Elon 5, Wake Forest 0

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- David Whitehead scattered three hits over seven scoreless innings to lead the Elon Phoenix to a 5-0 victory over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Wednesday night. The Phoenix pitching retired the final 15 hitters after allowing a lead-off single in the fifth inning.

The win improved Elon to 27-17 while Wake Forest dropped to 17-26 on the year.

The game was scoreless until the fifth inning when Elon broke through for two runs. With one out, Harry Austin doubled on a ball that one-hopped the wall in left. After Cyle Rasmus was hit by a pitch, Austin swiped third. As the throw bounced away from the third baseman Rasmus took second. Sebastian Gomez got Elon on the board with an infield single that drove home Austin. Neal Pritchard's flare to right then scored Rasmus with the second run.

With one away in the seventh, Gomez belted an 0-1 pitch over the wall in left for his second homer of the year. With two down, Alex Swim reached on an error before Garrett Koster crushed a ball to left for his fourth home run of the year as Elon built a 5-0 lead.

Whitehead upped his record to 4-1 on the year. The freshman struck out four and walked two. John Brebbia, Greg Amorosso and Mitch Conner combined to finish off the shutout, Elon's fifth of the season.

Niko Spezial fell to 1-1 after taking the loss. He gave up two runs on three hits in just a third of an inning of relief work.

The Phoenix out-hit the Deacons 9-3 on the night. Gomez finished the game 2-for-5 with a run and two RBI while Koster also drove in two with a 1-for-4 night.

Elon will return home to face Davidson in a Southern Conference series this weekend. Friday's first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.

 

Davidson 9, Duke 7

DAVIDSON, N.C. - Junior right fielder Drew Gadaire batted 4-for-5 with a pair of home runs and four RBI to lead the Davidson Wildcats to a 9-7 win over the Duke Blue Devils Wednesday night at Wilson Field.

Davidson (18-22) won its second straight game in as many days behind an offense that continued to put runs up in bunches and a bullpen that shut down a late Duke (20-24) rally.

The Wildcats finished the game with 11 hits, led by Gadaire and freshman catcher Daniel Gerow, who batted 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI. Junior second baseman James Cerbie hit a solo home run in the eighth, and junior center fielder Seth Freemandrove in a pair for the ‘Cats, who rallied from a 5-4 deficit to score five runs over the last two innings in the comeback win.

After Duke took a 5-4 lead on a solo home run from right fielder Chris Marconcini in the sixth, senior RHP Mike Frongello (W, 4-3) shut down the Blue Devils in the seventh and the eighth, and Gadaire's two-out, two-run home run in the seventh made him a winner.

The Blue Devils, who loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth and managed a pair of runs in the late rally, finished with six hits, paced by center fielder Will Piwnica-Worms (2-for-5, RBI) and third baseman Jordan Betts (1-for-4, 3 RBI). Drew Van Orden (L, 2-5) took the loss in relief of Dillon Haviland, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out four in 4 1/3 innings.

Duke scored three unearned runs in the first inning on two hits and an error. With one out, Marconcini reached on a fielding error by sophomore shortstop Michael Zeblo and scored two batters later on first baseman Dennis O'Grady's double to left. Betts drove in Will Piwnica-Worms (infield single) and O'Grady (double) with a base hit to center field to make it 3-0.

Davidson got a run back on Gadaire's two-out solo home run to center field in the bottom of the inning and took a 4-3 lead with three runs in the second inning. The Wildcats got a pair on, as junior first baseman Matt Ray (1-for-4) slapped a leadoff single to center and Cerbie (1-for-3, HR, RBI) took a free pass in the next at-bat. Zeblo reached safely on a ball that was bobbled by Betts, who recovered in time to throw out Ray at the plate. But Davidson kept the scoring going as Gerow doubled down the left field line to score Cerbie and move Zeblo to third, and Freeman followed with a two-RBI single into center field to put the Wildcats ahead, 4-3.

