Elon 10, No. 21 East Carolina 8
ELON, N.C. -- The Elon Phoenix scored six runs in the third inning, including four on Mike Melillo's first career grand slam, and held off a late charge by the 21st-ranked East Carolina Pirates for a 10-8 non-league baseball victory in front of a Latham Park record crowd of 1,873 fans on Tuesday night. With the win, the 19th over a top-25 ranked opponent for Elon since the start of the 1999 season, the Phoenix improved to 29-13 on the year. ECU is now 32-14.
The Pirates started the first with a walk to Trent Whitehead before Ryan Wood was hit by a pitch. Both runners moved up on a passed ball before Kyle Roller's ground out brought home Whitehead with the first run of the night. Another ground out from Brandon Henderson plated Wood as the Pirates went up 2-0 without the benefit of a hit.
Elon quickly responded. Cory Harrilchak's double down the right field line extended his streak of reaching base safely to 75 games before Bennett Davis tied the game with his 12th home run of the year, this one to center. The Phoenix took the lead when Pat Irvine crushed his 15th homer of the year to right, a solo shot with one out.
Whitehead started the ECU third with a double into the right field corner and went to third when Wood flew out to right-center. Whitehead scored to tie the game when Roller grounded out to first.
Davis and Chase Austin began the bottom of the third with back-to-back singles. Following a pitching change, Irvine drew a walk to load the bases. Melillo unloaded the bags by ripping his first career grand slam to left-center, putting Elon back on top by a 7-3 margin. The Phoenix loaded the bases when Neal Pritchard was plunked and both Harry Austin and Harrilchak walked with two outs. Davis then walked on five pitches to force home Pritchard. A full count walk to Chase Austin followed and forced home Harry Austin.
Stephen Batts was hit and went to second on a passed ball to start the ECU fourth. After a balk moved Batts to third, Dustin Harrington lined a one-out single to center to score Batts. An infield single from Drew Schieber put two men aboard before Tom Porter retired the next two hitters to preserve a 9-4 advantage.
Dallas Tarleton doubled off the wall to lead off the Phoenix half of the fourth before Pritchard reached on an error that put runners on the corners. After Pritchard went to second on a wild pitch, pinch-hitter Greg Annarummo's ground out to second scored Tarleton.
ECU edged one run closer when Whitehead led off the top of the seventh with his fifth homer of the year. Wood followed with a routine fly ball to center that was dropped by Harry Austin, allowing Wood to reach second. Roller's fly ball to center allowed Wood to move up to third. Wood then scored when Austin Homan grounded out to first, moving the Pirates within four at 10-6.
Whitehead reached on a throwing error to start the top of the ninth and then scored when Wood went deep to left to move ECU within two runs at 10-8. After Roller struck out, Phoenix closer Thomas Girdwood came on to fan both Corey Thompson and Batts.
Porter (1-2) picked up his first victory of the season after allowing four runs (three earned) in 5.0 innings. He also struck out five and walked just one. Girdwood claimed his 13th save of the season.
Mike Wright (0-2) gave up five runs on five hits in two-plus innings to take the loss. Britton Cole allowed ECU to work its way back, hurling 4.2 shutout innings out of the pen.
Four Elon players posted two-hit nights ? Harrilchak, Davis, Melillo and Tarleton. Melillo upped his RBI total by four, while Davis added three to his RBI tally.
Wood drove in two and scored three times for ECU. Whitehead scored four runs and went 2-for-4.
The Phoenix will play its next four games at home, where it has now won a season-best nine consecutive games, beginning with a 7 p.m. first pitch against North Carolina A&T on Thursday night.
College of Charleston 13, No. 22 Coastal Carolina 7
Mt. Pleasant, S.C. -- Brandon Sizemore (Jacksonville, Fla.) collected four hits, Austin Morgan (Katy, Tex.) drove in four runs and Curtis Dowling (Columbia, S.C.) pitched four strong inning in relief as the College of Charleston downed 22nd-ranked Coastal Carolina, 13-7, before 417 at Patriots Point Stadium on Tuesday. The Cougars finished the regular-season 3-0 against the Chanticleers.
Charleston, which won twice at Coastal Carolina earlier this season, improved to 27-16. The Chanticleers fell to 32-13. The Cougars open a three-game Southern Conference series with Davidson at 7 p.m. on Friday at Patriots Point Stadium.
Charleston grabbed a 10-1 second inning lead. The Cougars parlayed seven hits, three walks and a wild pitch into nine runs in the bottom of the second. Morgan drove in four runs in the inning with a two-run double and a two-run single. Matt Mansilla (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) added a two-run single.
Back-to-back homers by Jose Iglesias and Chance Gilmore in the fourth inning helped Coastal cut Charleston's lead to 10-6.
A sacrifice fly by Charleston's Joash Brodin (Olympia, Wash.) and another RBI single by Mansilla in the sixth inning stretched the Cougars' lead to 12-6. Coastal's David Anderson belted a solo homer in the seventh that cut the lead to 12-7.
