UNCG 3, Georgia Southern 2
GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNCG took advantage of a Georgia Southern error in the bottom of the third to score two runners and the Spartan pitching staff made the lead hold up as the Spartans defeated the first-place Eagles, 3-2, on Friday evening at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. The win extends UNCG's winning streak to four games.
Warren Slack (5-1) picked up the win after allowing only two runs, one earned, on five hits, while striking out five, in 6 1/3 innings of work. Jarett Miller came in to pitch a hitless final 2 2/3 innings with one strikeout.
Chris Beck (6-2) pitched a complete game in the losing effort as he allowed just three runs, one earned, on four hits, while striking out nine batters.
Drew Gehringer had half of the hits for UNCG (23-17, 12-7 Southern Conference) as he went 2-4 with an RBI and run scored, while Ray Crawford also went 1-3 with the only other RBI.
The Eagles (25-17, 13-6 SoCon) were led by Michael Burruss who went 2-4 with a run scored, while Eric Phillips and Ben Morgan each added an RBI.
Georgia Southern jumped on the Spartans early as Burruss hit a one-out triple in the top of the first inning. Phillips followed with an infield single to the left side of the infield that allowed Burruss to score from third and give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
The Eagles' lead wouldn't last long, though, as UNCG answered with a run of its own in the home half of the first. John Hein led off with a walk, his first of three walks on the night. After a fly out to left field, Gehringer delivered a double to the right field wall and Hein was able to score from first to tie the game at one.
UNCG was able to take advantage of a defensive miscue by Georgia Southern in the bottom of the third to take a 3-1 lead. With one out, Gehringer delivered a double into the right-center gap. After a line out to third, Eric Brindle hit a chopper that the first baseman misplayed.
Gehringer, who was running on the play, was able to round third and score from second to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead. Brindle then moved over to second on a balk and scored when Crawford hit a ball off the end of his bat through the right side of the infield to score Gehringer and make it a two-run lead.
The score would stay that way until the top of the fifth when the Eagles tried to get something going. Steve Cochrane led off by reaching on an error and Tom Richardson followed with a walk. Scooter Williams followed with a fielder's choice when third baseman Kris Richards made a diving stop at third, one of many on the evening, to get Richardson at second.
With runners on the corners, Morgan hit a fly ball to deep left field that allowed Cochrane to tag up and score from third to make it 3-2. Slack and the Spartans were able to get out of the inning as he struck out the final batter looking on a 3-2 pitch.
Miller would come into the game in the top of the seventh with runners on first and second, but got Shawn Payne to line into a double play to the Spartan second baseman to get out of the jam. He would retire all seven batters he face in the game.
The Spartans and Eagles will battle it out in game two of the series on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Elon 10, Davidson 0
ELON, N.C. -- Ken Ferrer struck out five over seven scoreless innings while Grant McCoury connected on his fourth home run of the season to lead the Elon Phoenix to a 10-0 Southern Conference victory over the visiting Davidson Wildcats on Friday night.
Ferrer (5-3) moved into a tie for second in career victories in program history with the win with 27, equaling the mark of C.V. "Lefty" Briggs (1927-30). The shutout was also the second in a row for the Phoenix (28-17, 16-6 SoCon), a first since blanking Wofford 8-0 and 10-0 on April 8-9, 2006.
Davidson dropped to 18-23, 8-16.
After Niko Fraser reached on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the first for Elon, Sebastian Gomez and Neal Pritchard rapped back-to-back singles to score the first run of the game. With runners on the corners, Pritchard broke for second and got hung up long enough to allow Gomez to score to make it a 2-0 game.
Following a lead-off walk to Garrett Koster in the last of the second, McCoury crushed a 1-1 pitch over the scoreboard in left-center for his fourth home run of the season as the Phoenix built a 4-0 advantage. With one away, Jake Luce laced a double just inside the left field line and moved to third on a ground out. Luce scored the third Elon run when Gomez lined single into center field. Gomez would swipe second and head to third as the throw went into center. Pritchard picked up his second RBI of the night by driving home Gomez with a single into left-center.
Gomez began the Elon seventh with a walk, advanced to second on a ground out and to third when Alex Swim reached on an error. A wild pitch allowed Gomez to score and Swim to race all the way to third. Cyle Rasmus then made it an 8-0 game by lacing a double down the left field line. Koster drew his third walk of the night to put two aboard for McCoury who lined a single to left that should have loaded the bases, but the ball skipped under the glove of the fielder and rolled to the wall allowing both Rasmus and Koster to score and McCoury to take second as the Phoenix lead stretched to 10-0.
Elon roughed up Wildcat starter Chris Lamb (1-6) for six runs (five earned) on nine hits in just five innings.
Offensively, Gomez extended his hitting streak to six games, the last four of which have all been multi-hit outings, by going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and one RBI. McCoury finished the night 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI. Pritchard also had a two-hit night, going 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Seth Freeman recorded two of Davidson's four hits.
Elon and Davidson will square off again at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday in game two of this three-game set.
College of Charleston 8, Wofford 5
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - In the first game of the weekend series, the Wofford baseball team was defeated 8-5 by the College of Charleston on Friday night at Russell C. King Field. Seven of the eight runs scored by the Cougars were with two outs on the board.