The Blue Devils tied the game with a run in the third, stringing back-to-back singles from designated hitter David Perkins and Piwnica-Worms together with a sac bunt from O'Grady to put a pair of runners into scoring position. Zeblo threw out Betts in the next at-bat but Perkins scored the tying run. Duke was threatening to break the game open as left fielder Anthony D'Alessandro and second baseman Matt Berezo loaded the bases with two straight walks, but senior LHP Mac Hunterentered in relief of junior RHP Brian Russell and got shortstop Angelo LaBruna to fly out and end the threat.

Hunter tossed two scoreless innings and handed the game over to freshman RHP Jip Richards, who retired his first two batters in the sixth before a solo home run by Marconcini put Duke back ahead, 5-4. But the Wildcat offense took him off the hook, exploding for five runs in the next two innings, and Frongello shut down the Blue Devils in the seventh and eighth to help Davidson to the 9-7 comeback victory.

Van Orden tossed four scoreless innings, retiring 13 of 14 batters before plunking freshman left fielder Forrest Brandtwith two outs in the seventh. Gadaire followed with the home run, his second of the game and fifth of the season, to put Davidson back ahead, 6-5, and the Wildcats tacked on three important insurance runs in the eighth. Cerbie started the scoring with a one-out home run, his second in as many days, and Gerow doubled in Zeblo, who walked and scored from first on a ball hit to the gap in left center. Davidson continued doing damage on two outs, as reliever Matt Lumpa hit new right fielderKelly Myers, who scored Davidson's ninth and final run on an RBI-single by Gadaire in the next at-bat.

Duke threatened in the top of the ninth against senior RHPAndy Bass, loading the bases with a pair of walks and a hit batsman. Bass induced a ground ball from Piwnica-Worms for the first out at second, but Duke scratched a run as the Wildcats couldn't turn the double play. The Blue Devils added one more run on a sacrifice fly by O'Grady, but Zeblo fielded the final out on a ground ball from Betts to end the game.

One of two remaining conference series, Davidson will travel to second-place Elon (27-17, 15-6 SoCon) for a three-game set this weekend. First pitch for Friday's and Saturday's games is slated for 6:30 p.m, and the series finale will be at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

 

Georgia Southern 11, Kennesaw State 7

KENNESAW, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Baseball team (25-16, 13-4) completed the season sweep of Kennesaw State (24-20) with an 11-7 victory, its first of the season on Wednesday. The Eagles tallied 15 hits and took advantage of two Owl errors to score the 11 runs. Five GSU hitters recorded multi-hit games with four of the five top-five hitters in the lineup accounting for most of them.

Shawn Payne (Stone Mountain, Ga.) recorded a baseball career highlight reel after tallying four hits including a double in the ninth inning to complete the cycle. Payne homered in the fourth and was aided by a building that is in play in left field that kept a ball in the field for his triple in the sixth. He singled in the seventh and doubled in the ninth for the first cycle by an Eagle since 2009. Ty Wright tallied the last cycle for Georgia Southern against Wofford two years ago on this same date (April 27th).

Georgia Southern jumped ahead 3-1 in the third inning and added three more runs over the next two frames to lead 6-3 after the fifth inning. Kennesaw State scored a single run in the third inning and scored two more in the fourth inning. The Eagles batted around in the seventh inning to extend their lead to 10-4 after scoring four runs. GSU added on an 11th run in the eighth inning on a throwing error during a rundown play. The Owls got two more runs in the ninth inning to pull to the final score of 11-7.

The Eagles nearly batted around in the third inning, sending eight batters to the plate. Three walks were issued to GSU batters and all three came around to score. Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) drove in two with a base hit to left-center field and the third was driven in by Steve Cochrane (Mooresville, N.C.) on a sacrifice fly.

Payne drove in two more runs in the fourth inning with a two-out home run. Brent Pugh (Atlanta, Ga.) doubled after two quick outs were recorded and scored on the homer. A solo shot by Cochrane in the fifth inning, again with two outs, gave the Eagles a 6-3 lead.

