Elon 13, Western Carolina 11 (11 inn.)
CULLOWHEE, N.C. -- Pat Irvine's two-run homer in the top of the 11th inning lifted the Elon Phoenix to a 13-11 Southern Conference baseball victory over the Western Carolina Catamounts, clinching the second consecutive league title for the Phoenix and the third in four years for the program. The win, Elon's 15th straight in league play, moved the Phoenix to 34-14 overall and 21-4 in SoCon action, equaling the program's most-ever SoCon wins. Western dropped to 30-18, 16-8.
John Brebbia (1-0) earned his first career win after striking out the side in the 10th while Ken Ferrer picked up his first collegiate save by recording the final three outs.
Harry Austin's infield single was followed by a walk to Cory Harrilchak to begin the first inning. Both runners then moved up on a wild pitch before Chase Austin's bunt single scored Harry Austin with the first run of the day. The Phoenix loaded the bags with a walk to Irvine. Elon added two more when Bennett Davis singled home two with a ball off the 14-foot high wall in left.
Walks to Neal Pritchard and Harrilchak turned into a run when Chase Austin singled through the left side to drive home Pritchard with one away. After Harrilchak took third on a wild pitch before Irvine walked to load the bases. Harrilchak came in with Elon's fifth run when Davis sent a sacrifice fly to left-center. Mike Melillo sent a 2-2 pitch deep to left and out for his 15th homer of the season as the Phoenix grabbed an 8-0 lead.
With two outs in the top of the third, Harry Austin and Cory Harrilchak each drew walks. After a double steal, Chase Austin singled to left to drive home both runners.
In the bottom of the third Mitchell Hatley and Trevor Collias singled with one out. The second out was recorded when Nick Liles lined out to third. On the play, Elon tried to double Hatley off of second, but the throw was off the mark allowing both runners to advance. Ross Heffley followed with a double down the left field line to score both runners, trimming the Catamount deficit to 10-2.
With Collias on second and Liles on first, Heffley doubled to right-center to score Collias with Western's third run. Brent Greer's infield single brought home Liles and put runners on the corners.
J.C. Lyons led off the Catamount sixth with a single to right, stole second and went to third on Reid Rollison's ground out. Mitchell Hatley's infield single brought in Lyons as the Cats closed within five at 10-5. Collias followed with a single to left before Liles singled to left to score Hatley. On the play, the throw to the plate was wide and both runners advanced. After Heffley walked to load the bases Brent Greer reached on a fielder's choice that erased Collias at the plate. Stephen Notaro then walked to force home Liles. Matt Johns followed by lining a two-RBI single to right-center to move the Catamounts within just a run at 10-9.
The Phoenix got one back in the top of the seventh when Justin Hilt crushed his 15th homer of the year over the wall in left.
Heffley walked to begin the Western eighth before Greer singled through the left side. Notaro popped up a bunt for the first out before a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position. Johns' sac fly to center scored Heffley and was deep enough to advance Greer to third. Another wild pitch uncorked by Thomas Girdwood allowed Greer to score to tie the game at 11.
Dylan de Graaf started the Catamount ninth with a single before stealing second with one out. After Collias struck out for the second out of the inning before Liles fanned to end the threat and force extra innings.
The bottom of the 10th began with a Heffley single before going to second on a two-out single from Johns. After a passed ball moved both runners up before Lyons looked at a called strike three.
With two down in the top of the 11th, Chase Austin singled up the middle before Irvine belted his 16th homer of the year over the 390 marker in dead center which put Elon up 13-11.
In the bottom of the 11th, de Graaf walked to put the lead off man on base. Hatley's single through the right side put runners on the corners. On Collias' strike out Hatley swiped second, putting the tying run in scoring position for Liles. After Liles popped out to short, Heffley grounded out to third to end the game.
Chase Austin tied a career-high with five hits. He also scored three runs and drove in four. Irvine was 2-for-4 with two scored and two driven in. Both Davis and Melillo finished with three RBI. Harry Austin went 1-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 11 games while Harrilchak has now reached base safely in 81 straight games.
For Western, Heffley was 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBI. Johns drove in three with his 2-for-5 day. Hatley scored twice and drove in one with a 3-for-5 outing.
The Citadel 7, Furman 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Citadel’s Matt Talley threw six innings of scoreless ball and combined with two other relievers to shut out Furman, 7-0, in Southern Conference baseball baseball action Friday afternoon at Latham Stadium.
Talley, a freshman left-hander from Sumter, S.C., who improves to 7-1 on the season, scattered five hits and walked one while striking out four in helping The Citadel (30-19, 16-10 SoCon) earn the series victory over Furman (21-25, 9-17 SoCon). The teams will take a break Saturday for each institution’s graduation before the Bulldogs go for the sweep on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
Citadel relievers Raymond Copenhaver amd Drew Mahaffey combined to limit Furman to a pair of hits over the five three innings to nail down the victory. The Paladins managed only one extra base hit in the contest, a Matt Hemingway leadoff double in the seventh off Talley, but Copenhaver came on to record three outs to strand him at third.
Richard Jones’ RBI single through the right side in the third inning off Paladin stater Jay Friedman (2-4) scored Nick Orvin and gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead and all the offense they would need.
Sonny Meade made it 2-0 in the fifth with an RBI double, and Richard Jones capped the two-run frame with a run-scoring single that plated Bryan Altman.
