College of Charleston 14, Toledo 5
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. ? Senior Kevin Decker (Washington, Ind./Seminole CC) tossed six innings of hitless relief with seven strikeouts and sophomore 3B Matt Leeds (Boca Raton, Fla./American Heritage) knocked a three-run home run to lift College of Charleston to a 14-5 win over visiting Toledo Tuesday evening at Patriots Point. CofC improves to 10-3 on the season, while the Rockets fall to 5-3.
Toledo’s bats staked the Rockets a 5-0 lead after first-inning home runs by Tim Krofcheck and Jim Vahalik and a pair runs in the second frame on a fielding error and a passed ball. That would be all the offense Toledo would see for the remainder of the game. Charleston got on the board with a single run in the bottom of the second and Decker replaced freshman starter Jake Zokan (Columbia, S.C./Spring Valley) to start the third. Decker would retire the next 17 batters in a row to allow the Cougars to mount an offensive comeback.
Charleston scored five runs in the third and fourth inning to jump to an 11-5 lead after four frames. Senior LF Greg Blake (Westerly, R.I./Lake City CC) led off the third with a solo shot to right center and junior CF Cole Rakar (Mt. Pleasant, S.C./Wando) lined a RBI single to left center scoring junior SS Jamie Holler (Rock Hill, S.C./USC Sumter JC). A RBI single by junior DH Rob Kral (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) and a two-run double to right by junior C Kolby Epley (Yadkinville, N.C./Forbush) closed out the third inning.
The Cougars roared again in the fourth scoring three runs on Leeds’ round-tripper and adding another run on junior RF Baker Knox (San Mateo, Fla./Daytona Beach CC) RBI double to left. Knox would come in on a wild pitch for the 11-5 lead. An RBI single up the middle by Leeds in the fifth increased the CofC lead to 12-5 and Cougars would add two more tallies in the eighth to end the offensive performance.
Decker’s outing earned him his first win of the season, allowing only one baserunner, a two-out walk in the eighth. Zokan gave up five runs on five hits in two innings with three strikeouts. Kral finished the game with three hits and three runs scored.
Matt Kuna took the loss for Toledo, allowing six runs and eight hits in 2.1 innings. Joe Corfman and Matt Delewski led the Rockets with two hits apiece.
Charleston returns to action Wednesday evening as the Cougars host Ball State at Patriots Point. Game time is set for 5 p.m.
Western Carolina 6, SIU-Edwardsville 0
Cullowhee, N.C. ? Three Western Carolina freshmen pitchers made impressive debuts as they combined to shutdown Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, 6-0, in game one of a two-game series at Childress Field /Hennon Stadium. The victory gave Western Carolina their second shutout of the year as WCU improved to 9-2 overall.
The Catamounts tallied two runs each in the first and fourth innings to open up the gap before tacking on two more runs in the sixth and seventh. The WCU pitching staff held the Cougars to just four hits in the contest, as SIUE fell to 2-9 on the season.
Left-hander Mat Batts (1-0) made his first career start after pitching a pre-determined three innings. The hurler got into a bases- loaded jam with no outs in the first inning before retiring the next three Cougars in order. Batts allowed two hits with two walks and four strikeouts in three innings pitched in the victory.
Freshmen T.J. Page and Preston Hatcher picked up the next four innings, allowing just one combined hit with a total of three strikeouts.
Sophomore Ross Heffley collected a pair of singles and drove in three runs to lead the Catamount offense. Heffley’s hit up the middle in the first inning, drove in Cameron Dullnig and Dylan de Graaf to give WCU the early, 2-0, lead. The Snellville, Ga., native earned his third RBI of the day with a walk in the seventh inning, allowing de Graaf to steal home for WCU’s sixth run of the game.
Dullnig finished the afternoon a perfect 3-for-3, scoring a run and reaching on base with a walk. de Graaf ended the contest with two runs scored, a hit and a walk.
Catcher Ollie Goulder hammered his third home run of the season with a moon shot to left field in the fourth inning to extend the Catamounts advantage to 4-0. Goulder led off the sixth inning with a triple to deep center field. The three-bagger was the first of the season for a Catamount batter. Overall, Goulder paced the afternoon with a 2-for-4 performance, tallying two runs and two RBI.
Freshman Cory Cronan earned his first start in right field and collected an RBI double in the sixth inning to drive in Goulder.
Catamount pitchers Matt Benedict and Andrew Blackwell held the Cougars to just one hit in the final two innings of the contest.
SIUE’s Tony Schaeffer (0-1) was hooked with the loss after giving up five runs on eight hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Center fielder Adam Eggemyer led the Cougars with a 2-for-4 afternoon.
Game two of the mid-week contest will begin tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Live coverage of the game can be found online through GameTracker at CatamountSports.com.
