College of Charleston 7, The Citadel 3
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. ? Senior RHP Kevin Decker (Washington, Ind./Seminole CC) scattered five hits over 6-2/3 innings and struck out eight as College of Charleston knocked off The Citadel 7-3 in Southern Conference action Saturday evening at Patriots Point. The win clinches the season series for the Cougars, improving their overall record to 35-12 and 19-7 in the SoCon. The Citadel falls to 29-19 overall and 17-6 in the league.
The Citadel opened up the scoring in the second inning, plating a run on a RBI groundout by David Greene that scored Bryan Altman from third. Both Decker and Citadel starter Matt Talley kept their opponents off the board until the Cougars took the lead in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four runs in the frame.
Junior DH Jesse Mesa (Miramar, Fla./Central Florida JC) led off the inning with a base on balls and stole second. Mesa advanced to third on a strikeout by redshirt-junior RF Hutson Dodds (Charleston, S.C./Porter Gaud) and scored on a RBI groundout by junior SS Jamie Holler (Rock Hill, S.C./USC Sumter JC). With two outs, senior 2B Joey Bergman (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Kenny) walked on six pitches and junior CF Cole Rakar (Mt. Pleasant, S.C./Wando) brought him home with a RBI double to left to take a 2-1 lead. Junior C Rob Kral (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) singled to left field and advanced to second on the throw from the outfield. While attempting to throw out Kral at second, the throw from Citadel C Grant Richards sailed into center, allowing Kral to reach third and scoring Rakar. Sophomore 3B Matt Leeds (Boca Raton, Fla./American Heritage) roped a RBI double down the right-field line to plate Kral and give CofC the 4-1 advantage.
The two teams traded single runs in the sixth inning, with The Citadel scoring on a RBI double to left by Altman and the Cougars getting the run back on a RBI single up the middle by Dodds that scored Mesa from second. The Bulldogs cut the Charleston lead to 5-3 in the top of the seventh, scoring on a bases-loaded walk by Decker that sent the senior to the bench in favor of junior reliever Josh Salay (Rock Hill, S.C./Spartanburg Methodist College).
Charleston picked up a pair of runs in the eighth to seal the game. Junior PH Baker Knox (San Mateo, Fla./Daytona Beach CC) led off with a double to left center and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Holler. Bergman was intentionally walked and during a failed pickoff attempt, advanced to third on the throwing error by Citadel reliever Raymond Copenhaver. Knox scored on the play and after Rakar struck out, Kral delivered a RBI single to right to score Bergman.
Decker improved to 6-0 on the season, allowing three runs, two earned. Salay tossed 2-1/3 innings of shutout relief to earn his first save of the year. The right-hander scattered two hits and struck out two. Kral and Bergman had two hits apiece, while sophomore LF Jose Rodriguez (Hialeah, Fla./Broward College) had a single in the seventh to extend his hitting streak to 14 games.
Talley took the loss for The Citadel, allowing five runs on six hits in six innings. The junior struck out four and walked four.
Charleston and The Citadel complete the three-game Sunday afternoon at Patriots Point. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m.
Elon 6, Appalachian State 1
ELON, N.C. -- Daniel Britt allowed just one run on just three hits over 6.1 innings to help lead the Elon Phoenix to a 6-1 Southern Conference baseball victory over the Appalachian State Mountaineers on Saturday from Latham Park. With the win, Elon secured the series victory over the Mountaineers and improved to 33-18 overall and 16-10 in SoCon play. ASU fell to 31-11-1, 11-10-1 and had its string of winning league series snapped at four.
Britt improved to 5-2 on the season with his stellar performance. He walked one and struck out three. In each of his last two outings, the senior has carried a no-hitter through at least four innings. Jim Stokes and Kyle Webb preserved the Phoenix victory by throwing a combined 2.2 shutout innings.
Elon got on the board in its first at bat as, after a Mike Melillo two-out triple, Neal Pritchard laced an infield single to third to score the runner.
Scott Riddle started the Phoenix second with a walk and went to second on a one-out wild pitch and to third on a fly out to right. After Ryan Adams walked to put runners on the corners, Harry Austin tripled to left-center to plate both runners as Elon built a 3-0 lead.
Britt had a no-hitter through five and had faced the minimum when Tyler Zupcic sent an 0-1 pitch over the left field wall to lead off the top of the sixth for Appalachian State.
Elon loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh thanks to an Austin single, an error that let Melillo reach and an intentional walk to Pritchard. With one away, pinch-hitter Matt Kirchner hit a potential double play ball to second that was booted, allowing Austin to score the fourth Phoenix run of the game. Alex Swim's single to left drove home two more as both Melillo and Pritchard scored to make it 6-1.
The Mountaineers loaded the bases in the eighth with consecutive singles by Zupcic, Jack Myers and Chris Trappy before Webb struck out Ryan Stetson on three straight pitches for the first out. Webb then got Hector Crespo to fly out to shallow center before Wes Hobson fouled out to left field to end the inning without a run scoring.
ASU starter Tyler Jackson was charged with the loss, dropping to 1-3 on the season. He gave up three runs on seven hits in six innings. Jackson struck out five.
Both Austin and Swim finished the day with two-RBI performances for the Phoenix which out-hit the Mountaineers 9-6 on the day. Elon got two hits apiece from Austin and Riddle.
Zupcic recorded two of ASU's hits and was the only Mountaineer with a multi-hit game.
Elon will honor its seven seniors prior to Sunday's 1:30 p.m. series finale with Appalachian State from Latham Park.
Wofford 17, Samford 7
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? On Saturday afternoon, the Wofford College baseball team pounded out 18 hits on the way to a 17-7 win over Samford at Russell C. King Field. The Terriers were up 9-6 when the team exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the eighth as thirteen batters went to the plate for Wofford.
Wofford is 16-30 on the season and 9-14 in the Southern Conference. Samford is 25-20 overall and 13-9 in the conference. The Terriers were led by Kyle Behrendt with four hits and four RBIs, while James Foster and Landon Bennett each added three hits. Konstantine Diamaduros also had four RBIs on two hits. The Bulldogs had five different players hit home runs in the game.
Samford opened the game with a walk and hit by pitch. Mason Meredeth hit a single to center field to score one run. With one out and the bases loaded, a double play ended the inning. Wofford was able to tie the game in the bottom of the first when James Foster walked, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third on a fly ball. A single by Mac Doyle scored Foster for a 1-1 score.
In the bottom of the second, Clark Wise singled and Matt Moore reached on an error. A single by James Foster drove in Wise for a 2-1 lead for the Terriers. The lead did not last, as Samford used two solo home runs and a two-run homer in the top of the third for a 5-2 advantage.
Wofford was able to get two runs back in the bottom of the fourth when Clark Wise led off with a single, Matt Moore added a single and an error on the play scored Wise. With Moore at second, a double by James Foster scored the run for a 5-4 score.
Another solo home run by the Bulldogs in the top of the fifth, this time by Bo Smith, made it a 6-4 game. The Terriers answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth as Landon Bennett doubled and Konstantine Diamaduros drove him in with a single to make it 6-5.
After Samford left two runners on base in the top of the sixth, Wofford opened their half of the inning with singles from James Foster and Alex Lee. A double to center by Kyle Behrendt scored both runner to give the Terriers a 7-6 lead. A single by Mac Doyle was followed by an RBI single from Landon Bennett. Still with no outs, Doyle was able to score despite a double play for a 9-6 lead before the end of the sixth.
Neither team scored in the seventh and the Bulldogs went quietly in the top of the eighth. Wofford broke the game wide open in the bottom of the eighth as the Terriers scored eight runs on five hits to take a 17-6 lead. The scoring began with a solo home run to right field by Kyle Behrendt. Two walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases with no outs when a triple down the right line by Konstantine Diamaduros drove in three runs. Clark Wise walked and a double by Matt Moore to center scored two more runs. James Foster was hit by pitch and with one out Kyle Behrendt singled to drive in another run. Landon Bennett added an RBI single to close out the inning.
Samford got one run back in the top of the ninth on a solo home run to right center by Tripp Swann, but Bobby Streisel struck out two of the final three batters to end the game with a 17-7 final score.
For the Terriers, Gus White started and went five innings with seven hits and six runs allowed with four strikeouts. Anthony Rowland threw a third of an inning with one hit allowed. Bobby Streisel (2-2) picked up his second win of the weekend with 3.2 innings of work and only two hits and one run allowed with three strikeouts.
Samford starter Kyle Putkonen (3-5) went five innings and allowed nine runs on 14 hits with five strikeouts. Mark Lewallyn threw two innings without allowing a hit. Michael Gunter allowed three runs on one hit and Tyler Vanderheiden closed the final inning with four hits and five runs allowed with two strikeouts.
With the win, Wofford has nine conference wins which is the most since the 2002 season (14). The Terriers complete the series against Samford at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.