Samford 7, UNC Greensboro 6
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team plated three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 7-6, come-from-behind Southern Conference win over UNC Greensboro Saturday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
"What a phenomenal finish," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "In that last inning we had some great at-bats by our kids. I'm proud of the way our kids fought"
With Samford trailing, 6-4 with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Stephen Ballard walked and Mason Meredeth singled, moving Ballard to second base. A wild pitch then moved Meredeth to second base and Ballard to third.
David Schulze then walked to load the bases. Ballard then scored on a wild pitch to make the score 6-5. Bo Smith then grounded out to first base to drive in Meredeth to tie the score and move Schulze to third. Trey Hayes then singled to drive in Schulze to give Samford the 7-6 win.
Samford was led at the plate by Meredeth, going 3-for-4. Wayne Miller and Schulze each had a home run and two RBI in the game. Smith and Hayes each had an RBI in the win for the Bulldogs.
Lex Rutledge pitched the final 1.1 innings, giving up one unearned run on two hits to earn the win for Samford and improve to 4-0 on the season. Kyle Putkonen started the game on the mound, pitching 6.1 innings, giving up three earned runs on seven hits. Mark Lewallyn and Michael Gunter also saw time on the mound.
UNC Greensboro was led at the plate by Ed Jayjack, going 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and two RBI. Lloyd Enzor went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Harry Slade and Eric Brindle also had two hits each for the Spartans. Blake Hassebrock pitched the complete game, giving up seven runs on eight hits to take the loss and drop his record to 0-3.
The game was scoreless through the first three innings. UNC Greensboro jumped on top with one run in the top of the fourth inning. Corey Overholtzer hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Chris Barker for a 1-0 UNCG lead.
UNC Greensboro then added two runs in the top of the sixth inning to push its lead to 3-0. Jayjack hit a two-run home run to right field with Slade on base for a three-run UNCG lead.
Samford came back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the Spartans' lea to 3-2. Schulze homered to right field with Meredeth on base to bring Samford to within one run.
The Spartans pushed their lead to 4-2 with a run in the top of the seventh inning. Barker was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in Brindle for a two-run UNCG lead.
Samford tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Miller hit a home run to left field with Brad Moss on base to make the score 4-4.
UNC Greensboro plated a run in the eighth inning and another in the ninth to take a 6-4 lead. In the eighth inning, Enzor doubled to right-center field to drive in Jayjack to give UNCG a 5-4 lead. In the ninth inning, Enzor singled to right field to drive in Jayjack for a two-run Spartan lead, setting the stage for Samford's ninth-inning comeback.
With the win, Samford improves to 19-11 overall and 10-1 in SoCon play. The win is Samford's ninth-straight SoCon victory. UNC Greensboro drops to 14-17 overall and 2-11 in league play.
The teams will conclude their three-game series with a game Sunday at 1 p.m. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. The game can also be viewed online via the Bulldog Big Screen at www.samfordsports.com.
Georgia Southern 5, Elon 4
ELON, N.C. -- Nearly every time that Elon found itself down to Georgia Southern on Saturday, the Phoenix was able to rally. Nearly every time. The Phoenix put the tying run aboard in the bottom of the ninth, but could not score and fell to the Eagles by a 5-4 margin in the second game of a three-game Southern Conference baseball series from Latham Park. The rubber game will be played on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Elon, which had won six consecutive games overall and seven straight SoCon contests, fell to 21-11 overall and 9-5 in league play. Georgia Southern improved to 16-15, 8-6.
Justin Hilt led off the bottom of the first by reaching on a Georgia Southern error that allowed him to end up on second. Alex Swim followed by driving a 3-1 pitch up the middle to plate Hilt home with the game's first run. Elon put the hit-and-run on with one out and Ryan Adams bounced a ball through the right side of the infield to put Phoenix runners on the corners. Neal Pritchard gave Elon a 2-0 lead as his single to left brought home Swim.
Victor Roache started the Eagle second with a triple to right-center that Elon center fielder Harry Austin nearly made a spectacular play on. Steve Cochrane followed with a walk before Daniel Britt struck out the next two hitters. Shawn Payne then doubled down the left field line to score Roache. On the play, Cochrane was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
Georgia Southern loaded the bases with consecutive one-out singles from Kyle Blackburn, A.J. Wirnsberger and Eric Philips. Roache followed with a soft line drive single up the middle that tied the game as Blackburn scored. The Eagles took a 3-2 lead on Cochrane's RBI ground out to first that allowed Wirnsberger to cross the plate.
Elon got its first base runner since the second inning when Mike Melillo singled to left to start the bottom of the sixth. Adams followed with a double to right-center to put two aboard. The Phoenix knotted the score at three on Pritchard's sac fly to the gap in right-center.
The Eagles went back on top in the seventh. Blackburn reached on an error to start the at bat and then went to second on a Wirnsberger walk. After a sacrifice bunt advanced both runners, Roache grounded out to third to plate Blackburn with the go-ahead score.
In the bottom of the inning, Scott Riddle lined a single to left and then stole second and went to third on a throwing error on the play. Harry Austin followed with a walk to put runners on the corners. After Austin was caught too far off of first, Hilt walked and promptly swiped second on the first pitch to Swim. Swim delivered again for the Phoenix, lining a single to center to score Riddle and tie game at 4-4. Melillo followed by walking on four pitches to load the bases, but Elon was unable to capitalize and regain the lead as Adams grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Michael Burruss began the top of the eighth with a single just out of the reach of a diving Seth Canipe at second and beat the throw to second on a sacrifice bunt by pinch-hitter Arthur Owens. Payne's infield single then loaded the bases. A chopper to first allowed Elon to force Burruss out at the plate, but left the bases full for the Eagles. The go-ahead run was able to walk home when Blackburn was hit by a pitch. Elon kept it right there though as Kyle Webb induced a double play from Wirnsberger to end the frame.
Riddle opened the bottom of the ninth with a single up the middle. Austin then moved pinch-runner Matt Kirchner to second with a sacrifice bunt. After Hilt struck out, Swim grounded out to second to end the game. It marked the first time that Kirchner failed to score when appearing as a pinch-runner this season. He had scored each of the previous five times in that role this year.
Dexter Bobo (1-0) picked up the win after throwing three scoreless innings in relief of starter Matt Murray. Bobo allowed two hits and struck out three. Murray gave up four runs on six hits. He also struck out six.
Ken Ferrer (5-2) was charged with the loss after he gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits in his 2.1 innings out of the bullpen. Britt surrendered three runs on 12 hits in five frames.
Swim, Pritchard and Riddle accounted for six of Elon's eight hits as each went 2-for-4 on the afternoon. Swim and Pritchard both recorded two RBI.
Roache went 3-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI to lead the Eagle attack which banged out 14 hits. Five other Georgia Southern players had two-hit games.
Furman 8, #26 College of Charleston 5
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Aaron Thompkins stroked a game tying RBI single in the seventh inning and came around to score the go-ahead run on a wild pitch to help Furman take down 26th-ranked College of Charleston, 8-5, in the second game of a Southern Conference series at Latham Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The Paladins (11-20, 5-9 SoCon), who have won six straight over the Cougars (23-10, 8-6 SoCon) in Greenville, will go for the series sweep in a 1:00 p.m. Sunday contest.
Trailing 5-4, Furman took advantage of a pair of hits, a hit batsman, an error, a balk, and a wild pitch to plate two runs in the seventh to take the lead for good.
Pinch-hitter Brian Harrison was plunked on the first pitch of the inning by College of Charleston starting pitcher Kevin Decker. Matt Bona, who pinch-ran for Harrison, moved to second on a sacrifice and then to third on a balk by Cougar reliever Tom Schiller. Thompkins followed with an RBI grounder up the middle against a drawn in infield to score Bona and tie the game at 5-5.
Will Muzika kept the rally going with a solid single that Cougar left-fielder Jose Rodriquez bobbled for an error, allowing Thompson to advance to third and Muzika to second. Schiller then uncorked a wild pitch, and Thompson sprinted home for the go-ahead run.
The Paladins used more sloppy play by the College of Charleston in the eighth to add two insurance runs. Will Miller led off with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on Schiller's third wild pitch of the contest, which came on a strikeout of Reese Wade. Miller then came home on a passed ball, and Wade capped the two-run inning by scoring from second on Will Owens' two-out single to left field.
In the ninth a Paladin error put a runner on with one out, but Stephen Gary came on to induce CofC's Joey Bergman into a game ending double play grounder.
Furman's rally in the seventh and eighth made a winner of reliever Nate Smith (2-0), who yielded a two-run home run in the seventh to CofC's Rob Kral that gave the Cougars a brief 5-4 lead.
Jay Friedman worked a scoreless eighth and retired the leadoff batter in the ninth before giving way to Gary, who recorded his first save of the year.
Paladin starting pitcher Kevin Gaid fashioned his second solid outing in a row, working six innings and giving up five hits, three runs, and two walks while striking out seven before departing with a 4-3 lead.
The loss went to Schiller (4-1), who gave up three runs, though only one was earned, on three hits in two thirds of an inning.
Furman, which fashioned a 10-8 advantage in hits, was paced at the plate by freshman Will Muzika's 3-for-4 performance. Paul Nitto, another freshman, had two hits and a RBI.
