The Citadel 14, College of Charleston 3
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Wes Wrenn pitched his third complete game of the season, shutting down one of the nation’s most prolific offenses, and Nick Orvin went 3-for-4 with two doubles, three runs scored and four RBI as The Citadel pounded the College of Charleston, 14-3, in front of 1,755 at Riley Park Thursday night.
The win gives The Citadel (32-20, 18-10 SoCon) a game advantage over Charleston (35-18, 17-11 SoCon) in a heated Southern Conference battle for seeding in the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament.
Wrenn (9-2) allowed only three runs on nine hits while walking two and striking out four as he now leads the league in complete games pitched. All three complete games for Wrenn came against Southern Conference opponents this year.
“Wes Wrenn was the difference for us tonight,” said The Citadel head coach Fred Jordan. “He did what he’s done all year long no matter who we play. When we got a 3-1 lead, Wes turned it up a notch.
“That was the best pitching performance our team has seen all year,” added Cougars head coach Monte Lee.
Orvin led a Bulldog offense that came to life in the third inning and never stopped producing after that with his 3-for-4 day, driving in a career-high four runs.
Orvin was one of six Bulldogs to record multiple hits as the Bulldogs pounded the Cougars’ pitching staff. Starter Jesse Simpson (9-3) took the loss after allowing nine runs ? eight earned ? on 12 hits while walking one and striking out five in 5.1 innings pitched.
CofC took the lead early in the first inning when the Cougars’ first two batters scored. Wrenn shut Charleston down after that, allowing only no hits over the next three innings and one over the last eight.
The Citadel tied the game in the bottom of the third when Orvin and Bryan Altman, who went 2-for-4, drove in back-to-back runs to tie the game at 2-2.
A pitcher’s duel continued over the next two innings before The Citadel scored three runs on three hits and two Charleston errors in the fifth to take the 5-2 lead.
The Citadel’s offense continued to roll in the sixth inning when six consecutive batters reached base, capped off by Meade’s two-run single through the left side and Richard Jones’ one-run single through the right side. The Bulldogs scored four runs and chased Simpson from the game in that sixth inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Bulldogs scored five runs on four hits where all four hits were extra-base hits. David Greene, Orvin and Meade all notched doubles while Richard Jones ripped a two-run shot over the right field wall for his 15th home run of the season, giving the Bulldogs a 14-2 lead.
The College of Charleston mustered one final run in the top of the eighth and put two runners on in the ninth before Wrenn forced Joey Bergman to ground out to third to end the game.
The two teams, who entered the game tied in the SoCon standings, will meet again on Friday, May 15 at 6 p.m. at Riley Park for the second game in this pivotal three-game Southern Conference series.
Western Carolina 10, Davidson 8 (12 inn.)
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Chase FitzPatrick's 14th home run of the season jump started a five-run ninth inning to force extra innings, but the Davidson Wildcats ran out of answers, dropping a 10-8, 12-inning decision to Western Carolina Thursday night in the opening game of the regular-season Southern Conference finale.
Entering the bottom of the ninth trailing 6-1, FitzPatrick's home run moved him into third on Davidson's (18-27, 11-14) all-time single season list and cut Western's lead to 6-3 with no outs.
The third relief pitcher used by Western (32-20, 17-10) in the contest, Brandon Johnson took the mound to start the decisive frame, dealing a leadoff walk to Danny Weiss before the two-run blast to FitzPatrick.
Matt Webb earned a walk to bring on Daniel Ottone, and James Cerbie kept the rally rolling, dropping a base hit into right. Brett Shore drove in Webb for the third run of the inning.
Shore took second on a wild pitch, and Tommy Piacenza got an infield single on a hard-hit ball to Johnson to score another and put the tying run on third. Ottone sat Pat Brady down on strikes, but Zach Kayne lifted a 1-2 pitch into center field to sacrifice in Cerbie for the tying run. Drew Gadaire flew out to end the inning and send the game into extra innings.
After a shutout inning, Chris Kennedy worked into some trouble in the 10th, giving up a pair of one-out singles and hitting a batter to load the bases. Nick Liles singled to center field to send in two runs, but Thomas Middour got a fly out and a punch out to leave the bases jammed.