GSU batted around in the seventh inning scoring four runs on six hits. The inning began with an unassuming ground out before four-straight batters put hits on the board. A solo homer by Victor Roache (Ypsilanti, Mich.), his 20th of the season, started the scoring in the frame. A single and two doubles by Tom Richardson (Lilburn, Ga.) and Scooter Williams (Detroit, Mich.) scored two more runs, before the RBI single by Pugh drove in the fourth run.

Both teams used nearly their whole pitching staffs in the contest and a combined 16 different pitchers threw in the game. Will Middour (Atlanta, Ga.) picked up his third win of the season with two scoreless innings. Middour (W, 3-1) allowed just one hit, no runs and walked two in his fourth start of the year. Sean Fream (L, 1-4) was tagged with the loss after giving up three runs on two hits in 2.1 innings of work.

Georgia Southern continues its road trip at UNC Greensboro for a Southern Conference three-game series. Play starts on Friday at 6 p.m. and will conclude with single games on Saturday and Sunday, both set for 1 p.m.

 

UNCG 10, High Point 3

GREENSBORO, N.C. - High Point struck for two runs in the top of the first inning, but UNCG answered with nine unanswered runs, including four in the first, to defeat the Panthers, 10-3, on Wednesday evening at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. The game was halted in the bottom of the fourth for 44 minutes due to a rain delay.

Greg Smith picked up his first win of the season after pitching three innings of relief and allowing just two runs. Steven Roche was credited with the loss for High Point (21-23) after allowing two runs on two hits in an inning of relief.

Cody Walker led the Spartans (22-17) at the plate as he went 3-4 with two RBI and two runs scored and Trevor Edwards added three RBI from his cleanup spot in the lineup. Ray Quinones and Zach Leach also had two RBI for UNCG.

Sal Pezzino went 3-5 with a run scored for the Panthers and Murray White IV had a 2-4 evening with a run scored.

The Panthers jumped out to the early lead as Pezzino and Drew Geissinger led off the game with back-to-back singles on the first three pitches of the game. Steve Antolik followed with a single of his own to score Pezzino. Geissinger would score later in the inning on a sacrifice fly to give High Point a 2-0 lead.

The Spartans would come right back in the home half of the first with four runs to take the lead. The first three batters in the inning drew walks before Edwards delivered a triple into the right-field corner to clear the bases. Edwards would later score on a sacrifice fly by Thomas Troelstrup to make it 4-2.

UNCG would stretch it to 6-2 in the bottom of the third when Troelstrup was hit by a pitch and Walker drew a walk with one out. After a groundout advanced the runners, Leach delivered a single to left field to score both runners.

With one out in the bottom of the fourth, heavy rain descended upon the stadium and the game was under a rain delay for 44 minutes.

When play resumed, the Spartans picked up where they left off. After Walker singled and Ray Crawford reached on an error, Quinones hit a single to center field to score the two runners and make it 8-2 in favor of the home side after five innings.

Walker struck again in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single up the middle to score Drew Gehringer and put the Spartans ahead, 9-2.

White would hit a one-out double for High Point in the top of the eighth and later score to pull High Point within 9-3.

UNCG capped off its scoring in the home half of the eighth on an RBI single through the left side to score Kris Richards who had a leadoff triple to make the final score 10-3.

The Spartans return to action this weekend as they host Georgia Southern for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 6 p.m.

 

Appalachian State 6, North Carolina A&T 1

BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University baseball closed another terrific April in style with a 6-1 win over North Carolina A&T on Wednesday evening at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.

With the victory, Appalachian (26-18) finished the month with a 14-5 record, upping its mark in April since 2009 to a sterling 48-9 (.842).

Despite drawing 14 walks and stealing seven bases while getting strong efforts from four pitchers, ASU was never able to truly pull away from N.C. A&T (14-27), due mainly to leaving a whopping 14 men on base in the triumph.

The Mountaineers led 5-1 after five innings but the damage could have been far worse as they stranded 12 baserunners in the first five stanzas alone. The Aggies issued 12 walks and threw three wild pitches before the end of the fifth inning while only 40 of their first 104 pitches found the strike zone.

