Davidson 3, Duke 2 (10 inn.)
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- The Wildcats scored two runs to tie the game in the eighth inning before Chase FitzPatrick drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th, lifting Davidson to a 3-2 win over the Duke Blue Devils Tuesday night in mid-week action at Wilson Field.
Danny Weiss delivered a two-out base hit into right and pinch runner Calvin Sigelbaum scored from first on FitzPatrick's double to end the game.
Matt Webb (3-2) earned the win for Davidson (18-25), retiring his only batter of the night, but Brian Russell put the Wildcats in a winning position, allowing just two hits in two innings of shutout relief with a pair of strikeouts. Starter Ryan Overcash scattered six hits for one run, but did not factor into the decision.
Kyle Butler (2-1) took the loss for the Blue Devils (29-18), allowing one run on two hits in 2/3 of an inning.
Duke struck first, getting across a run in the second on an RBI-single from Jake Lemmerman as Alex Hassan scored from second.
Zach Kayne's double in the third inning was his 21st of the season, tying the all-time single season record held by Eli Benefield from 2005. Kayne led the Wildcats at the plate, batting 3-for-5, while FitzPatrick drove in a game-high two runs.
Overcash got into a bit of a jam in the sixth, giving up back-to-back, one-out singles to Matt Williams and Nate Freeman. But he sat the next batter down on strikes and got a pop out to end the inning and strand a pair.
Duke added a run in the seventh, as Jake Lemmerman got a base-hit off Mike Frongello, who entered in relief of Overcash to start the inning. Frongello got a groundout from the next batter, but Will Piwinica-Worms' offering got past James Cerbie and into right field to send in a run.
The Blue Devils threatened in the eighth, but a diving one-out catch from Zach Kayne held the runner at third before Brian Russell entered to get the final pop out.
Kayne recorded the third Wildcat hit of the night, a base hit into right, and took second on a wild pitch. Drew Gadaire's single bumped him to third, and Danny Weiss walked to load the bases. Chase FitzPatrick's fielder's choice to the short stop sent in Kayne, and a throwing error at second allowed Gadaire to score the tying run.
Brian Russell got back-to-back strikeouts to start the ninth, before allowing a single to Ryan McCurdy. But Brett Shore speared a pop up from Gabriel Saade to strand a runner, and the Wildcats went down without a fight in the bottom of the inning.
Butler started the 10th for Duke and got first-pitch groundouts from Kayne and Gadaire before giving up a base hit to Weiss. Sigelbaum entered to pinch run and scored the winning run from first as FitzPatrick doubled down the left field line.
Davidson will return to action tomorrow, hosting Virginia Tech at 6 p.m. at Wilson Field.
The Citadel 12, Presbyterian 2
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Sonny Meade extended his hitting streak to 18 games as he went 4-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored as The Citadel coasted to a 12-2 victory over Presbyterian on a wet Tuesday afternoon at Riley Park.
Meade recorded four hits for the third time this season as he led the Bulldogs (28-18, 14-10 SoCon) to the team’s 18th consecutive win over Presbyterian (10-35, 5-18 Big South).
TJ Clarkson (3-0) was credited with the win after allowing two unearned runs on six hits while walking two and striking out four in 5.0 innings on the mound. Chris Boyce pitched 3.0 innings, allowing only one hit and striking out four. Nick Sprowls closed the game for the Bulldogs, walking one and striking out one while holding the Blue Hose hitless for one inning.
Garrett Moore (0-6) took the loss after allowing four runs on five hits in 3.2 innings on the mound, walking three and striking out two. Joe Hammond did not fare much better against a powerful Bulldog offense, allowing five runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out one in 3.1 innings pitched. Drew Wingo, in his first pitching appearance of the season, allowed three runs on three hits as he faced four batters and failed to record an out.
David Greene helped lead the Bulldog offense with a 3-for-4 performance, driving in two runs and scoring two more.
Presbyterian took the early 2-0 lead after scoring two runs in the third inning as a result of a throwing error by Greene and a wild pitch by Clarkson. The Citadel rebounded in the bottom half of the inning, scoring a pair of runs on a two-run double by Meade.
In the bottom of the fourth, Sid Fallaw drove in Matt Simonelli while Greene scored on a wild pitch to put the Bulldogs up, 4-2. Two more runs would score in the fifth on back-to-back RBI by Greene and Fallaw, giving The Citadel the 6-2 advantage.
In the bottom of the seventh, Greene would drive one run in with a double to the left field corner. Two batters later, Nick Orvin would lace a single up the middle to score two more runs as the Bulldogs led, 9-2.
