UNC Greensboro 7, UNC Asheville 6
GREENSBORO, NC ? Junior Corey Overholtzer went 3-for-5, including a game-winning two-run single up the bottom of the eighth inning, to help send the Spartan seniors off in style as they defeated UNC Asheville, 7-6, on Wednesday evening at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. Seniors Adam Daufeldt, Pedro Leon and Greg Martin were honored in a special presentation before the game started.
Warren Slack picked up the win to move to a perfect 4-0 for the Spartans (18-28) this season after allowing only one run in the final 2 1/3 innings. Overholtzer led UNCG at the plate with a pair of singles and tied the SoCon lead with his sixth triple of the season to go along with his two RBI and two runs scored.
Asheville reliever Grier Harrington was credited with just his first loss of the season after allowing two runs in his only inning of work for the Bulldogs (8-40).
With the game knotted at five headed into the bottom of the eighth inning, the Spartans loaded the bases before Overholtzer delivered his two-run single. Trevor Edwards led off the inning with a single to right field before Eric Temple came in to run for him and subsequently stole second. Michael Wall then reached base on a bunt single to put runners on the corners. After a pair of Spartan strikeouts, Brent O’Berry walked to load the bases to set the table for Overholtzer. Overholtzer hit a chopper up the middle on the first pitch he saw to give UNCG a 7-5 lead.
The Bulldogs refused to go down without and fight and made things quite interesting in the top half of the ninth inning. Derrick Hopkins and Kevin Weidenbacher hit back-to-back singles to lead off the inning and Jordan Lurie loaded the bases with no outs after reaching on a fielder’s choice. Slack then got Justin Schumer to ground into a double play as the Spartans conceded a run before getting Danny Baatz to ground out to second base to end the game.
The Spartans got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning when Corey Overholtzer singled to the shortstop and scored later in the inning on Ray Quinones’ sacrifice fly to right field.
Asheville came thundering back as they took a 5-1 lead in the top of the second inning on a two-out rally. Cody Buch hit a double to left field with two down and Austin Graham followed with a home run over the left field wall to put the Bulldogs ahead, 2-1. The Bulldogs went on to load the bases later in the inning and score three more runs, highlighted by Lurie’s two-run single to center field.
UNCG began to chip away at the Bulldogs lead by scoring a pair of runs in the bottom half of the third. Alex Frederick led off the inning by reaching on a throwing error and O’Berry followed with a single through the right side of the infield. Frederick scored later in the inning on a wild pitch and O’Berry made the score 5-3 when he scored on Quinones’ groundout to the shortstop.
The Spartans were able to make it a one-run game in the bottom of the sixth when Drew Gehringer singled with one out. Edwards followed with a double to deep center to score Gehringer from first and make it a 5-4 game.
UNCG tied the game in the bottom of the seventh thanks to Overholtzer’s triple down the right field line. He scored one batter later on Leon’s sacrifice fly to center field.
The Spartans hit the road this weekend as they wrap up the regular season with a three-game series against Furman. The Spartans and the Paladins will kick off the series on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Latham Stadium.
Western Carolina 10, High Point 5
High Point, N.C. - J.C. Lyons capped a five-run fourth inning with a towering three-run home run to left center and Kyle Stewart scattered five hits through six innings as Western Carolina snapped a three-game drought with a 10-5 non-conference road win over the High Point Panthers Wednesday night at Williard Stadium.
Lyons tied his season-high with five runs driven in on a 2-for-4 performance at the plate including his sixth home run of the season. Stewart fanned four against one walk in tallying his fourth victory of the season as Western Carolina (31-20) won its sixth-straight road game.
Trailing by two after a two-run second inning by High Point, consecutive RBI singles by Matt Johns and Stephen Notaro as a part of five-straight base hits the Catamounts knotted the game at two apiece ahead of Lyons. The Marietta, Ga., native hammered the first pitch of his at bat over the fence in left to hand WCU a three-run advantage it would never relinquish.
Johns extended his current career-long hitting streak to a team-best 17 games on a 1-for-3 outing, with Notaro finishing 2-for-5 with a pair of singles and the run driven in. Andy John posted the only other extra base hit for the Catamounts with a double of the right field wall in the fourth inning.
WCU added solo runs in the fifth and sixth, capping the scoring with three runs in the top of the seventh inning. Lyons belted a bases loaded, two-RBI single to right with Trevor Collias walking to drive in the third run to give the Catamounts an eight-run, 10-2, advantage.
High Point (18-29) answered the Catamounts' three-spot with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to provide the final tally.
In the ninth, HPU put its first two runners on before a ground ball force-out at second put runners at the corners with one out. However, reliever Jason Sullivan, who only surrendered one base hit in two and two-thirds innings, got Bill Manion to line into a game-ending double-play as Ross Heffley snared the liner and threw to first to end the game.
Reliever Zach Scott (1-4) took the loss as High Point used seven pitchers in the game by design. Scott gave up five runs on six hits in two innings in relief of starter Jamie Serber, who worked the opening two innings of hitless, scoreless action with a walk and a strikeout.
Pablo Rosario homered as a part of a 2-for-4 night while teammate Eric Marion had a pair of singles in duplicating the 2-for-4 output.
Western Carolina opens a three-game Southern Conference road series on Thursday night as it visits the Davidson Wildcats. First pitch is set for 7:00 pm. The Catamounts, currently fifth, enter their final regular season series with a chance at claiming second-place in the final league standings while Davidson is locked into the tournament's seventh seed.
The series continues with a 6 pm first pitch on Friday night with an 11 am start on Saturday morning.
All three games of the series will be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard locally in Cullowhee on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 and online at www.WWCUFM.com.