Georgia Southern 4, The Citadel 3
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Baseball team (16-11, 7-3) responded to an early Citadel (10-16, 5-8) lead and scored four-straight runs over the middle innings to take the series opener 4-3 on Friday, April 1st. Both starting pitchers fared well, but errors cost both sides as three unearned runs crossed the plate. The win was just the second for the Eagles against the Bulldogs in the last three years.
Georgia Southern had the leadoff batter reach three times in the game and all three came around to score a run. The Eagles scored all four of their runs in the middle innings, with two coming in the fourth and a single run in the fifth and sixth innings to take a 4-2 lead. Victor Roache (Ypsilanti, Mich.) singled to right field to lead off the sixth inning and scored what would be the winning run on a two-out double by Tom Richardson (Lilburn, Ga.).
Chris Beck (Jefferson, Ga.) earned his fourth win of the season in his first career appearance against The Citadel. Beck allowed three runs, two earned, on six hits and struck out four batters over 102 pitches. Outside of the two-out rally in the fourth, he kept the Bulldogs in check, allowing just one leadoff batter in the game.
Matt Murray (Spring City, Pa.) earned his fourth save of the season after recording the last six outs in the game. He struck out two batters and allowed just one hit in the seven batters he faced. The Citadel's Matt Talley recorded a solid effort but was tagged with his third loss. Talley allowed only two earned runs on eight hits, while striking out six batters.
The Citadel took an early 2-0 lead with a two-out rally in the fourth inning. The Bulldogs used three hits and a walk to plate a pair of runs on a base hit from Justin Mackert. Georgia Southern tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom half of the inning on two doubles, a single and an error. Ben Morgan (Evans, Ga.), who moved up to second in the lineup, doubled to start the inning and scored the first run on a Roache one-out single. Michael Burruss (Marietta, Ga.) followed with a double and a bad fielding effort by the Bulldog left fielder allowed Roache to score with ease.
Georgia Southern scored an unearned run in the fifth inning after Andy Moye (Alpharetta, Ga.) walked to lead off the inning. Shawn Payne (Stone Mountain, Ga.) singled with one out to move Moye to second base before a throwing error sailed out of play on an attempted double play to force the run across the plate.
Morgan and Roache both responded to the change in the batting order and wrapped up the day with multi-hit games. Roache moved into the cleanup spot in the order after Morgan hit second and Burruss fifth in the new-look lineup.
The same two teams will be back in action tomorrow afternoon and Head Football Coach Jeff Monken will throw out the first pitch before Saturday's 2:30 p.m. contest. The annual Clements Crazies Tailgate will take place before the game, and it will also be a GSU Spring Family Weekend. The series wraps up on Sunday with a 1:30 p.m. first pitch.
College of Charleston 6, Western Carolina 3
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - Junior RHP David Peterson (Walnut Creek, Calif.) struck out six Western Carolina batters over seven innings to lead the College of Charleston to a 6-3 victory Friday evening over the Catamounts in Southern Conference action at Patriots Point. The Cougars improve to 17-9 on the season, 4-3 in the SoCon and face WCU tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m.
Charleston jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by redshirt-junior LF Jose Rodriguez (Hialeah, Fla.) and a RBI single by redshirt-freshman Daniel Aldrich (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.). After WCU starter Matt Benedict gave up a single to senior CF Cole Rakar (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) and issued walks to redshirt-juniors C Rob Kral (Randolph, N.J.) and 3B Matt Leeds (Boca Raton, Fla.), Rodriguez lifted a deep sacrifice fly to left and Aldrich followed with the single through the left side.
The Cougars extended the lead to 5-0 with three runs in the fourth. After a walk by Rodriguez and a double by Aldrich, senior SS Jamie Holler (Rock Hill, S.C.) drove a RBI single through the left side for a 3-0 lead. Senior 2B Jesse Mesa (Miramar, Fla.) hit a ground ball to short, which went under the glove of WCU SS Aaron Attaway for an error that allowed Aldrich and Holler to score on the play.
Western Carolina put up a pair of runs in the fifth, cutting the lead to 5-2. Attaway led off the frame with a double down the left-field line and Austin Schultz drove him in with a triple to center. Ross Heffley plated Schultz with a RBI groundout to short. The Catamounts cut into the lead again with a single run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Heffley, making the score 5-3.