Charleston's Clay McCord (Atlanta, Ga.) added a run-producing groundout in the eighth for the final margin.
Dowling (1-1) picked up the win allowing a run on three hits with four strikeouts. Keith Hessler (1-1) was the starter and loser for Coastal Carolina allowing nine runs over the first 1 2/3 innings.
Western Carolina 8, Charlotte 6
Charlotte, N.C. - Nick Liles blasted a two-run home run as a part of a four-run top of the third inning as Western Carolina built a five-run lead before holding on for a two-run, 8-6, road win over the Charlotte 49ers at Hayes Stadium / Phillips Field Tuesday night in non-conference action.
Garrett Ozar (3-4) tossed two innings of two-hit, scoreless relief in earning the victory, striking out three out of the bullpen. Closer Daniel Ottone earned his seventh save of the season after working a perfect ninth. Freshman Kyle Stewart tossed the first four and two thirds in a quality start, tying his career-high for the third time this season with seven strikeouts in the no-decision.
WCU (26-17) claimed a lead it would never relinquish in the top of the third inning, pushing across four runs for the early lead. J.C. Lyons opened the frame with a doubled down the left field line on the first pitch he saw. After a wild pitch moved him into scoring position, Mitchell Hatley grounded to short, reaching on an error but tallying the RBI for the 1-0 edge.
Trevor Collias and Hatley perfectly executed a hit-and-run to put runners at the corners with no outs ahead of Nick Liles. Collias was picked off at first for the first out ahead Nick Liles who laced a two-run home run over the fence in left for the 3-0 edge, chasing 'Niner starting pitcher, Andrew Smith. A second hit-and-run play with Greer running from second to third as Rembert Rollison grounded sharply through the left side to the hole vacated by the third baseman drove in the fourth run, 4-0. Rollison finished 2-for-4 in the win.
Charlotte trimmed the deficit to two with a pair of two-out runs in the home half of the fifth inning.
The two teams combined for six runs in the sixth inning with WCU plating three in the top half and Charlotte answering in the bottom. Matt Johns reached on a throwing error on a bunt attempt, with Lyons singling through the right side to put two aboard with Johns moving to third. The Catamounts loaded the bases as Mitchell Hatley was hit by a pitch before Collias lifted a sacrifice fly to center to plate the first run. Liles drove in a second run with an RBI single through the left side, with Ross Heffley plating the final run on a single to third for the five-run, 7-2 edge.
However, a lead-off triple started a three-run 49er sixth inning that again cut the Catamount lead to two, 7-5.
Collias drove in his second run of the game in the seventh on a ground out, with Charlotte matching Western in the bottom of the seventh to provide the final tally.
Five Catamounts posted multi-hit games led by Greer with a 3-for-4 showing with three singles, a walk and run scored. Liles drove in three on a 2-for-6 showing with his seventh home run of the season, while Notaro was 2-for-3 and Lyons was 2-for-4, both with a double.
For Charlotte, Smith (2-7) allowed three runs on four hits in two and a third inning pitch to suffer the loss.
Western Carolina hosts Tennessee Tech on Wednesday evening at 6:00 pm in non-conference action at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
Appalachian State 14, Radford 3
BOONE, N.C. ? Isaac Harrow (Hickory, N.C./Hickory) set new school records for career hits and doubles in Appalachian State University baseball’s 14-3 win over Radford on Tuesday evening at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
Harrow’s single to right field in the first inning was the 239th hit of his career, which tied the ASU record set by Chris Behne from 1997-2000. Harrow’s two-run double down the left field line an inning later not only put him alone atop the school’s all-time hits list, but also gave him 62 doubles in his career to break the school record that he shared with former teammate David Rubinstein.
The senior third baseman later added an infield single and finished 3-for-5 on the evening, raising his season batting average to .422. Should he maintain the lofty average for the rest of the campaign, it would rank eighth in ASU single-season history.
Harrow’s record-breaking hits highlighted an early outburst for the Mountaineers, who jumped out to a 9-0 lead after two innings en route to their 14-run, 19-hit performance. The damage could have been far worse, but the Apps stranded a season-high 14 base-runners in the rout.
The 14 runs, however, were more than enough for Appalachian’s five pitchers, which limited Radford to three runs on six hits. Freshman Andrew Webster (Miami, Fla./Florida Christian) (4-1), the second ASU hurler to appear in the game, surrendered only a run on two hits and struck out three in 3.2 innings of work to earn the win.
First baseman David Towarnicky (New Bern, N.C./New Bern) and left fielder Chris Alessandria (Ponte Vedra, Fla./Ponte Vedra) led the offensive explosion with four hits and three RBI apiece. Eight of the nine members of ASU’s starting lineup had at least one hit and five banged out two or more.
Right fielder Reggie Keen paced Radford (20-18) with a 2-for-3, two-RBI effort.
The victory gives Appalachian (27-17) wins in 14 of its last 15 games and 21 of its last 24. ASU also stretched its home winning streak to 13 games.
The red-hot Mountaineers play the second of three mid-week home games on Wednesday when they host UNC Asheville at 7 p.m.