Appalachian, on the other hand, rode solid pitching to the victory. With an impending seven-day break for final exams, ASU used Wednesday's contest to get work for its marquee arms, sending weekend starters Ryan Arrowood (Rutherfordton, N.C./Central), Nathan Hyatt (Brevard, N.C./Brevard) and Seth Grant (Etowah, N.C./West Henderson) and closer Taylor Miller (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) to the mound. The foursome combined to limit A&T, which came into the contest hitting .297 as a team and averaging 6.3 runs per game, to just one run on six hits.

The turning point of the ballgame came in the fourth when N.C. A&T strung together four-consecutive singles off Arrowood. With the bases loaded and ASU clinging to a 2-0 lead, A&T's Luke Tendler slapped the last of the four-straight hits through the left side of the infield, easily cutting the Mountaineer advantage to 2-1. Marquis Riley attempted to score from second on the hit to knot the score at 2-2 but ASU left fielder Preston Troutman (Rockwell, N.C./East Rowan) gunned down Riley at the plate for the first out of the inning. One pitch later, catcher Tyler Tewell (Charlotte, N.C./Butler) threw out Dario Little as he attempted to steal third and Arrowood preserved the one-run lead when he forced an inning-ending flyout off the bat of Aggie slugger Xavier Macklin.

From there, it was all Appalachian. The Mountaineers scored the final four runs of the ballgame to complete a three-game season sweep of the Aggies and extend their winning streak in the series to nine-straight games.

Arrowood got the win, allowing one run on four hits over four innings to move to 6-1 on the campaign. Hyatt and Grant combined for four innings of no-hit relief and Miller worked around two hits in the ninth to close out the victory.

Hector Crespo (Miami, Fla./Florida Christian) led ASU offensively, going 2-for-2 with two runs, an RBI and three stolen bases. In the process, Crespo extended his hitting streak to nine games and upped his batting average to .296 on the season.

Jack Myers (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park) extended a lengthy hitting streak as well, stretching his to 14 games with a fourth-inning single. He also stole three bases on the evening.

Tyler Zupcic (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) and Will Callaway (Greenville, S.C./Eastside) each drove in runs for the Mountaineers.

Appalachian embarks on its annual week-long break from the diamond to focus on final exams and returns to action next Wednesday when it hosts another local rival in East Tennessee State. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Smith Stadium.

 

#18 Clemson 6, Western Carolina 4

Cullowhee, N.C. - Battling gusting winds and spring storms, Western Carolina nearly overcame a five-run deficit, scoring four runs in the home half of the fifth inning and trailed 6-4 before lightning halted the game in the top of the ninth leaving No. 18 Clemson with the two-run victory at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. The game was called after a 38 minute delay, reverting to the last completed inning through the bottom of the eighth.

Prior to first pitch on Wednesday night, Western Carolina honored former head coach - and current Clemson skipper - Jack Leggett as the inspiration behind the "Leggett Number 7 Legacy" program which was started this season. Each season, one deserving WCU player will have the honor of wearing the No. 7 jersey, with this year's recipient in senior Stephen Notaro.

Clemson (27-14), which took both games of the annual home-and-home series, jumped out to a 5-0 lead thanks to three runs in the top of the first inning and adding a two-spot in the top of the fifth. During the same span, WCU was held to one hit until rallying in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Cameron Dullnig opened the fifth by sharply singling up the middle on the first pitch of the inning before Cody Jones doubled to right center field to put runners at second and third with nobody out. Freshman Aaron Attaway then grounded out to second to drive home Dullnig from third to close the deficit to four, 5-1.

The next batter, freshman Macon Smith, walked to put runners at the corners ahead of Austin Schultz who laid down a sacrifice bunt attempt down the first base line. Richie Shaffer charged down the line, fielded the ball and threw home where Jones slide around the tag at home for the second run. Ross Heffley's single loaded the bases where senior Matt Johns drove home Smith on an RBI single through the left side with Notaro plating the fourth run on a sacrifice fly to right.

