Samford 4, The Citadel 3
Charleston, S.C. - The Citadel Baseball team could not hold an early 3-0 lead as Samford rallied for a 4-3 victory on a cool Friday evening at Riley Park.
The loss snaps The Citadel's five-game win streak as Samford (9-6, 1-0) has now won three of the last four meetings between the two teams. It is also only the second conference loss for The Citadel at home since May 1, 2009, which ironically was also to Samford.
A highly touted pitching matchup pitted Samford's Kyle Putkonen, who threw a complete game shutout his last time out against Toldeo against The Citadel's Austin Pritcher (Charleston, S.C.) who threw 8.0 scoreless innings and struck out 13 in the Bulldogs' 4-0 shutout of Appalachian State last Friday.
The Citadel (7-6, 3-1) struck first off Putkonen in the bottom of the second inning when William Ladd (Winnsboro, S.C.) doubled and scored on an RBI triple off the bat of Joe Jackson (Mauldin, S.C.) In the fifth inning, the Bulldogs would plate two more off Putkonen when Grant Richards (Morrisville, N.C.) singled and then scored on an RBI triple by Nick Orvin (Moncks Corner, S.C.) who in turn scored when Samford third baseman Stephen Ballard tried to nail Orvin at the plate on a fielder's choice groundball. While Ballard's throw was on target, catcher Brad Moss couldn't hold on to the ball and Orvin slide safely into home.
After throwing five scoreless innings, Pritcher ran into trouble in the sixth inning when Samford led the inning off with a double, an RBI single and an RBI double to close the gap to 3-2. An RBI sac fly to right by Kevin Putkonen would then knot the game at three. In the seventh, a single and an error at third base by Drew DeKerlegand on a sac bunt play put a pair of runners on with no outs. A pair of wild pitches from Pitcher advanced the runners and eventually allowed shortstop Tyler Filliben to score what would become the winning run to make it 4-3.
Bulldog reliever TJ Clarkson (Coral Springs, Fla.) kept the game close with a pair of scoreless innings in the eighth and the ninth, but The Citadel could not muster anything off Samford reliever Andrew Jones who earned his first save of the season with 2.0 shutout innings allowing no hits and striking out four.
"We squandered opportunities offensively in the first three innings and that ended up being the difference in the ballgame," said Bulldogs Head Coach Fred Jordan. "Pritcher pitched a fine ballgame. He left the ball up in the strikezone late in the game and Samford was able to capitalize on it. We have our work cut out for us the rest of the weekend with the pitching staff they have."
Ervin went 2-for-5 with a run to lead Samford as Putkonen moved to 3-1 on the season with the win in 7.0 innings, allowing eight hits, three runs, one walk and striking out six. Justin Mackert (Cleveland, Ohio) and Orvin each had two hits apiece to lead The Citadel and Pritcher (3-1) suffered his first loss of the season going 7.0 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits, two walks and fanned six.
Game two of the series will take place on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast with play-by-play announcer Darren Goldwater on Fox Sports Radio 1450 AM in Charleston and video streamed online at Bulldog Insider.
UNCG 5, Western Carolina 4
GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNCG received a strong pitching performance from Warren Slack and held off a ninth-inning rally from Western Carolina as the Spartans defeated the Catamounts, 5-4, on Friday evening in the Southern Conference opener for both teams.
Slack went 8 1/3 innings for the Spartans (8-5, 1-0 Southern Conference) and allowed just three runs on seven hits to move to a perfect 3-0 on the year. He also struck out eight batters without yielding a walk. Jonathan Jones picked up his first save of the season after coming in to pitch to the final batter.
Preseason first-team All-SoCon pick Matt Benedict was credited with the loss after UNCG scored five runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings of work.
Trevor Edwards led UNCG at the plate with his 2-5 performance, including three RBI and a run scored. Cole Harrison also had a pair of hits and a run scored, while Chris Barker added an RBI single and run scored.
The Catamounts were paced by Adam Martin who went 1-2 with a three-run home run and Dykota Spiess hit a solo home run in his only at-bat of the game.
UNCG jumped on the Catamounts early as it put up two runs in the bottom of the first to take control early. Barker led off the inning by being hit by a pitch for a SoCon-leading seventh time. Bobby Martin followed with a five-pitch walk before both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Eric Brindle.
Edwards then followed with a single to center field that scored both runners to put the Spartans in front, 2-0.
It was Edwards who struck again for the Spartans in the bottom of the third as he hit a towering shot over the right field wall in the bottom of the third to give UNCG a 3-0 advantage.
The Spartans continued to pour on the offense as they added an extra run in the bottom of the fifth. Martin led off with a walk and advanced to second on a groundout. After a UNCG strikeout, Andrew Spleth and Troelstrup hit back-to-back singles to score Martin.
UNCG continued to play small ball in order to manufacture another run in the sixth inning. Harrison led off with a single right back up the middle and was able to advance to second on a sacrifice bunt by Drew Gehringer. Barker then delivered a single through the right side of the infield to score Harrison and make it 5-0.
The Catamounts weren't able to get to Slack until the eighth inning as Slack allowed just four hits and no runs, while striking out six in the opening seven innings.
In the top of the eighth, Spiess hit a one-out solo home run down the right field line that broke up the shutout and made it 5-1.