It remained 3-0 until the eighth when Matt Simonelli belted a solo home run to left field off Furman reliever Marc DeDecker.
The Bulldogs blew the game open in the ninth, combining two hits with three walks to plate three more runs.
Simonelli paced The Citadel offensively, going 4-for-5 with three RBI. Jones, Orwin, and Meade added two hits apiece for the Bulldogs, and Orgin scored three runs in the contest.
Connor Lind went 3-for-4 for Furman, which managed only seven hits while suffering its third shutout of the season.
College of Charleston 18, Wofford 2
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? The Wofford College baseball team was defeated 18-2 by the College of Charleston on Friday evening at Russell C. King Field. The Cougars jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first and added six runs in the seventh while allowing only two runs by the Terriers.
Wofford is 17-27 on the season and 7-17 in the Southern Conference. The College of Charleston is 33-16 overall and 15-10 in the conference. The Terriers were led by Kyle Behrendt with two hits and two RBIs, while Landon Bennett and Josh McKinney also each had two hits. The Cougars had three hits and three RBIs from Austin Morgan and three RBIs from Ryan Daniels.
The Cougars opened the game by loading the bases on two walks and a single. A single from Ryan Daniels scored two runs. A single by Cole Raker added a run. With the bases loaded again, a single from Austin Morgan scored two runs and the College of Charleston had a 5-0 lead.
In the top of the second, Joey Bergman hit his 14th home run of the season. A double from Ryan Daniels drove in a run as well for a 7-0 lead. Neither team added runs in the third, fourth or fifth innings.
The College of Charleston added a run in the top of the sixth when Joash Brodin grounded out and brought in one run for an 8-0 advantage. In the bottom of the sixth, Wofford had two men on base, but a double play ended the innings.
With two out in the top of the seventh, a single and a double from Austin Morgan added a run. A fielding error allowed one run to score, while a wild pitch added another run. A single from Joash Brodin drove in a run as well and a balk gave the Cougars a sixth run and a 14-0 lead.
Wofford had hits from Landon Bennett and Josh McKinney in the bottom of the eighth, but both runners were stranded. In the top of the ninth, Joey Bergman hit a sacrifice fly to score one run and an error allowed another run to score. A home run to left field by Kolby Epley scored two more runs for eighteen runs on the day.
In the bottom of the ninth, Wofford opened with a walk by Jake Williams and then a home run down the right field line gave the Terriers their only two runs of the day.
Wofford’s Scott Summers (3-4) went the first 6.2 innings and allowed ten runs on ten hits with three strikeouts. Reid McElveen allowed one hit and four runs (all unearned). Mason Bradley struck out three and allowed four runs on two hits in 1.2 innings. Cash Collins recorded the final two outs, including one strikeout.
The College of Charleston starter Jesse Simpson (9-2) threw seven innings with only three hits allowed along with eight strikeouts. Evan Goldberg went the final two innings with four hits and two runs allowed with four strikeouts.
Wofford will continue the series against the College of Charleston on Saturday at 3:00 pm and Sunday at 1:00 pm. On Sunday, the Terriers will honor seniors Scott Summers and Reid McElveen prior to the game.
UNC Greensboro 3, Appalachian State 1
GREENSBORO, NC ? Blake Hassebrock came in relief in the first inning and pitched a career-high 7 2/3 innings, while striking out six, as UNC Greensboro halted Appalachian State’s nine-game winning streak, 3-1, on Friday evening at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. The Mountaineers had won 22 of their last 25 games coming into the contest.
Hassebrock came into the game with just two outs in the first inning for the Spartans (17-26, 5-18 SoCon) and allowed only three hits to pick up his second win of the season. Brent O’Berry hit a game-winning two-run double in the seventh inning to put UNCG ahead.
Aubrey Edens was credited with just his third loss of the season for the Mountaineers (28-18, 13-13 SoCon) after allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings of work.
The game didn’t start off well for the Spartans though as Appalachian State jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the first pitch of the game. Rand Smith took a fastball over the wall in left field for his eighth home run of the season. The Mountaineers went on to load the bases later in the inning, but Hassebrock came into the game with two outs and got Jason Wallace to strike out on three pitches.
The Spartans knotted the game at one in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, Kris Richards recorded the first base hit for UNCG on a single through the right side. After a Spartan strike out, Brent O’Berry walked and Drew Gehringer then hit an infield single to the shortstop to load the bases. Corey Overholtzer then hit a chopper down the third base line for another infield single to allow Richards to score from third.
Hassebrock continued to dominate on the mound as he set down 12 consecutive batters from the third through seventh inning.
UNCG was finally able to break through in the seventh inning with the winning run. Rob Gilliam singled up the middle to lead off the inning and Michael Wall followed with a walk. Kris Richards then laid down a bunt and had the ball stop on the first base line for an infield single to load the bases. That was the night for Edens as he was relieved by Chris Patterson. Patterson got the first batter to strike out, but O’Berry then delivered a two-run double to right center to put the Spartans ahead, 3-1.
Hassebrock continued to cruise into the ninth inning where he recorded the first out of the inning, but left after walking Wallace. Gilliam came in to pitch and hit a batter before loading the bases on a walk. He recovered by striking out Smith swinging before getting Wes Hobson to strike out looking to end the game.
The Spartans and Mountaineers return to the field on Saturday for the second game of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.