The Wildcats found some more magic in the bottom of the 10th, again keyed by FitzPatrick, who hit a one-out single into left center field. Webb struck out for the second out, but Cerbie crushed a 2-2 pitch to left for his third home run of the season to tie the score again. Shore grounded out to end the inning, and Western got the winning runs in the top of the 12th on a pair of RBI-singles.
Entering with the bases loaded, Mac Hunter struck out three straight to leave it that way, but the Davidson offense would not answer again in the bottom of the inning.
Both starters were effective, but neither factored into the decision.
Chris Lamb scattered five hits for three runs (two earned) over 5 1/3 innings and used six strikeouts to work out of some jams, including a back-to-back pair to strand two in the first.
In a wasted effort, Chris Masters was masterful for Western, allowing just one unearned run on four hits while walking one and striking out 10 in seven innings.
The Wildcats managed just a lone hit through five innings and finished with 10, led by Cerbie, who went 3-for-5 with two RBI. FitzPatrick finished 2-for-5 and drove in a pair, while Shore also had a pair of hits.
For Western, Dylan de Graaf batted 4-for-6 with an RBI, and Liles was 3-for-5 with an RBI. The Catamounts finished with 16 hits, with three other players getting a pair of hits.
Davidson and Western will play the second game of the series tomorrow at 6 p.m.
Furman 3, UNC Greensboro 2 (11 inn.)
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Aaron Thompkins’ pinch-hit, two-out single in the bottom of the 11th inning scored Brian Harrison from second base to give Furman a 3-2 victory over UNC Greensboro Thursday evening in the opening game of a Southern Conference baseball series at Latham Stadium.
Thompkins’ game winning hit through the left side came on an 0-2 pitch from Spartan reliever Rob Gilliam and helped Furman (22-28, 10-18 SoCon) lower its magic number to one game to nail down the eighth and final seed in the SoCon Tournament, set for May 20-24 at Greenville’s Fluor Field. A win by Furman in either of its final two games against UNC Greensboro (18-28, 5-21 SoCon) or one loss by Wofford in its three-game series at Georgia Southern will seal the eighth seed for the Paladins.
The Furman 11th opened with a walk to Brian Harrison, who stole second. Gilliam recovered by striking out Matt Hemingway and Reese Wade, and quickly blew two pitches past Thompkins, who came on as a pinch hitter for Andrew Cadger. The left-hand hitting sophomore, however, stroked fastball between third base and shortstop, allowing Harrison to race home for the game winner.
The Paladin rally made a winner of Nick Karow (1-0), who worked a perfect 10th and 11th.
Gilliam (4-6) took the loss, allowing two runs on three hits in 3 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out seven.
Furman managed only five hits in the contest, including two by Harrison.
UNC Greensboro’s Corey Overholtzer, Pedro Leon, and Drew Gehringer had two hits apiece for the Spartans, who finished with eight base hits.
Both starting pitchers were superb. UNCG’s Matt Parish limited Furman to only a run on two hits over 7 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out three. Paladin starter Ian Parry also went 7 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits and two runs while walking two. The junior right-hander fanned a career high 10 batters. In all four Paladin pitchers combined to record 16 strikeouts, a season high.
UNCG took a 2-0 lead in the sixth after Overholtzer and Leon led off with back to back singles. Two batters later Gehringer delivered an RBI double to center field to score Overholtzer, and pinch-hitter John Cucchiarella plated Leon with an sacrifice fly.
Parrish retired the first batter he faced in the eighth but then walked Marcus Rose. At that point Gilliam came on in relief, and Furman’s Justin Holloway greeted him with a triple into the right field corner that scored Rose. Harrison followed with an infield single to score Hollloway and tie the game at 2-2.
The Spartans put two runners on with a walk and single with two outs in the ninth, but freshman reliever Stephen Gary ended the threat by striking out Overholtzer to end the inning.
Game two of the series has been moved up to 6:00 p.m. Friday.
Thursday's ASU-Longwood Game Suspended
BOONE, N.C. ? Thursday’s Appalachian State-Longwood baseball game has been suspended due to rain. The game will resume on Friday at 2 p.m. with Appalachian leading 16-6 with no outs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Following the conclusion of the suspended game on Friday afternoon, ASU will hold its Senior Day festivities, followed by Game 2 of the series. Game 3 has been cancelled.