The Citadel 6, Wofford 4
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Bryan Altman went 4-for-5 with one RBI and Drew Mahaffey earned his fifth save in five consecutive appearances as The Citadel notched a 6-4 win over Wofford in front of 1,127 Saturday afternoon at Riley Park.
Mahaffey shut Wofford down across the final two innings, allowing only one hit and striking out four batters as he earned his fifth save of the season. Mahaffey has retired 26 of the last 29 batters faced and has not allowed a walk in his last 15.1 innings pitched.
Asher Wojciechowski (2-1) was credited with the win after allowing four runs on five hits while walking four and striking out five in 7.0 innings on the mound. Gus White (2-3) took the loss, allowing five runs on 10 hits while walking two and striking out two.
The Citadel (17-10, 7-4 Southern) took a 3-0 lead after two innings of play. Sonny Meade drove in a run in the first inning with Nick Orvin on third base. In the second inning, Orvin singled to center field to drive in one run and Altman followed with an RBI single through the right side.
In the top of the third, Wofford struck back as Neil Robinette led off with a walk on four straight pitchers and David Roney followed with a triple to left field, scoring Robinette. James Foster then grounded out to short, allowing Roney to score from third as the Terriers pulled within one, 3-2.
Wofford scored two more in the top of the fourth as Wojciechowski walked Roney with the bases loaded and then gave up an RBI single to Foster as the Terriers took the first lead of the series, 4-3.
In the bottom of the fifth, Chris McGuiness tied the game as he hit his third home run of the series with a solo shot to right field with one out. David Greene flied out to left, giving the Bulldogs two outs but William Ladd singled to short to put a runner on. Sid Fallaw then doubled down the left field line, allowing Ladd to score from first as The Citadel regained the lead, 5-4.
A Richard Jones RBI double to right center allowed Meade to score the Bulldogs’ final run of the game. Mahaffey entered in the eighth and retired six of the seven batters he faced, allowing only one hit.
The two teams will play on Sunday, April 5 at Riley Park as the Bulldogs will be looking for their first Southern Conference series sweep of the season. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Georgia Southern 16, College of Charleston 7
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Every Georgia Southern scored a run and had a base hit - and for the second straight game eight players (all starters) had a multi-hit game - as the Eagles jumped out to an early lead and cruised to a 16-7 win over College of Charleston Saturday night. With the win, Georgia Southern (20-7 overall, 6-3 SoCon) captured its first regular season series win over the Cougars since 2003.
Charleston threatened in the first with runners on the corners against Andy Moye (Alpharetta/Alpharetta), but the sophomore came back with one of his six strikeouts to end the threat.
This game, the Eagles were the ones to strike first. Ty Wright (Montrose/ABAC) led off with a single, stole second and scored on Griffin Benedict’s (Dunwoody/St. Pius) RBI single. Benedict stole second and scored on Phillip Porter’s (Marietta/Sprayberry) RBI single.
A seven-run second inning put the Eagles ahead by nine. Jonathan King (Athens, TN/Young Harris) started with a single and would score on a wild pitch. Brian Pierce (Roswell/Roswell) singled and scored on Benedict’s run-scoring single. Roman Grimaldi (Duluth/North Florida CC) singled and scored when Eric Phillips (Carrollton/Carrollton) drove home a run. Porter brought home two on a single to left, matching his career RBI high in the first two innings. Later in the inning King added a 2-run double.
Charleston (20-7, 10-4) got two runs back on groundouts in the third, however, in the fourth, Will Southwell (Moultrie/Colquitt County) hit a 2-run blast with two down making it 11-2.
Hutson Dodds and Brandon Sizemore hit 2-run homers in the fifth to chase Moye. Freshman Colin Snow (Alpharetta/Alpharetta) came on in relief and got the final two out on just two pitches. Kevin Bowles (Statesboro/Statesboro) got a run back thanks to a RBI double then Benedict followed with a 2-run blast to right field for a 14-6 advantage.
Wright hit a RBI single in the sixth and Matt Miller (Canton/Woodstock) added a RBI single in the seventh.
Meanwhile, Snow (2-1) cruised along giving up a solo home run in the eighth. He scattered five hits in 4.2 innings, striking out four to no walks allowed. Moye was charged for six runs on six hits in 4.1 innings, walking one and striking out six.
Benedict finished with three hits, three runs scored and four RBI while King matched his career-high of three hits. Phillips scored three times. For the second straight game the Eagles recorded 20-plus hits (season-high 21 hits in game one/20 game two).
David Peterson (5-1) was charged for nine runs on nine hits in 1.1 innings. Leadoff hitter Clay McCord had four of the team’s 11 hits and Sizemore drove in three runs.