Appalachian State 8, Presbyterian 6
CLINTON, S.C. ? Appalachian State University baseball moved to 10-0 on the season with an 8-6 win at Presbyterian on Tuesday afternoon.
With the victory, Appalachian remains one of only eight unbeaten NCAA Division I teams this season and extends its school record for consecutive wins to open a campaign. ASU's 10-game winning streak is also its longest at any point in a season since it won 11-straight contests in 1996.
Sparked by first-inning RBI from David Towarnicky (New Bern, N.C./New Bern) and Ryan Stetson (Charlotte, N.C./Ardrey Kell), the Mountaineers jumped out to a 4-0 lead through four-and-a-half innings on Tuesday at PC.
ASU starter Seth Grant (Etowah, N.C./West Henderson) cruised through four scoreless innings but ran into trouble in the fifth when Presbyterian (2-10) strung together four hits sandwiched around a sacrifice bunt to close the gap to 4-3. However, southpaw Will Helms (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) preserved the one-run lead when he came out of the bullpen to record the final two outs of the inning.
The Mountaineers responded to the Blue Hose rally by plating a run in the sixth on Tyler Zupcic's (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) first career home run and adding three more in the seventh to take a commanding 8-3 lead.
Presbyterian scored a single run in the seventh and a pair of Mountaineer errors in the eighth helped lead to two more PC runs that cut the Appalachian advantage to 8-6. However, ASU closer Chris Patterson (Laurinburg, N.C./Scotland County) came on to record the final four outs and seal the victory.
After getting the Mountaineers out of the fifth-inning jam, Helms also tossed a scoreless sixth to earn his first win of the season. The save was the fifth of the young campaign for Patterson, who has surrendered just three hits over 7.1 scoreless innings in his first year as ASU's full-time closer.
In addition to his first career homer, Zupcic had an RBI single in the seventh and finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two driven in, raising his batting average to .438 in the process. Jerod Faggart (Concord, N.C./Northwest Cabarrus) and Jeremy Dowdy (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) added two hits apiece as well and Stetson also drove in a pair of runs.
Appalachian puts its unblemished record on the line on Wednesday when it faces its toughest test to date at traditional Southeastern Conference power Auburn. First pitch is set for 7:30 ET at Auburn's historic Plainsman Park.
Michigan State 7, Samford 4
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team fell behind early and could not catch up as the Bulldogs fell to Michigan State by a score of 7-4 Tuesday evening at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
Samford drops to 7-5 with the loss. Michigan State improves to 7-4 with the win.
Samford was led at the plate by Trey Hayes, going 2-for-4. Stephen Ballard had a double and two RBI in a 1-for-4 performance. David Schulze and Mason Meredeth drove in a run each for the Bulldogs. Arthur Strauss pitched 2.1 innings, giving up five runs on four hits to take the loss on the mound.
For Michigan State, Ryan Jones went 3-for-4 with a triple and three RBI. Bo Felt went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Andrew Waszak pitched 5.0 innings, giving up four runs on six hits to get the win. Kurtis Frymier pitched the final inning to earn the save for the Spartans.
Samford plated the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning. Wayne Miller scored from third base when Meredeth grounded out to second base for a 1-0 Samford lead.
Michigan State came back with four runs in the top of the second inning and one in the third inning to take the lead for good at 5-1. The first three runs in the second inning were scored when Jones tripled with the bases loaded to drive in Chris Roberts, Andrew Carpenter and Felt for a 3-1 MSU lead. Eli Boike later singled to drive in Jones for a 4-1 Spartan lead. The run in the third inning was scored when Felt singled to drive in Jeff Holm to make the score 5-1.
Samford plated a run in the bottom of the third inning to cut the lead to 5-2. Schulze singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Meredeth.
Samford added two more runs in the fourth inning to Make the score 5-4. Ballard doubled to drive in Brad Moss and Hayes to cut the MSU lead to one run.
Michigan State scored a run in the sixth inning and one more in the ninth to make the final score 7-4. In the sixth inning, Brandon Eckerle walked with the bases loaded to drive in Carpenter to make the score 6-4. The game's final run was scored in the ninth inning when Felt singled up the middle to drive in Eckerle.
Samford will play again Wednesday evening when the Bulldogs play at Jacksonville State at 6:30 p.m. Fans can follow the game live on the internet via GameTracker at the link below.
Eastern Kentucky 9, UNC Greensboro 6
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? UNC Greensboro pulled out to an early 5-2 lead, but Eastern Kentucky scored five unearned runs off four errors as UNCG fell to the Colonels, 9-6, on Tuesday evening at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
Colonel reliever Chris Barte picked up his first win of the year after pitching 1 1/3 innings of relief and allowing one run on two hits. Ryne Purcell came in to pitch a 1-2-3 ninth to record his third save of the season. Wes McBride was credited with the loss after allowing four runs, all unearned, in just a third of an inning of relief.