Charleston picked the run back up in the bottom of the seventh on a bases-loaded walk by redshirt-freshman C Jimmy Holton (West Palm Beach, Fla.). Junior reliever Kyle Owings (Gilbert, S.C.) came on in eighth inning and shut the door for the Cougars, recording strikeouts on all six batters, allowing two hits and walking three.
Peterson improved to 4-2 on the season, scattering 10 hits and walking one. Rodriguez and Aldrich notched a pair of hits each for the Cougars. Benedict took the loss for WCU, allowing five runs on four hits over 4-2/3 innings with six walks and five strikeouts.
Elon 1, UNCG 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNCG and Elon battled to a scoreless draw for eight innings before the Phoenix scored a run in the top of the ninth as the Spartans fell, 1-0, on Friday evening at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
With neither team able to produce a run in the first eight innings, Elon finally found some offense in the ninth inning. Ryan Kinsella drew a one-out walk and moved over to third as Sebastian Gomez followed with a single to center field. After a UNCG pitching change, pinch hitter Ben Scott delivered a single into the hole on the left side of the infield that allowed Kinsella to score the game-winning run.
Reliever John Brebbia picked up the win to move to 5-0 on the season as he pitched just a third of an inning. He replaced starter Kyle Webb who threw 7 2/3 innings and gave up just five hits and struck out six. Mitch Conner came in to pitch a scoreless ninth inning to record his sixth save of the season.
UNCG (14-10, 6-4 Southern Conference) reliever Jonathan Jones was credited with the loss after allowing one run on two hits and 2 1/3 innings of work. Starter Warren Slack went six strong innings and struck out six batters, while only allowing four hits.
Bobby Martin led the Spartans with a 2-4 performance and also drew a walk. Andrew Spleth went 1-2 with two walks, as well.
In addition to Scott's 1-1 performance, Gomez helped lead the Phoenix (18-9, 9-1 SoCon) with a 2-4 performance. Kinsella also had a double to go along with his run scored.
The Spartan offense couldn't get things going early on before falling just a hit short late in the contest. It took UNCG until the fourth inning to get its first hit when Trevor Edwards singled through the right side. Spleth followed with a walk, but both runners were stranded.
UNCG left runners stranded on first and second in the following inning, as well, but it seemed like the Spartans got things going in the bottom of the eighth. Martin led things off with an infield single before moving to second on a sacrifice bunt by Chris Barker.
After a strikeout, Edwards and Spleth drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. The Phoenix were able to get out of the jam, though, as right fielder Niko Fraser made a running catch in the right-center gap, narrowly colliding with center fielder Harry Austin.
UNCG was able to get runners on first and second in the bottom of the ninth, but a fly out to right field ended the game.
The Spartans and Phoenix will meet in game two of the series on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Appalachian State 3, Wofford 1
BOONE, N.C. - Ryan Arrowood (Rutherfordton, N.C./Central) struck out 10 over eight innings for the second week in a row and Jack Myers (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park) had three hits and an RBI to lead Appalachian State University baseball to a 3-1 win over visiting Wofford on Friday afternoon at chilly Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
With a wind-chill factor in the mid-20s and light snow falling throughout the game, Arrowood mowed through Wofford's lineup to outduel Terrier starter Cash Collins.
Wofford managed only six hits while fanning 10 times in eight innings against Arrowood. The right-handed junior matched career highs set just last Thursday against Cornell with his 10 strikeouts and eight innings pitched. With the victory, he upped his record to 4-1 on the season while his ERA dipped to 2.95.
Myers provided all of the offense that Arrowood needed, accounting for two of Appalachian's three runs by going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. All three of the senior's hits came against Collins, who suffered his first loss of the year and fell to 5-1. Myers, who upped his team-leading batting average to .367, is hitting .476 in 10 Southern Conference games this season.
Arrowood got nine of his 10 strikeouts in the first four innings of the game, with the two biggest coming in the top of the fourth when he fanned Wofford cleanup hitter Taylor Rozier and Josh McKinley get out of the inning unscathed after the Terriers loaded the bases with one out.
In the bottom of the stanza, ASU grabbed a 2-0 lead when Myers scored on a sacrifice fly by Zack Briggs (Lexington, N.C./Central Davidson) and Jeremy Dowdy (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) came home on an RBI single by Hector Crespo (Miami, Fla./Florida Christian).