With a four-run lead, Slack came back out in the ninth inning looking for a complete game. After getting the first batter out, Slack yielded a bloop single and a double down the right field line that spelled the end to his impressive evening.
Zach Furl came in to replace Slack and yielded a three-run homer to Martin over the left field wall that pulled the Catamounts within 5-4. After Furl got Aaron Attaway to fly out to right field, Jones came in and induced an infield popup to close out the game.
The Spartans and Catamounts will meet in the second game of the series on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
Georgia Southern 7, Furman 1
STATESBORO, Ga. - Chris Beck (Jefferson, Ga.) threw seven solid innings and six different hitters drove in runs to lead the Georgia Southern Baseball team (9-5, 1-0) to a 7-1 victory over Furman (6-9, 1-2) in the Southern Conference opener. Andy Moye (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Shawn Payne (Stone Mountain, Ga.) both hit their first home runs of the season, while Ben Morgan (Evans, Ga.) went three for four at the plate.
Beck earned his second win of the season after allowing one run and five hits in seven innings of work. The sophomore right hander struck out nine batters and while walking only one. Jarret Leverett (Eatonton, Ga.) threw the final two innings of the game and allowed only one hit while recording a strikeout.
The Eagles scored runs in every inning from the second inning to the sixth inning and added a single run in the eighth inning.
Georgia Southern returns to action tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. and will honor former Eagle Head Coach Jack Stallings before the game. The series wraps up with a 1:30 p.m. first pitch on Sunday.
#21 College of Charleston 4, Davidson 2
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Junior RHP David Peterson (Walnut Creek, Calif.) tossed 6-2/3 shutout innings with six strikeouts and redshirt-junior C Rob Kral (Randolph, N.J.) went 3-for-3 with a home run and three steals to lead #21 College of Charleston to a 4-2 win over Davidson College in the Cougars' Southern Conference opener on a cold Friday night at Wilson Field. The Cougars improve to 12-2 on the season, while Davidson falls to 6-8 overall and 1-2 in the conference.
Senior 2B Jesse Mesa (Miramar, Fla.) put the Cougars on the board in the top of the fourth with a two-run home run to right center, his first of the season. Kral roped a two-out single to right center before Mesa deposited a 0-1 pitch over the wall.
Kral extended the Cougars' lead to 3-0 in the top of the seventh with a solo shot to right center, his second round-tripper of the season. Davidson pushed across two runs in the bottom of the frame, knocking in three straight doubles off Charleston sophomore reliever Dre Watts (Laurens, S.C.). Junior RHP Kyle Owings (Gilbert, S.C.) shut the door on the Wildcats, tossing 1-2/3 perfect innings with two strikeouts for his third save.
Davidson starter Chris Lamb went 6-1/3 innings, allowing three runs on six hits with eight strikeouts, taking the loss for the Wildcats.
The Cougars and Davidson return to Wilson Field for game two of the series Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.
Wofford 5, Harvard 2
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford baseball team defeated Harvard 5-2 on Friday evening at Russell C. King Field. The Terriers scored two unearned runs in the first and added two runs in the eighth to defeat the Crimson
Wofford is now 8-5 on the season, while Harvard is 0-5. The Terriers were led by James Foster with two hits and two RBIs and Konstantine Diamaduros with two hits. The Crimson was limited to only two hits by the Wofford pitching staff.
The Terriers got on the board in the bottom of the first. Clark Wise reached on an error and scored on a double deep to right field by Konstantine Diamaduros. Landon Bennett reached on an error in the outfield which drove in a run as Wofford took a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the second, Wofford added a run when Alex Lee reached first on an error, stole second and was driven in by a double from James Foster for a 3-0 advantage. The Crimson got their first hit of the night in the top of the fifth by Jeff Reynolds. Danny Moskovits reached on an error and a ground-out by Jack Colton scored a run for a 3-1 score.
Harvard was able to add a run on a ground-out by Tyler Albright in the top of the sixth to cut the lead to one run. After a scoreless seventh, the Terriers added two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Landon Bennett singled, Josh McKinney was hit by a pitch and a bunt single by David Roney loaded the bases. A single that dropped into left field by Matt Moore scored one run and a sacrifice fly by James Foster added a second run for a 5-2 lead. The Crimson went down in order in the ninth to end the contest.
Wofford starter Tom Dolinak (1-1) threw six innings and gave up two runs on two hits with one strikeout. Bobby Streisel went two innings with no hits allowed and three strikeouts. John Cornely picked up his second save of the season by pitching the ninth with two strikeouts.
For the Crimson, Max Perlman (0-1) went 5.2 innings and allowed three unearned runs on four hits with six strikeouts. Marcus Way threw two-third of an innings without a hit and a strikeout. Will Keuper also went two-thirds of an inning and allowed five hits with two runs scored. Ben Sestanovich threw the eighth inning and did not allow a hit with one strikeout.
The two teams will meet twice on Saturday beginning at 2:00 p.m. with a seven-inning contest followed by a nine-inning contest. On Sunday the four-game series concludes at 1:00 p.m.
ASU Series Opener Versus Elon Postponed
BOONE, N.C. - Friday's Southern Conference baseball series opener between Appalachian State University and Elon has been postponed due to inclement weather in the High Country. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. at ASU's Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
The pivotal three-game set will conclude as scheduled on Sunday at 1 p.m.