The Spartans were led at the plate by senior Ed Jayjack who went 3-4 with two RBI and two runs scored along with a walk. Ryan Faidley paced the Colonels by going 3-4 as well and scoring three runs.
Eastern Kentucky got the scoring started in the second inning as Anthony Ottrando led off the inning with a single to center field. After stealing second, he moved to third on Michael Garcia’s single before scoring on a fielder’s choice.
The Spartans responded with two runs in the bottom half of the second to take the early lead. Jayjack led off the inning with a single through the right side and Zach Leach walked two batters later. Chris Barker’s single through the left side scored Jayjack from second and Leach gave UNCG the lead after scoring on Eric Brindle’s single.
Ray Quinones reached base in the third on a fielder’s choice and moved to second on a throwing error by the shortstop with one down in the third. He moved to third on a balk before scoring on Jayjack’s double down the left field line. Lloyd Enzor followed with a single through the left side to score Jayjack and put UNCG ahead, 4-1.
Jayson Langfels began the fourth inning for the Colonels with a leadoff double just inside the third base bag before stealing third base. He then scored on a Spartan fielding error to pull Eastern Kentucky within 4-2.
Corey Overholtzer and Quinones hit back-to-back two-out singles in the bottom half of the fourth to help the Spartans get that run back. As Quinones moved to second on a wild pitch, the Colonel catcher threw it into center field to allow Overholtzer to easily score from third and give the Spartans a 5-2 advantage.
The Colonels started the top of the fifth off with another leadoff double, this time to left field by Faidley. After the Spartans set the next two batters down, Bryce Labhart delivered a double to center field to score Faidley. Labhart scored a batter later on a triple down the left field line to make it a 5-4 game.
Eastern Kentucky took the lead for good in the top of the sixth as the Colonels scored four runs on just two hits and three Spartan errors. Garcia led off the inning by reaching on a throwing error and then advanced to second on another throwing error as Jeff Emerich reached on a fielder’s choice. The Colonels put on the double steal and UNCG’s throw down to third went into left field to allow Garcia to score. A groundout by the Colonels allowed Emerich to score from third and give the visitors a 6-5 lead.
Faidley continued the rally for Eastern Kentucky as he followed with a single up the middle. Jacob Daniel then hit one of four triples by the Colonels to score Faidley. Daniel later scored on a groundout to put EKU ahead, 8-5.
The Spartans battled back in the bottom half of the sixth to pull within 8-6 as Jayjack delivered an RBI single right in front of the right fielder to score Gehringer.
Faidley hit a one-out triple for Eastern Kentucky in the eighth inning and later scored on a single as the Colonels added an insurance run to make it 9-6.
The Spartans return to action this weekend as they host Princeton for a three-game series beginning on Saturday at 1p.m.
Gardner-Webb 12, Furman 6
SHELBY, N.C. ? Josh Drewery went 3-for-5 and drove in six runs to propel Gardner-Webb past Furman, 12-6, in Tuesday afternoon baseball action at Keeter Stadium.
Drewery delivered a two-run double in a five-run third inning to help Gardner-Webb (5-7) erase a 5-1 deficit, stroked another two-run double in the seventh, and finished off his performance with a two-run single in the eighth to pace the Bulldogs’ 16-hit attack.
Aaron Miller went 4-for-4 and scored five runs, and Kurt Fulginiti and O.J. McFarland contributed three hits apiece for Gardner-Webb.
Will Owens and Will Muzika both homered to lead Furman (5-7).
Two pitches into the game the Paladins led 2-0 after Matt Bona led off the contest with a single and Muzika followed with a two-run home run, his team leading fifth of the season, to left field off Bulldog starter Michael Hanzlik.
Gardner-Webb made it 2-1 with a Fulginiti RBI double in the bottom of the first before Furman answered with a Owens three-run home run in the second to stake the Paladins to a 5-1 advantage.
It didn’t last long, however, as Gardner-Webb roughed up Paladin starter Kevin Gaid for five consecutive hits in a five-run third, with the big blow coming on Drewery’s two-run double to left center that tied the game at 5-5. Jake Watts’ sacrifice fly put the Bulldogs up 6-5.
It remained that way until the sixth when Will Miller singled with one out and later scored on a J.B. Jenkins single to left field. Miller’s base hit halted a string of 12 consecutive batters retired by Hanzlik.
Furman’s bullpen yielded a pair of runs in the seventh. Miller and Fulginiti reached on back-to-back singles off Paladin reliever Bobby Lyne (1-1) and advanced on a passed ball. Drewery followed with a two-run double off Kevin Gottlieb to give the Bulldogs an 8-6 lead.
Gardner-Webb padded its advantage with four runs in the eighth on back-to-back two-run singles off Furman’s Bobby Lyne by Drewery and McFarland.
The win went to Brock Wilson (2-1) and Lyne (1-1) took the loss for Furman.
The Paladins play at Charlotte at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday.