Furman 14, Wofford 6
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? Dylan Cole homered twice and drove in five runs to power Furman to a 14-6 win over Wofford in the opening game of a three-game Southern Conference baseball series Friday evening at Latham Stadium.
Cole, a freshman catcher from Spartanburg’s Dorman High School, drilled a two-run home run in the fourth inning and came back an inning later with a three-run blast to help Furman (14-33, 6-19 SoCon) snap an eight-game losing streak and 10-game SoCon skid.
The loss was the eighth consecutive for Wofford (17-33,9-16 SoCon) in Greenville.
After Wofford took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Furman took advantage of a pair of errors to plate three runs in its first at bat.
The Terriers cut it to 3-2 in the fourth on Konstantine Diamaduros’ solo home run to right field, but the Paladins answered with four runs in the bottom of the frame. Reese Wade led off with a single, and two batters later Cole directed a Tom Dolinak pitch over the left field fence for a 5-2 lead.
Furman used aggressive base running to plate two more runs in the fourth, with the first coming on a Will Owens bunt single to third base that scored Rob Fondu. Owens, who advanced to second after a throw home from first base failed to get Fondu at the plate, then came around to score on Will Muzika’s RBI single through the left side that stretched the Paladin advantage to 7-2.
The Paladins blew the game open with a six-run fifth, highlighted by Cole’s second round tripper of the game, a three-run shot to left center field, and an Aaron Thompkins RBI double.
Thompkins added a solo home run, his third of the campaign, in the seventh off Terrier reliever Anthony Rowland.
The solid run support made a winner of Daniel Stallsmith (3-2), who allowed five runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out one.
Freshman Matt Plate earned his first collegiate save after allowing a run on four hits over the final 3 1/3 innings.
Dolinak (0-5) was charged with the loss. He yielded 10 runs, eight of which were earned, on nine hits while walking four and fanning six.
Thompkins backed up Cole’s heavy bat by going 3-for-5 with two-RBI and two runs scored. Wade also had a pair of hits, and Owens scored three runs for Furman, which collected 12 hits in the contest.
Wofford was paced by James Foster’s 3-for-5 performance. Kyle Behrendt, David Roney, and Diamaduros also had two hits apiece for the Terriers.
Furman’s three home runs in the contest upped the Paladins’ season tally to 54, breaking the old standard of 52 set in 2006.
Game two of the series is set for 5:00 p.m. Saturday.
Samford 7, Western Carolina 6
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team built an early lead and hung on late for a 7-6 Southern Conference win over Western Carolina in the first game of a three-game series Friday night at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
Samford improves to 28-20 overall and 15-9 in SoCon play with the win. Western Carolina drops to 30-17-1 overall and 12-12-1 in league play with the loss.
Samford was led at the plate by Stephen Ballard, going 3-for-4. Michael Johnson went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Mason Meredeth hit a two-run home run in a 1-for-4 performance at the plate. Trey Hayes went 2-for-4 for the Bulldogs.
Jonathan Stephens pitched 5.1 innings, giving up five runs on seven hits and striking out four batters while walking none to get the win and improve to 7-1 on the season. Stephens is now 14-1 in his career at Samford.
Lex Rutledge tossed the final 1.2 innings, holding the Catamounts hitless and striking out four batters to earn his 10th save of the season. Rutledge is now one away from Samford's single-season record for saves which is 11 set by Joseph Edens in 2006.
For Western Carolina at the plate, Ollie Goulder went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Cameron Dullnig and Trevor Collias each had two hits and an RBI for the Catamounts. Taylor Sandefur pitched 6.0 innings, giving up seven runs on nine hits to take the loss and drop to 1-2 on the season.
Samford plated three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take an early three-run lead.Wayne Miller, who opened the inning with a walk, scored from third base on a wild pitch for the game's first run. Gary Cramer later singled through the right side of the infield to drive in Ballard and Bo Smith to make the score 3-0.
The Bulldogs added a run in the bottom of the third inning to push their lead to 4-0. Johnson doubled to left field to drive in Smith for a four-run Samford lead.
Western Carolina came back with three runs in the top of the fourth inning to cut the Samford lead to 4-3. Dullnig singled up the middle to drive in Collias for the Catamounts' first run of the game. Tyler White then doubled to left-center field to drive in Dullnig and Goulder to bring WCU to within one run.
Samford plated two runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth inning to make the score 6-3. Meredeth hit a home run to left field, his 11th homer of the season, with Ballard on base for a three-run Samford lead.
Samford made the score 7-3 with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Johnson hit a solo home run to right field for Samford's final run of the game.
Western Carolina plated two runs in the top of the sixth inning to make the score 7-5. Goulder hit a two-run homer to left field with Collias on base for the two runs in the sixth.
The Catamounts added one final run in the top of the eighth inning to cut the Samford lead to 7-6. Collias tripled to right-center field to drive in Ross Heffley for the game's final run.
After Collias' triple, Rutledge relieved Andrew Jones on the mound. Rutledge got the Bulldogs out of the eighth inning with no further damage and he struck out the side in the top of the ninth inning to secure the win for the Bulldogs.
Samford and Western Carolina will continue their three-game SoCon series with a game Saturday afternoon. The game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start from Joe Lee Griffin Field. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu.