The Eagles go for the series sweep on Sunday afternoon (April 5), first pitch scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
Elon 12, UNC Greensboro 2
ELON, N.C. -- Back-to-back three-run innings to open the game helped to lift the Elon Phoenix to a 12-2 Southern Conference baseball victory over the visiting UNC Greensboro Spartans from Latham Park on Saturday night. With the win, Elon improved to 16-10 overall and 10-4 and earned a series win over UNCG. The Spartans dropped to 8-16, 0-9 on the year.
UNCG took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. Pedro Leon singled to lead off the game before later scoring on a two-out homer down the right field line off the bat of Ed Jayjack. The shot was the second of the season for Jayjack.
Elon came right back in the bottom of the frame. With one away and Cory Harrilchak on second and Chase Austin on first, Pat Irvine singled up the middle to score Harrilchak and put runners on the corners. After Irvine swiped second, Bennett Davis hit a hard ground ball to short that was misplayed and brought home both Austin and Irvine.
The Phoenix started the second with a single from Greg Annarummo and a double off the bat of Neal Pritchard. Alex Maruri drove in Annarummo with a sacrifice fly to right-center as Elon's lead grew to 4-2. Harrilchak then ripped his sixth homer of the year, a two-run bomb to right-center.
A Justin Hilt single to left-center in the fourth drove home Neal Pritchard who had earlier reached on an error. On the play, Maruri went from first to third, but Hilt was gunned down trying to stretch the single into a double. After Harrilchak walked, Austin hit a towering shot to left for his third homer of the season. The three-run bomb extended the Phoenix lead to 10-2. A Davis double to the gap in right-center drove in Irvine, who had walked and stolen second, with the 11th Elon run.
UNCG loaded the bases thanks to a fielder's choice, infield single and a two-out walk in the top of the fifth before Daniel Britt got Trevor Edwards to bounce out to first to end the inning.
Two hit batters and a double loaded the bases for Elon in the bottom of the sixth before Mike Melillo drew a walk to force home Harry Austin with the 12th Phoenix tally of the game.
Britt had a solid outing to up his record to 2-0. The junior scattered six hits and allowed just two runs while striking out four. In three innings, the Phoenix bullpen allowed just one hit while fanning five.
Alex Shelton took the loss for UNCG, falling to 0-4 on the year. He was charged with six runs on six hits in just 1.2 innings.
Chase Austin and Davis each drove in three runs on the night for Elon. Harrilchak's 2-for-3, three-run, two-RBI performance ran his streak of reaching base safely to 59 games.
Seven different Spartan hitters had one hit. Jayjack recorded both UNCG RBIs.
Elon and UNCG will play the final game of the series at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
Appalachian State 24, Furman 4
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Chris Alessandria went 4-for-7 and drove in six runs to lead Appalachian State to a 24-4 romp of Furman in Southern Conference baseball action Saturday afternoon at Latham Stadium.
Alessandria delivered a two-run single in the third, an RBI grounder in the fifth, a two-run home run in the eighth, and an RBI single in the ninth to headline a Mountaineer attack that pounded Furman pitching for 20 hits, including five home runs. The Mountaineers also feasted on 11 walks in cruising to the win, which evened the three-game series heading into Sunday's 1:00 p.m. finale.
Wes Hobson went 3-for-5 with a two-run home run and drove in five runs, and Isaac Harrow also delivered the lumber for the Mountaineers with a double, a home run, three walks, four RBI, and four runs scored. Rand Smith, meanwhile, extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a 3-for-5 performance that saw him score four runs.
ASU grabbed control of the contest from the outset when Smith led off with a triple into the right field corner and scored on a Hobson's single to center field. The Mountaineers went on to combine six hits with three walks, an error, and two passed balls to plate seven runs in chasing Paladin starting and losing pitcher Bobby Lyne (1-2) after only one out.
The Mountaineers batted around again in the third, using three hits, three walks, and a hit batsmen to score five runs to extend its lead to 12-0. Two-run singles by Alessandria and Jason Wallace and an RBI single by Wallace highlighted the frame.
ASU tacked on three runs in the fifth, one in the sixth, and six more in an eighth inning that saw the Mountaineers belt four home runs, including two-run shots by Hobson and Alessandria, and solo blasts by Harrow and Zack Briggs.
The Mountaineers' big offense made easy work for ASU starting pitcher Josh Dowdy (3-2), who cruised in seven innings of work, allowing seven hits, three runs, and a walk while striking out five.
Davidson 10, Samford 9; Davidson 4, Samford 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Davidson Wildcats swept the Samford Bulldogs in double-header action Saturday afternoon, hanging on for a 10-9 win in the first game before securing the series victory with a 4-1 decision in the second.
Davidson improves to 12-13 overall and 7-5 in the Southern Conference, while Samford falls to 11-19 overall and 7-8 in the league.
In the opening game, the Wildcats scored three runs in the top of the first to set the tone, but the Bulldogs scored four runs over the last two innings and nearly completed the comeback.