Wofford sliced the Mountaineer lead in half in the top of the fifth when it scored its only run on Mac Doyle's conference-high-tying eighth home run of the season. However, the Apps got the run back in the bottom of the frame on Myers' RBI single to center field.
From there, Arrowood slammed the door on any hopes of a Terrier comeback, retiring the final 10 batters he faced. He finished the day by striking out Rozier on his 126th pitch of the afternoon. Wofford brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the top of the ninth against ASU closer Taylor Miller (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) but Miller froze Alex Lee with a 1-2 fastball to end the ballgame.
In addition to Myers' 3-for-4 effort, Briggs went 2-for-3 to pace the Mountaineers' nine-hit attack.
With the victory, Appalachian evened its record at 13-13 overall and moved to 2-8 in SoCon play. The April Fool's Day win is a good omen for a club that put together a 34-4 record over its last two Aprils.
Doyle and Konstantine Diamaduros had two hits apiece to lead Wofford (14-13, 2-5 SoCon). Collins surrendered three runs on eight hits and walked three to take the loss.
The two teams continue their three-game SoCon series on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Smith Stadium.
Samford 8, Davidson 5
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford baseball team plated seven runs in the last three innings to take an 8-5 Southern Conference win in the first game of a three-game series against Davidson Friday night at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
"This was a good job by our guys of continuing to put good at-bats together and answering their runs late," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "It was a back-and-forth game. I told our pitchers, we didn't necessarily pitch poorly, I just thought they swung the bats well and I think the same can be said for their guys."
Samford was led at the plate by Tyler Filliben, Saxon Butler and Brad Moss, each going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Michael Johnson was 2-for-5 for the Bulldogs, while Brandon Miller hit his team-leading eighth home run of the season, going 1-for-4 with two RBI. Phillip Ervin's 19-game hitting streak came to an end with his 0-for-2 performance.
C.K. Irby (2-1) earned the win on the mound for Samford, pitching 1.1 innings, giving up a run on three hits. Andrew Jones picked up his sixth save of the season, pitching the final 1.1 innings, allowing just one hit and striking out three batters. Kyle Putkonen started the game on the mound for Samford and pitched 6.0 strong innings, giving up two runs and striking out six batters while walking none.
For Davidson, Drew Gadaire went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI, while Seth Freeman was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Forrest Brandt and Danny Weiss each added two hits for the Wildcats. Mike Frongello (3-2) pitched 1.1 innings in relief, giving up two runs on one hit to take the loss for Davidson.
Samford got on the scoreboard first with a run in the bottom of the third inning. Moss doubled to lead off the inning. Johnson then reached base on a bunt single and advanced to second on a Davidson error, allowing Moss to score to give Samford a 1-0 lead.
Davidson took the lead with two runs in the top of the fourth inning. Gadaire homered to left-center field with Brandt on base for a 2-1 Wildcat lead.
The Bulldogs came back with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 4-2 lead. After Butler singled with one out, Miller hit a home run to left field for the first two runs in the inning. Tommy Corbin later doubled to right field to drive in Brandon Powell for a two-run Samford lead.
The Wildcats tied the score with two runs in the top of the seventh inning. Freeman hit a home run to left field with Michael Zeblo on base to tie the score at 4-4.
Samford took the lead for good with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. After Ervin walked and then stole second base, Butler doubled to right field to drive in Ervin to give Samford a 5-4 lead. Butler later scored from third base on a passed ball to make the score 6-4.
Davidson plated a run in the top of the eighth inning to cut the Samford lead to 6-5. Andre Barna singled up the middle to drive in Brandt to bring the Wildcats to within one run.
Samford finished the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to make the final score 8-5. Filliben tripled to right field to drive in pinch-runner Matt Frederick to make the score 7-5. Moss then reached on a bunt single to drive in Filliben for the game's final run.
With the win, Samford improves to 18-10 overall and 7-3 in Southern Conference play. Davidson drops to 12-13 overall and 5-7 in league play.
Samford and Davidson will continue their SoCon series with a game Saturday at 2 p.m. at 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 game can also be viewed online via the Bulldog Big Screen at www.samfordsports.com.