Greg Blake led the College of Charleston by going 3-for-4 with two RBI.
Appalachian State 7, Davidson 3
BOONE, N.C. - Tyler Zupcic drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning and Chris Patterson made the lead stand up by striking out seven batters over the final two stanzas in Appalachian State University baseball's 7-3 win over Davidson on Saturday afternoon at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
Zupcic's sacrifice fly to left field snapped a 3-3 tie in the seventh and brought on Patterson, who acheived the remarkable feat of recording seven strikeouts in two innings by fanning all four batters he faced in the eighth. A passed ball on the third strikeout of the inning allowed Davidson's Michael Zeblo to reach base and made the rare four-K inning possible.
Appalachian (21-7-1, 6-7-1 SoCon) trailed 2-0 after one-and-a-half innings but scored once in the second and twice in the third to take a 3-2 advantage. Wes Hobson gave ASU its first lead when he swatted a two-run home run to left field, his eighth homer of the season.
Davidson (13-18, 4-12 SoCon) knotted the score at 3-3 in the fifth on an RBI single by Calvin Singelbaum. DC starter Chris Lamb pitched into the seventh inning but a leadoff single by ASU's Jason Wallace chased the Wildcat southpaw from the game. Two batters later, Wallace scored the go-ahead run on Zupcic's sacrifice fly to left field.
The Mountaineers added three insurance runs in the eighth, with Ryan Stetson driving in two with a single up the middle and Wallace capping the scoring with a sacrifice fly to right.
That would be more than enough for Patterson, who threw 26 of his 35 pitches for strikes while plowing through the Wildcats in the eighth and ninth for his ninth save of the season. The senior's nine saves are the second-most in ASU single-season history behind only the 11 recorded by all-American Zach Quate last year.
Appalachian southpaw Will Helms worked a perfect seventh inning on Saturday to earn the win and move to 2-0 on the season. Hobson, Stetson and Wallace accounted for nine of ASU's 10 hits on the afternoon with three apiece. The trio also drove in six of the Mountaineers' seven runs with each collecting two RBI.
Lamb (1-5) suffered the loss for Davidson. Andrew Barna (2-for-5) was the only Wildcat with multiple hits.
The win was Appalachian's seventh in its last eight games while the loss was Davidson's 11th-straight.
With a series victory already in hand, the Mountaineers go for a three-game weekend sweep on Sunday when the two clubs meet at 1 p.m. at Smith Stadium.
Western Carolina 8, Wofford 2
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Tyler Kirkpatrick used a perfect day at the plate to help lift Western Carolina past Wofford, 8-2, on Saturday afternoon at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. The Catamounts (21-8-1, 5-5-1 SoCon) used a solid pitching performance from veteran Matt Benedict to stifle the Terriers (9-21, 3-8) in game two of the weekend series.
WCU opened to a 3-1 lead after four innings before adding five more runs in the fifth and sixth to create a 7-1 advantage. Saturday's victory gave the Catamounts their fifth consecutive victory, while Wofford dropped its third in a row.
Kirkpatrick, a senior from Charlotte, N.C., was just a triple shy of the cycle with a pair of singles, a double and a home run. In the fifth, the third baseman laced a double down the left field line. The sixth inning capped off the perfect day for the senior as he airmailed a three-run bomb to left field. The round-tripper was Kirkpatrick's seventh of the season as he finished 4-for-4 with four RBI and a run scored.
Benedict (4-0) pitched a gem of a contest for the Catamounts, allowing just two runs on eight hits in seven and a third innings. The St. Petersburg, Fla. native fanned three Terriers to remain unblemished on the season.
Russell Robertson's RBI single to left field in the second drove in the first Catamount run as outfielder Cameron Dullnig crossed the plate. Matt Johns added a run in the third from a Tyler White single. Kirkpatrick extended WCU's lead to 3-0 with a RBI single to left.
Wofford's Mac Doyle sliced the WCU lead to 3-1 in the fourth with his 13th home run of the season.
The Catamount defense proved to be stealthy against Wofford base runners. In the third, the Terriers' James Foster was gunned down at home plate from an on-target throw by centerfielder Dylan de Graaf to the catcher Ollie Goulder. Later in the top of the fifth, Josh McKinney was called out at third from a Cameron Dullnig toss to Kirkpatrick at third base.
WCU notched its fourth run of the day as Johns nailed his fifth homer of the year in the fifth inning.
Western put a four spot on the board in the home-half of the sixth. With the bases jammed, White drove in a run and reached on base by virtue of a fielder's choice. The next pitch resulted in the Catamounts' second home run of the day as Kirkpatrick blasted a three-run shot over the left field fence. Shortstop Austin Schultz collected the other multi-hit contest for WCU as he hit 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Wofford added their second run in the eighth, but were subdued by the plethora of freshman Catamount hurlers.