Wake Forest 11, Davidson 3
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Coming off the first conference sweep since 2005, the Davidson Wildcats snapped a four-game winning streak with an 11-3 loss to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in non-conference action Tuesday night at Wake Forest Baseball Park.
Danny Weiss batted 2-for-4 and drove in all three runs for the Wildcats, who dropped to 17-22 overall. Zach Kayne was 1-for-3 and scored two of Davidson's runs, while Jay Honeycutt had a hit and scored a run as a pinch hitter in the ninth. Tommy Piacenza (2-for-3) and Chase FitzPatrick (1-for-4) accounted for the rest of the Wildcats' seven hits.
Matt Sliwiak (3-1) took the loss for the Wildcats, allowing five runs on five hits in two innings, while walking a pair and striking out one in the start.
Ian Thompkins and Mike Murray each had three of the Demon Deacons' 13 hits. Michael Dimock earned the win for Wake Forest (21-23), allowing just a run on five hits in eight innings, while walking none and striking out seven.
Wake Forest jumped out to an 8-0 lead through the first three innings on seven hits and a pair of Wildcat errors. Davidson, on the other hand, never sent more than three batters to the plate for the first three frames.
The Wildcats finally got some offensive production in the fourth inning, as Kayne led off with the 'Cats first hit of the night, a double into right field. A batter later, Weiss singled through the right side to send him in, cutting the deficit to 8-1.
The Demon Deacons scratched across another run in the bottom of the inning on a pair of hits and put up their final pair of runs in the sixth on three hits.
Davidson added its final runs in the top of the ninth, when Kayne drew a leadoff walk, and Honeycutt followed with a double. Weiss drove in both with a double into center field.
The Wildcats will travel to Mt. Pleasant, S.C. for a three-game set with the College of Charleston this weekend. Game times are 7 p.m., 4 p.m. and 1 p.m. for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
North Carolina A&T 7, UNC Greensboro 6
GREENSBORO, NC ? UNC Greensboro scored four runs in the final three innings, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a 7-2 deficit as the Spartans fell, 7-6, to cross-town rival North Carolina A&T on Tuesday night at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
Aggie starter Nick Oelker picked up his first win of the season for A&T (14-29) after he went six inning and allowed just three runs. Nick Rogers led the Aggies at the plate after falling just a single shy of hitting for the cycle.
UNCG starter Alex Shelton was credited with the hard-luck loss for the Spartans (15-23) after allowed just two runs on three hits in 5 1/3 innings of work.
The Aggies got on the board in the top of the first inning to jump out to the early 1-0 lead. George Hines took the second pitch of the ballgame deep over the left field wall for his fourth home run of the season.
The Spartans immediately responded in the bottom half of the inning to knot the game at 1 apiece. With one down, Ray Quinones hit a triple to the gap in right center. Corey Overholtzer followed with a bloop single down the right field line to tie the game at 1-1. Pedro Leon was then hit by a pitch before Trevor Edwards was walked to load the bases. After a Spartan strike out, Michael Wall lifted a ball that was nearly a home run put Cyril Daniel tracked it down on the warning track.
N.C. A&T tacked on another run in the top of the fourth inning after Rogers led off the inning with a triple into in the right field corner. Jaron Neal followed with a single to center field to score Rogers and put the Aggies ahead for good, 2-1.
The Aggies were able to extend their lead in the sixth inning when Rogers struck again. This time he hit a home run over the left field wall to put A&T ahead, 3-1.
The Spartans were able to get that run back in the bottom half of the sixth to narrow the deficit to 3-2. With two out in the inning, Drew Gehringer hit a double to deep center field with two out in the inning and Michael Wall followed with a single to right field to score Gehringer.
The Aggies broke the game open in the top of the seventh inning with four runs to extend their lead to 7-2. A&T used three singles and a double and were also aided by three wild pitches by the Spartans as they scored their four runs in the inning.
The Spartans began their rally in the bottom half of the seventh as Brent O’Berry scored to make the score 7-3. After O’Berry walked to reach base, he scored later in the inning when Overholtzer reached on a fielding error by the Aggie third baseman.
UNCG got another back in the eighth inning thanks to some sloppy defense by the Aggies. Gehringer led off the inning by reaching second on a fielding error by the right fielder. He advanced to third on a single by Wall before scoring on an Alex Frederick fielder’s choice to pull the Spartans within, 7-4.
The Spartans mounted a rally in the ninth inning, but fell just short. Quinones led off by reaching on an error by the shortstop, but was put out at second on Overholtzer’s fielder’s choice. Leon was then hit by a pitch and the runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. Pinch hitter Rob Gilliam then reached on a throwing error by the shortstop, which allowed Overholtzer and Leon to score to make the score 7-6. That was as close as the Spartans could get as Esterlin Paulino came in to pitch for the Aggies and struck out the first batter before inducing a game-ending ground out to second base.
The Spartans return to action on Wednesday evening as UNCG makes the short trip to face High Point at 6 p.m. at Williard Stadium.