#28 College of Charleston 3, Georgia Southern 2
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - Junior LHP Josh Renfro (Bradenton, Fla.) struck out six over seven innings, allowing one earned run on five hits to lead the College of Charleston to a 3-2 victory over visiting Georgia Southern in Southern Conference action Saturday afternoon at Patriots Point. The Cougars improve to 16-9 on the season and 3-2 in the SoCon and face the Eagle in game three of the series tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m.
The Cougars opened a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly to right by redshirt-junior 3B Matt Leeds (Boca Raton, Fla.). Junior RF Marty Gantt (N. Augusta, S.C.) led off the frame with a four-pitch walk, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch by GSU starter Josh Adams. Leeds lifted a deep fly ball to right for his 41st RBI of the season and plated Gantt.
Georgia Southern knotted the game in the fourth on a lead-off home run by Eric Phillips to left, but the Cougars surged ahead again in the bottom of the fifth on a RBI double by redshirt-freshman LF Daniel Aldrich (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.).
The Eagles rallied back to tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the seventh on a RBI fielder's choice by Shawn Payne that scored Tom Richardson from third. Charleston scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the stanza to knot the series at a game apiece. Gantt led off the inning, reaching on a fielding error by Ben Morgan and advancing to second on the error. Sophomore Dre Watts (Laurens, S.C.) delivered a pinch-hit RBI double down the right-field line that scored Gantt for the 3-2 lead.
Junior RHP Kyle Owings (Gilbert, S.C.) pitched two perfect innings for his fourth save of the season, striking out two. Redshirt-junior 1B Jose Rodriguez (Hialeah, Fla.) and Aldrich each had a pair of hits for the Cougars. Adams took the loss for Georgia Southern, allowing three runs, two earned, on eight hits in six innings.
Samford 11, Elon 0
ELON, N.C. -- Lex Rutledge struck out a career-best 13 hitters as the Samford Bulldogs picked up an 11-0 victory over the Elon Phoenix in game two of a three-game Southern Conference baseball series. The loss snapped Elon's eight-game league winning streak as the Phoenix fell to 16-9 overall and 7-1 in SoCon action.
Samford (16-9, 6-2) got on the board first for the second straight day, scoring once in the third inning. Brad Moss started the at bat with a double to left-center before moving to third on a one-out single off the bat of Phillip Ervin. Saxon Butler's single through the right side plated Moss to make it 1-0 game.
Elon had its best early scoring opportunity in the bottom of the third, loading the bases on three consecutive two-out walks before a fly ball to center ended the threat.
In the fourth, Stephen Ballard was hit by a pitch with one out and then stole second. Tyler Filliben's single to right put runners on the corners for Moss who layed down a bunt for a single that scored Ballard with the second Bulldog run. Ervin made it a 5-0 game as he hit his second homer of the year over the wall in left-center. Samford loaded the bases when Butler and Kevin Putkonen were plunked around a Brandon Miller single before Gardner Richey struck out to end the inning.
The game remained 5-0 until the eighth inning. Moss began the frame with a single through the left side of the infield before a hit-and-run single by Michael Johnson put runners on the corners. Ervin picked up his fourth RBI of the game when he doubled to right-center to drive home Moss with the sixth Bulldog run of the day. A walk to Butler filled the bases before a walk let Johnson come home. Another one-out walk let the eighth Samford run come in before a ground ball to short erased the runner from first, but scored the fourth Bulldog run of the inning. An Elon error let another run score and an infield single plated the sixth run of the frame as Samford built an 11-0 lead.
The Phoenix was held to just two hits - one each from Neal Pritchard and Sebastian Gomez. It marked the first time since April 4, 2006 at second-ranked North Carolina that Elon had been held to only two hits.
Samford's Ervin drove in four runs and scored twice while going 4-for-6 at the plate. Moss ended the day 4-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI.
Rutledge (5-1) threw 115 pitches over seven innings, allowing just the two hits while walking three. Josh Martin tossed the final two innings to close it out.
Ken Ferrer (3-1) took his first loss of the season after surrendering five runs on nine hits in just four innings. The senior moved into a tie for eighth place in program history with 198 career strikeouts after fanning four on Saturday.
The rubber match of the series will be played on Sunday at 2 p.m. which is 30 minutes later than originally scheduled.
Wofford Baseball Schedule Change
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Due to rain on Saturday, the Wofford College baseball game against the Citadel has been postponed. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Sunday, March 27, beginning at 1:00 p.m. at Russell C. King Field to complete the three-game Southern Conference series.
Rain Postpones Furman-UNCG Saturday Doubleheader
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Furman's scheduled Saturday baseball doubleheader with UNC Greensboro has been postponed due to rain that moved into the area earlier this morning.
"Ideally we'd like to try and get in one game this evening, but that doesn't appear likely," said Furman head coach Ron Smith late Saturday morning. "If not, we'll try to play a doubleheader tomorrow starting at 1:00 p.m."
Furman (12-12, 5-4 SoCon) claimed a 7-4 decision over UNC Greensboro (14-7, 5-2 SoCon) in Friday's series opener.
The Paladins have won six of their last seven games, including four straight in league play.
Saturday's Baseball Game Postponed, Doubleheader Scheduled for Sunday
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- With heavy rain expected in the forecast, today's baseball game against Western Carolina has been postponed, and the teams have scheduled a doubleheader for Sunday, tentatively scheduled for a noon start at Wilson Field.
Matt Benedict allowed just one run over eight innings and struck out 13 to lead the Western Carolina Catamounts (9-10-1, 1-6) to a 2-1 win over the Davidson Wildcats (10-11, 4-5 SoCon) in the opening game of the SoCon series Friday night at Wilson Field.