The Citadel 8, UNC Greensboro 2
Charleston, S.C. - Asher Wojciechowski threw a complete game and gave up only two hits while The Citadel stole eight bases in an 8-2 win over UNC Greensboro on Friday afternoon at Riley Park.
The Citadel (32-20, 19-6) maintained their lead in the Southern Conference standings with a dominating performance from Wojciechowski (Sturgis, Mich.) who threw his second complete game of the season. The Bulldog ace allowed only two hits, two runs, one walk and struck out 13 Spartan batters to improve to 9-2 on the season.
The Bulldogs swiped eight bases in the game, a season high. It's also the most stolen bases in a single game for The Citadel since they stole nine vs. Charleston Southern on May 7, 2003. The Cadets have now stolen 13 bases in their last two games.
Another quick start for The Citadel allowed the Bulldogs to plate four runs in the bottom of the first off UNCG starter Blake Hassebrock. Nick Orvin (Moncks Corner, S.C.) singled to start the game and then stole second. A groundout by Matt Simonelli(Orlando, Fla.) moved the leadoff man to third and he came into score on an RBI single by Justin Mackert (Cleveland, Ohio) after a walk to Bryan Altman (Summerville, S.C.).Kyle Jordan (Goose Creek, S.C.) then singled to left to score Altman. After a double steal by Mackert and Jordan, David Greene (Columbia, S.C.) poked a single through the right side to score both runners and put the Bulldogs in front, 4-0.
The Citadel would get two more in the third when Altman led off with a single, then stole second and would advance to third on a throwing error by catcher Zach Leach. Mackert then walked and stole second and Jordan would single to right to bring in Altman and move Mackert to third. After a steal by Jordan, Hassebrock would throw a wild pitch that brough Mackert in to make it 6-0.
Altman would single again in the fourth and Jordan would bring him in once again with an RBI single to left this time. The Bulldogs would get their eighth run of the game off Spartan reliever Zach Furl in the eighth when Mackert walked, advanced to second and third on two sperate wild pitches and then scored on a pop up by Greene to deep in the hole at second base.
UNC Greensboro (20-28, 7-18) got their first hit by Corey Overholtzer in the top of the fourth when he hit a solo homer to right. An RBI single by Chris Barker in the top of the ninth would score pinch hitter Joey Frabasile, who was hit by a pitch for the only other hit of the day for the Spartans.
Jordan went 3-for-4 with a run, three RBI and a walk, while Orvin went 3-for-4 with a run scored and was hit by a pitch to lead the Bulldog offense. Altman went 2-for-4 with three runs scored. For the Spartans, Overholtzer went 1-for-3 with a solo homer, a run, an RBI and a walk. Hassebrock (0-6) took the loss, going 5.0 innings, allowing 10 hits, seven runs, four walks and striking out five.
"Asher was very dominant this afternoon," said Bulldogs Head Coach Fred Jordan. "That's about as good as he has looked all year long. We have to be aggressive when we have four or five guys that can run and we played very relaxed overall in the game. There's no doubt that winning on Friday night is very important and it was good to see us get back to that this week."
The Citadel and UNC Greensboro continue their series on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Riley Park.
Georgia Southern 14, Davidson 1
DAVIDSON, N.C. ? Andy Moye scattered six hits through seven innings, holding the Davidson Wildcats to just a solo home run from freshman center fielder Coleman Barron, and got plenty of run support from his offense, as Georgia Southern secured the series victory with a 14-1 win Friday evening at Wilson Field.
Barron was the lone offense for Davidson (19-28, 5-21 SoCon), knocking a one-out solo home run to left field in the fifth inning. Georgia Southern (32-19, 18-8 SoCon) was already leading 11-0, though, after putting up eight runs on seven hits, including a grand slam from shortstop Eric Phillips (2-for-5, 5 RBI), in the second off Wildcat starter Chris Lamb (L, 2-8).
Junior right-hander Ian Horkley got the elusive third out to get the Wildcats out of the inning, but Georgia Southern tacked on two more runs in the third on an RBI-groundout by second baseman Kevin Bowles (2-for-5, 2 RBI) and first baseman Kyle Blackburn’s (2-for-3, RBI) 15th home run of the season.
Horkley was efficient for Davidson, scattering five hits for just three runs, including a two-out solo home run to leadoff man Shawn Payne in the fifth, over five innings of relief for Lamb, but Moye (W, 8-3) and Eagle reliever Chris Myers held the Wildcat bats in check.
Davidson finished with nine hits, three by freshman third baseman Andrew Barna (3-for-4). Along with Barron, junior right fielder Sam Payne (1-for-4), sophomore first basemanDrew Gadaire (1-for-4) and sophomore second basemanCalvin Sigelbaum (1-for-4) each had a hit for Davidson.
Georgia Southern tacked on its final three runs in the eighth on four hits, including a two-RBI double from third baseman A.J. Wirnsberger, before junior right-hander Matt Sliwiak got three outs to strand a runner.
The Eagles finished with 16 hits, paced by nine-hole hitter Randy Williams, who went 3-for-5 with two RBI. Payne, Bowles, Phillips and designated hitter Michael Burruss each had a pair of hits.
Davidson and Georgia Southern will finish the series with a noon game tomorrow.
ASU-Charleston Rained Out
BOONE, N.C. ? Friday's Southern Conference baseball series opener between Appalachian State University and College of Charleston was postponed due to rain.
The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Saturday at ASU's Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium. First pitch for the twinbill is set for 1 p.m.