Trailing 10-6, Samford got back-to-back singles to threaten in the bottom of the ninth. Zach Kayne came on in relief, but got in a jam walking the bases loaded and allowing a run to score on a wild pitch.
A two-RBI base hit through the right side put the Bulldogs down just a run and brought on Matt Webb, who got a fly out and a ground out from the next two hitters to earn his third save of the season.
Mike Frongello (1-1) earned the win for the Wildcats, entering to get the final out of the fifth inning and allowing just one hit in one scoreless inning of work.
Josh Martin (0-4) took the loss for the Bulldogs, allowing five hits for four runs in 3 2/3 innings.
Kayne went 3-for-5 with 2 RBI to lead the Wildcats at the plate, while Pat Brady, Chase FitzPatrick, Seth Freeman and James Cerbie each had two hits.
In the nightcap, neither offense could manage a run until the sixth inning as Mason Meredeth led off with a home run.
It was all the scoring that Samford would manage, though, as the Wildcats added two in both the eighth and ninth to win the series. Graham Chapman hit a two-out infield single and Kayne's seventh home run of the season proved the game-winner.
A two-RBI single from Calvin Sigelbaum added a pair of insurance runs for the 'Cats in the ninth, and Matt Sliwiak earned the save by limiting Samford to a hit in the bottom of the frame.
Mac Read (1-0) earned his first win of the season by allowing a lone hit in an inning of work.
Andrew Jones (3-2) took the loss for Samford, surrendering four runs on five hits in 8 2/3 innings.
Davidson will return to action Wednesday, hosting Gardner-Webb at 6 p.m. on Stars & Stripes day at Wilson Field. Fifth-place Citadel will visit Davidson this weekend for a three-game SoCon set.
BYU 18, Western Carolina 12
Cullowhee, N.C. - BYU scored eight runs in the final two frames to thwart Western Carolina's rally for the second-straight day, sweeping the three-game series with an 18-12 victory on Saturday afternoon at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
The Cougars (18-10) slugged out 22 hits and an opponent season-high 18 runs to hand WCU its third-straight loss. It also marks the first time in which the Catamounts have been swept in a three-game series this season, falling 1-0 on Thursday in a pitcher's duel and 15-11 on Friday night.
Western Carolina (18-9) rallied with two runs in the fourth, five in the fifth and three in the sixth to take its first lead of the series, 12-10. In the fourth, Reid Rollison led off with a double to right center and scored three batters later on a fielding error at third base. Trevor Collias, who reached on a walk, came home to score the second run of the frame on a fielder's choice.
The big inning came in the fifth for Western. After BYU scored twice in the top of the frame on a two-run by Bryce Ayoso, the Catamounts scored five including a two-run bomb by Rollison, the first of two round-trippers for WCU in the inning. Stephen Notaro belted his team-leading seventh homer of the season with two out to end the flurry and pull WCU within a run, 10-9.
Brent Greer registered his lone hit of the game (1-for-5) on a triple off the wall in right and scored on a sacrifice fly by J.C. Lyons to knot the game at 10. Very reminiscent to his pinch hit double with the bases loaded on Friday night, Rollison laced a two-bagger down the same line to move pinch runner Matt Johns to third with one out. Nick Liles gave the Catamounts their lone lead of the three-game set with a two-RBI single through the left side, handing Western a 12-10 lead.
Liles finished with a team-high three RBI.
However, BYU plated three in the eighth on RBI singles by Brandon Relf, Michael Bowen and Kasey Ko to reclaim the advantage, 13-12. The Cougars pushed across five insurance runs in the top of the ninth, four coming on a Bowen grand slam to left field.
Bowen finished with five RBI on a 3-for-6 showing at the plate, while Ko recorded three hits in four plate appearances as eight Cougars posted multi-hit games.
Relief pitcher Brandon Michon (1-2) earned the win after retiring the Catamounts in order in the seventh with BYU grabbing the lead for good a half inning later. Michon worked an inning of hitless, scoreless relief, pitching around one walk. Jordan Muir captured his seventh save of the season by holding the Catamounts off the bases in the final two frames.
Liles and Rollison each finished with a team-high three hits in the losing effort, with the latter driving in two. Notaro and Lyons each had a pair of hits and runs driven in apiece.
Daniel Ottone (2-1) suffered the loss in relief for Western, which used eight hurlers in the loss. The right-hander worked three innings out of the bull pen allowing three earned runs on five hits with two strikeouts and a pair of walks. Starter Chris Masters had his shortest outing of the season, allowing seven earned runs on seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts in two and two-thirds innings.
Western Carolina continues its six-game non-conference swing with a pair of mid-week games beginning Tuesday night at Kennesaw State. The Catamounts return home to host Eastern Kentucky at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium with a special start time of 5:00 pm.