Matt Batts, Jeremy Sluder and TJ Page combined for an inning of work, giving up just one hit with a strikeout. Adam Curtis closed the door on Wofford, fanning two out of the three batters he faced.
The Terriers' J.D. Osborne (3-1) took his first loss of the season by giving up eight runs, seven earned, on 11 hits in five and two-thirds. David Roney, the catcher for Wofford, collected a 3-for-4 afternoon.
Western Carolina concludes its three game series with the Terriers on Sunday. The first pitch is scheduled for a 2 pm start as lefty Vance Chavis (2-3, 5.11 ERA) will be on the mound for the Catamounts. Live coverage of the game can be accessed online through GameTracker at CatamountSports.com.
Indiana State 11, The Citadel 7
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Indiana State pounded out 15 hits as they moved past The Citadel, 11-7, to even the series on Saturday afternoon at Riley Park.
It was the first loss for The Citadel (23-10) at home since March 23. The Bulldogs scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth cut into the lead, but were unable to overcome a strong start by Indiana State (19-9) starter Joe Rodriguez.
The Bulldogs scored in the bottom of the first when Nick Orvin (Moncks Corner, S.C.) reached on a four-pitch walk to reach base safely in 32 of the 33 games this season. The sophomore stole second and moved to third when Matt Simonelli (Orlando, Fla.) was hit by a pitch and Justin Mackert (Cleveland, Ohio) walked to load the bases. Kyle Jordan (Goose Creek, S.C.) then singled to shallow left to score Orvin and give The Citadel a 1-0 lead.
Indiana State would tie the game in the third inning when shortstop Ben Ferrell advanced to third on a dropped fly ball by Orvin and would score on an RBI groundout by Ryan Strausborger.
The Citadel would score twice in the bottom of the third when Brad Felder (Orangeburg, S.C.) and Simonelli singled to start off the inning. Felder would score and Simonelli would take third on an error by Rodriguez that sailed into left field on an attempted pick off move. A sac fly by Mackert would bring in Simonelli to make it 3-1 in favor of The Citadel.
A pair of doubles, three walks and a hit batter by Bulldog starter Matt Talley (Sumter, S.C.) would plate four runs for the Sycamores in the fourth inning as ISU took a 5-3 lead. In the sixth, Ferrell would single, steal second and score on an RBI single by Strausborger. A single by Kyle Burnam would put runners on second and third with two outs and knock Talley from the game. Chris Boyce (Simpsonville, S.C.) would come in and allow a single to Luke Fieser and to Robby Ort that scored both runners and put Indiana State up, 8-3.
Four singles by the Sycamores off Boyce would plate two more runs in the top of the eighth and a triple by Jordan Pearson and a double by Strausborger in the ninth off Nick Sprowls (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) would put the Sycamores ahead, 11-3.
The Bulldogs would mount a comeback in the bottom of the ninth as David Greene (Columbia, S.C.) led off with a single. Matt Reifsnider (Ormand Beach, Fla.) then pinch hit and doubled to left field, moving Greene to third. William Ladd (Winnsboro, S.C.) then hit a sac fly to right that scored Greene and moved Reifsnider to third. A shot up the middle off the glove of Rodriguez by Felder allowed Reifsnider to score and Felder to reach first and then advance to second on an errant throw by the shortstop. Simonelli then homered to right to cut the lead to 11-7.
That ended the afternoon for Rodriguez who was an out short of a complete game. ISU reliever JT Stenftengal gave up a base hit to pinch hitter Josh Pless (Boiling Springs, S.C.) to right field and hit Mackert to put two runners on. Jordan popped up the short however, on the first pitch of his at-bat to end the game.
Talley (2-2) went 5.2 innings, allowing seven hits, eight runs, a season-high seven earned runs, three walks while striking out five on 125 pitches. Simonelli went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI, a homer and two runs scored. Felder went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.
Rodriguez went 8.2 innings, allowing nine hits, seven runs, five earned runs, four walks and nine strikeouts on 144 pitches. Strausborger went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a pair of RBI to go along with three stolen bases to lead the ISU offense.
"Indiana State really competed well at the plate today," said head coach Fred Jordan. "They hit the ball hard and found a lot of holes as they kept it in play. We knew Rodriguez was very good coming in and knew it would be a battle, he really settled in once he had a two-run lead and made it tough on us."
The Citadel and Indiana State conclude the series on Sunday at noon. Please note that the game was originally scheduled for 1 p.m. and has been moved up an hour at 12 p.m. Play-by-play, video and live stats will be available.