From there a walk, RBI triple, RBI single and back-to-back home runs from Ryan Adams (2-run) and Dallas Tarleton accounted for all five Phoenix runs.
The Eagles threatened in the third, all with two outs. Kevin Bowles reached on a bunt single then Phillip Porter singled up the middle. Griffin Benedict hit a chopper past third baseman Barrett Davis to score a run. Ty Wright was hit by a pitch to load the bases but Jimmy Reyes worked out of the jam getting a force out.
Fellow freshman Colin Snow got the final two outs of the second, two strikeouts to close out the third and fanned Tarleton for the first out of the fourth before the umpires called the rain delay.
Davidson ? Appalachian State
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Saturday's baseball game against Appalachian State has been suspended after four innings of play with the score tied at 2. The game will resume from that point tomorrow at 1 p.m., followed by another nine-inning game.
The Wildcats scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning on a double by sophomore first baseman Danny Weiss, driving home senior shortstop Zach Kayne and sophomore right fielder Sam Payne.
Junior Thomas Middour pitched four innings for Davidson, giving up two runs while striking out five Mountaineer batters.
Wofford ? Western Carolina
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? The Wofford baseball game scheduled for Saturday against Western Carolina has been postponed due to heavy rain in the area. The two teams will play a double-header on Sunday beginning at noon at Russell C. King Field.
The two nine-inning contests will be separated by a 30-minute break between games.
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