Three more runs were scored by the Bulldogs in the bottom of the eighth on RBI singles by Richard Jones and Brian Shubsda while Justin Mackert drove in a run on a sacrifice fly.
The Citadel returns to action on Wednesday, May 6 when the Bulldogs host USC Upstate at Riley Park at 4 p.m.
USC Upstate 13, Wofford 2
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? The Wofford College baseball team was defeated 13-2 by USC Upstate on Tuesday afternoon at Cleveland S. Harley Park. The Spartans used eight runs in the third inning and four in the fourth to build a lead while pitcher Matt Branham went eight innings with seven strikeouts.
Wofford is 17-26 on the season and 7-16 in the Southern Conference. USC Upstate is 11-33 overall and 3-21 in the Atlantic Sun. The Terriers were led by Mac Doyle, with two hits, including a home run. The Spartans had five players with two hits each and Austin Moyer had three RBIs.
The Terriers had back-to-back singles from Jake Williams and Mac Doyle to open the second inning. They advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Neil Robinette. A fielder’s choice by Mike McDonnell scored Williams for a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the third, Kyle Behrendt doubled off the left center wall with one out, but was left on base. In the Spartans half of the third, they loaded the bases with an error, hit by pitch and bunt. A single up the middle by Eric Guillen scored two runs, while another single up the middle from Jimmy Tanner scored one run for a 3-1 lead. A bases loaded walk brought in a run, while a single from Blake Green through the right side brought in two more runs to take a 6-1 lead. A double-play ball scored a run, plus a single by Keith Bisgounis scored one for an 8-1 lead after three innings.
The Spartans added four more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Ryan Wilkins led off with a single and an infield single from Eric Guillen plus a throwing error allowed a run to score. A single from Jimmy Tanner plated a run, while a double by Phillip Morgan and a triple by Austin Moyer scored two more for a 12-1 lead.
Both teams were held scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings. Wofford added one run on a solo home run over the right center fence by Mac Doyle in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh, Brian Dempsey led off with a double and a single by Keith Bisgounis drove in the run to make it 13-2.
In the top of the eighth, the Terriers led off with singles from David Roney and James Foster, but both runners were stranded. USC Upstate left one runner on base in the bottom of the eighth and Wofford went down in order in the top of the ninth to end the game.
Wofford’s Anthony Rowland started the second game of his career and went three innings with nine hits and twelve runs allowed, plus one strikeout. J.D. Osborne threw a career-long four innings with four hits, one run and four strikeouts. Reid McElveen pitched the eighth and did not allow a hit.
The Spartans started Matt Branham, the team’s top weekend starter and leader in strikeouts, and he went eight innings with two runs and seven hits allowed and seven strikeouts without a walk. Adam Waters threw the ninth and had one strikeout.
Wofford will host South Carolina on Wednesday at 7:00 pm before a home series with the College of Charleston begins on Friday night.
No. 1 North Carolina 15, No. 28 Elon 6
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels snapped the third-longest winning streak in the nation with a 15-6 baseball victory over the 28th-ranked Elon Phoenix from Boshamer Stadium on Tuesday night. The win improved UNC to 36-11 while Elon, which had won nine straight games, dropped to 33-14 on the year.
Coming into the night, the Phoenix had scored 10 or more runs in eight consecutive games.
The Tar Heels jumped on top in the bottom of the first, sending nine men to the plate and scoring five runs. The scoring started when Levi Michael ripped his 12th homer of the year over the wall in right following a single from Ben Bunting to start the game. Dustin Ackley and Kyle Seager then drew back-to-back walks before Mark Fleury doubled home both runners to give UNC a 4-0 lead. Fleury headed to third on a sacrifice bunt by Garrett Gore and then scored on a two-out error by the Phoenix.
Elon got one back in the top of the second when Mike Melillo belted his 14th homer of his career, a one-out solo shot to right-center. Dallas Tarleton made it back-to-back bombs as his solo shot off the scoreboard in left-center made the score 5-2. The shot was the 10th of the year for Tarleton, the seventh Phoenix player to hit 10 or more this season.
After the first two hitters of the bottom of the second were retired, Ackley, Seager and Fleury all drew walks to load the bases. The Phoenix escaped damage, however, when Gore flew out to center.
Justin Hilt led off the Phoenix third with his 14th home run of the season, this one to left-center.
Carolina's half of the third started with Mike Cavasinni being hit by a pitch and Ryan Graepel walking. With one out Bunting loaded the bags with an infield single. Ackley drove in two with a two-out single to center that left runners on the corners.