Wofford is now 19-23 on the season and 6-13 in the Southern Conference. College of Charleston is 28-15 overall and 12-7 in conference play. The Terriers were led by Matt Moore and Alex Lee, each with two hits. The Cougars had three hits from Kolby Epley and Jamie Holler, while Daniel Aldrich had three RBIs.
In the top of the second with two outs, the Cougars had a single and a double. Cole Rakar then hit a single to center that cleared the bases for a 2-0 lead. A double by Rob Harding scored Rakar as he beat the throw to the plate for a 3-0 advantage. In the bottom of the second, James Foster reached on an error and then moved to second on a balk. A double by David Roney to left center scored Foster for a 3-1 game.
The Terriers opened the bottom of the third with a single by Alex Lee and Josh McKinney was hit by a pitch. A single by Konstantine Diamaduros with one out loaded the bases. A walk issued to Mac Doyle scored one run for a 3-2 score, but the Terriers left the bases loaded.
College of Charleston had two singles to lead off the top of the fourth. A throwing error scored one run in the inning for the Cougars to make it a 4-2 game. In the top of the fifth with two outs, two Cougars were walked. Daniel Aldrich then hit a three-run homer to center field to push the lead to 7-2.
Wofford got one run back in the bottom of the sixth when James Foster singled and then scored when Josh Hyman singled along with a throwing error for a 7-3 score. A single that dropped into center field by Matt Moore scored Hyman and a double by Alex Lee drove in Moore to cut the lead to 7-5 after six innings.
Cole Rakar hit a solo home run over the left field wall to give the Cougars an 8-5 lead in the top of the seventh. Wofford left one runner on base in the bottom of the seventh. In the top of the eighth, the first two Cougars reached base but a double play ended the scoring chance.
In the top of the ninth, the Cougars had two players left on base. Alex Lee was hit by pitch to open the bottom of the ninth for the Terriers, which was followed by a single by Clark Wise. With the tying run at the plate, a strikeout and a double play ended the ballgame.
Wofford starter Cash Collins (7-2) went five innings and allowed nine hits and seven runs, along with two strikeouts. Jesse Morris threw two innings and gave up two hits and one run with four strikeouts. Ryan Traylor faced two batters and Pete Noordsy went the final two innings without allowing a hit.
College of Charleston starter Josh Renfro (7-2) threw six innings and gave up five runs on eight runs with six strikeouts. Casey Lucchese picked up his second save of the season by going three innings and allowing only one hit with three strikeouts.
The Terriers will continue the series against the Cougars on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. On Wednesday, May 4, Wofford hosts South Carolina at Russell C. King Field at 7:00 p.m.
San Diego State 4, Western Carolina 3
Cullowhee, N.C. - San Diego State used a pair of two-run innings coming in the fourth and seventh and held off Western Carolina for the 4-3 victory Friday evening at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. First pitch of game two of the three-game nonconference series is scheduled for 3:00 pm on Saturday afternoon.
Catamount starter Matt Benedict struck out seven through six innings of work, limiting the Aztecs to two runs - only one of which was earned - on five hits in factoring in a no-decision. Sophomore Adam Curtis(1-4) was saddled with the loss after surrendering one run on one hit in the seventh inning.
WCU (17-22-1) struck first in the bottom of the third as freshman Aaron Attaway drew a one-out walk and moved to third as classmate Macon Smith singled through the right side. With Austin Schultz at the plate, Smith took off for second on the front end of a double-steal with Attaway racing home just ahead of the throw home to put the Catamounts ahead, 1-0.
Half an inning later, SDSU rallied with a two-spot to take the lead. With runners at second and third, Tim Zier grounded out to second to drive in the game-tying run with the go-ahead marker scoring on a passed ball.
In the sixth, the Catamounts again scratched the scoreboard for a solo run to knot the game at two apiece. Ross Heffley singled up the middle and advanced to third on consecutive wild pitches. Senior Matt Johns then drove a full-count pitch to right field for a sacrifice fly, scoring Heffley.
San Diego State (13-29) manufactured two runs in the seventh to reclaim a two-run, 4-2 lead. Back-to-back bunts including an infield single and sacrifice put Cody Smith at second base where he was plated by Brandon Meredith on a single through the left side. The fourth run came home on a sacrifice fly by Chris Wilson.
The Catamounts threatened in the seventh, moving a runner to second base before consecutive strikeouts ended the inning. In the eighth, WCU loaded the bases with one-out singles by Schultz and Heffley followed by a two-out walk by Stephen Notaro, but could not plate a run and went to the ninth trailing by two.
Heffley was the only Catamount to record a multi-hit game, finishing 2-for-4 with a run scored and six assists defensively.
In the final frame, Kyle Deese struck out the side in the top of the inning to keep it a two-run margin entering the home portion. FreshmanLuke Gragg opened with a pinch hit single to center before taking second on a balk. He later scored on a single by Attaway to close within a run, 4-3. With the tying run on first, however, Aztec reliever Bryan Crabb recorded the final two outs on a strikeout and fly out to right to end the game and pick up his third save of the year.
All told, the two squads combined to strand 15 runners on base including eight by SDSU and seven Catamount runners.
San Diego State starter Corey Black (3-4) scored the victory after keeping WCU off-balance through seven innings, scattering three base hits and only allowing two runs. Black worked around three walks with eight strikeouts. Crabb struck out two in an inning and two thirds to pick up the save.