Dullnig and Johns both finished 2-for-4 to lead the Catamounts with Jones' double marking the Catamounts' lone extra base hit of the night. Smith finished 1-for-1 with a walk after earning the start in left field.

WCU (17-21-1) remained within one run through both the sixth and seventh innings before Clemson manufactured a single run in the top of the eighth to stretch the margin back to two, 6-4. Tiger reliever Jonathan Meyer then fanned the three batters he faced in the bottom of the inning to send the game to the ninth where Jeff Schaus led off with a double. However, game officials and the umpiring crew called the players off the field due to lightning in the area and ending following the delay.

Sophomore Taylor Sandefur matched a season-high with six strikeouts for the Catamounts, tossing six innings in relief after being summoned from the bullpen in the top of the first. The Mechanicsville, Va., native scattered nine base hits while limiting the Tigers to two runs in relief of starter Morgan McKinney (0-1) who was tagged for three runs on two hits and a walk.

Adam Curtis pitched an inning and a third, working out of a two-on, no out jam in the seventh inning with a strikeout with seniors Andrew Chilcoat and Brandon Johnson also recording a third of an inning apiece.

Clemson reliever David Haselden (4-1) scored the victory after working two and two thirds out of the bullpen, holding the Catamounts scoreless with three hits. Meyer picked up his first save of the season after tossing a perfect eighth.

Western Carolina returns home this weekend for a three-game nonconference series against the San Diego State Aztecs, led by Major League Baseball Hall of Famer, Tony Gwynn. Game one is scheduled for 6 pm on Friday night with first pitch of the second game slated for 3 pm on Saturday afternoon. The three-game series concludes with an 11 am first pitch on Sunday morning at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.

 

Gardner-Webb 3, Furman 2

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Scott Coleman's two-out, two-run double in the eighth inning broke a 1-1 tie and lifted Gardner-Webb to a 3-2 victory over Furman in baseball action Wednesday evening at Latham Stadium.

The victory improved Gardner-Webb to 25-13-1 on the season while the loss, the sixth straight for Furman, dropped the Paladins to 19-25 on the campaign.

With the scored knotted 1-1, Jake Watts and Daniel Merck delivered back-to-back one-out singles off Paladin reliever Brian Dudzinski in the top of the eighth. Watts stole third but could not advance on Dusty Quattlebaum's short fly out to left field. Coleman, however, picked up the Bulldogs by lining the first pitch he saw from Dudzinski's replacement, Drake Browne, into the left center field gap to score Watts and Merck for a 3-1 lead.

Furman got a run back in the bottom of the inning on a Will Muzika sacrifice fly, but the Paladins were retired in order in the ninth by Gardner-Webb closer Adam Izokovic, who notched his sixth save.

Coleman and Merck paced Gardner-Webb's 12-hit attack with 2-for-4 performances.

Furman, led by Taylor Johnson's 2-for-3 outing, had eight hits in the contest.

The win went to Jeff Howell (3-1), who came on to get the final out in the Furman seventh with the bases loaded. He worked 1 1/3 innings and allowed a run on one hit. He walked one and struck out one.

Dudzinski (0-2) was charged with the loss, surrendering two runs on three hits in 1 2/3 innings. He fanned three.

The Paladins' best chance to take the lead came in the seventh with the game tied 1-1. Paul Nitto and Alex Abrams opened the frame with back-to-back walks by Bulldog reliever Brett Stackhouse, but Kevin O'Leary's sacrifice bunt attempt went to Stackhouse, who threw to third base for the easy force play on Nitto. Abrams and O'Leary advanced on wild pitches, and Reese Wade drew the third walk of the inning to again load the bases. Hunter Burton, however, fanned for the second out, and Howell came on for Stackhouse and got Will Owens on an infield pop to quell the threat.

Furman opens a three-game Southern Conference series against Samford on Saturday. First pitch at Latham Stadium is set for 7:00 p.m. The Paladins and Bulldogs will play a Sunday doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m.