Fleury walked to start the UNC fourth before Gore's bunt single put two runners aboard. Cavasinni followed with a single down the left field line to load the bases. Graepel grounded a ball to third and the throw to the plate was dropped, allowing Fleury to score. A balk then brought in Gore before Tarron Robinson singled off first base to score two more and the Tar Heels grabbed an 11-3 lead. Ackley's two-out double fell just out of the reach of a diving Hilt in right to plate Robinson. Seager followed with another double, plating Ackley as the Tar Heels batted around.
Carolina added another in the fifth when Graepel's double plated Cavasinni from first and one more in the sixth when Fleury singled home Michael.
Harry Austin led off the Phoenix ninth with a single and, following a one-out walk to Hilt that put two runners on, scored on Cory Harrilchak's double into the right field corner. Chase Austin's single through the left side of the infield plated Hilt before Pat Irvine doubled down the right field line to drive in Harrilchak as Elon made the score 15-6.
Tom Porter (1-3) took the loss for Elon after he gave up four runs without recording an out. Phoenix hurlers tied a season-high with eight walks allowed.
Brian Moran (5-1) grabbed the win with 2.2 scoreless innings of relief work.
Harrilchak (3-for-4) doubled in the first inning to extend his streak of safely reaching base to 80 games. Hilt had two hits while Melillo recorded a 3-for-4 day at the plate. Tarleton extended his hitting streak to a career-best 11 games while Harry Austin's ninth inning single ran his hitting streak to 10 games, equaling a career-high.
For UNC, both Ackley (3-for-4) and Fleury (2-for-3) drove in three runs.
Elon returns to SoCon play with a 3 p.m. start at Western Carolina in Cullowhee, N.C. on Friday afternoon.
Georgia State 9, Samford 3
ATLANTA, Ga.?The Samford baseball team dropped its final non-conference game of the regular season, 9-3, at Georgia State Tuesday evening.
With the loss, Samford drops to 17-32 on the season. The loss is Samford’s first midweek loss since April 8, as the Bulldogs had won their last four midweek games. Georgia State improves to 30-18 on the season with the win.
Samford was led at the plate by Wayne Miller, going 4-for-5. Mason Meredeth went 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Stephen Ballard was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Kyle Putkonen pitched 5.2 innings, giving up five earned runs on eight hits to take the loss and drop his season record to 4-3.
For Georgia State at the plate, Nick Hogan, Derek Simmons and Matt Van Horn had two hits each. Marc Mimeault homered in a 1-for-2 performance. GSU’s Adam Knight pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on 10 hits to earn the win.
Both teams were scoreless through the first three innings, but Georgia State got on the scoreboard first with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning.
With one out in the fourth inning, Van Horn reached base on a fielder’s choice, with Bradley Logan, who had reached base on a Samford error, being thrown out on the play. After Van Horn stole second and Mimeault walked, Theo Asher singled to center field to drive in Van Horn for a 1-0 GSU lead.
Samford came back to tie the score with a run in the top of the fifth inning. Joe Durham was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and then stole second base. With one out in the inning, Byron Soler singled up the middle to drive in Durham to tie the score at 1-1.
Georgia State took the lead for good with five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to make the score 6-1. Hogan drove in two runs and Mimeault, Carl Moniz and Simmons drove in a run each in the inning to give the Panthers a five-run lead.
Samford came back with two runs in the top of the seventh inning to cut the GSU lead to 6-3. Marcus Rodriguez walked to lead off the inning. With one out in the inning, Miller doubled, moving Rodriguez to third base. Rodriguez scored the first run of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Ballard. After Miller stole third base, he scored on a single by Meredeth for Samford’s final run of the game.
The Panthers answered with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to push their lead to 9-3. Mimeault hit a home run with Van Horn on base for the first two runs of the inning. Justin Malone doubled to drive in Michael McCree for a six-run GSU lead.
Samford will return to action on Saturday, May 9, when the Bulldogs play host to the Georgia Southern Eagles in a Southern Conference doubleheader at 1 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The teams will also play a single game Sunday at 1 p.m., which will wrap up the regular season for the Bulldogs.
UNCG/Campbell Contest Cancelled
GREENSBORO, NC ? UNC Greensboro’s game that was originally scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday evening has been cancelled due to inclement weather in the Greensboro area.
The game will not be made up at a later date.
The Spartans will return to action this weekend as UNCG hosts Appalachian State for the final three-game series at home this year. The two teams will meet at 7 p.m. on Friday followed by a 2 p.m. game on Saturday. The series finale will be on Sunday at 1 p.m.