USC Upstate 8, The Citadel 5
Greenville, S.C. - The Citadel Baseball team cut their deficit to one run in the seventh inning on Wednesday night at Fluor Field but could not overcome an early 6-0 hole as they fell to USC Upstate, 8-5.
Despite registering double-digit hits for the 14th time in their last 19 games, The Citadel (20-29) saw their losing skid extend to five games, matching their longest of the season in their first trip back to Greenville's Fluor Field since the 2009 Southern Conference Tournament.
The Spartans struck first in the bottom of the second when Tyler Miller singled to left field. Tyler Cook then drew a walk and Austin Liput laid down a bunt down the third base line that stayed fair to load the bases with no outs against Bulldog starter Logan Cribb (Rock Hill, S.C.). Grason Wiggins then singled to left to score Miller. After a strikeout by Cribb, Blake Green narrowly escaped grounding into a double play when he reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Cook. A wild pitch by Cribb would plate Liput to give USC Upstate a 3-0 lead after two frames.
USC Upstate would strike for three more off Cribb in the fourth when Cook singled to left and Liput was hit by a pitch to put two aboard with no outs. Wiggins then laid down a sac bunt back to Cribb that he threw past first and into the stands to score Cook and put a pair of runners in scoring position. A sac fly by Branden Millhouse and an RBI groundout by Green would make it 6-0 after four innings.
In the fifth, Trey Richardson led off with a walk that ended the evening for Cribb. Making only his second career appearance, Ryan Hines (Hanahan, S.C.) induced a groundout after hitting a batter and then struck out a pair to avoid any further damage.
Nick Orvin (Moncks Corner, S.C.) led off the sixth with a base hit to left and moved to second when Brad Felder (Bowman, S.C.), who extended his hitting streak to 18 games in the first inning with a single, drew a walk to put two board with no outs. After a coaching visit to the mound, Matt Simonelli (Orlando, Fla.) launched a three-run bomb over the Green Monster in left field to cut the lead in half, 6-3.
In the seventh, the Bulldogs would narrow the gap to 6-5 when Legare Jones (Columbia, S.C.) singled up the middle and Josh Pless (Boiling Springs, S.C.) lined a double into the gap in right center to put runners on second and third with one down. Orvin picked up his third hit of the game then when he smacked a base hit up the middle to score both runners.
The Spartans would respond in the bottom of the seventh with some insurance runs as Gaither Bumgardner doubled to right and Richardson followed with a base hit to put runners on the corners. A double to deep left by Luke Weber would score Bumgarnder and knock Hines from the game. New pitcher David Leeth (Hartsville, S.C.) got a groundout that scored Richardson and then a line out and a strikeout to strand a runner on third with the Spartans holding an 8-5 advantage after seven innings.
Jake Waller closed out the final 2.1 innings for the Spartans to earn his third save of the season as he allowed just one hit and struck out two. Green went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI while Wiggins went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI to lead USC Upstate.
Cribb (1-3) took the loss for the Bulldogs, allowing five hits, six runs (five eanred), two walks and struck out one in 4.0 innings. Leeth hurled 2.0 scorless innings, allowing a pair of hits and struck out one while Hines went 2.0 innings and allowed four hits, two runs and struck out three.
Orvin went 3-for-5 with a run and two RBI while Simonelli went 3-for-4 with three RBI and a three-run home run to lead the Bulldog offense.
The Citadel continues their road swing this weekend when they head north to face UNC Greensboro in a three-game conference set beginning Friday at 6 p.m. Live stats and video will be available along with a recap and box score following each game on all new CitadelSports.com.
High Point 6, Appalachian State 5 (10 inn.)
BOONE, N.C. - Robbie Gilles drove in two runs with a two-out double in the top of the 10th inning to lift visiting High Point to a 6-5 extra-inning win over Appalachian State University baseball on Wednesday evening at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
High Point (22-27) snapped a seven-game losing streak with the win while Appalachian (28-22) dropped consecutive games for the first time since April 16-17.
With the score knotted at 4-4 in the top of the 10th, ASU closer Taylor Miller (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) was one strike away from getting out of a two-on, nobody-out jam when Gilles hit his two-run double deep into the right center field gap on a 1-2 pitch from Miller.
The Mountaineers put two runners of their own on base with nobody out in the bottom of the 10th when Trey Holmes (Rockwell, N.C./East Rowan) led off with a sharp single through the left side of the infield and Jack Myers (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park) followed with a walk. Cleanup hitter Daniel Kassouf (Lexington, N.C./North Davidson) pushed both runners into scoring position with a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt and Zack Briggs (Lexington, N.C./Central Davidson) cut the deficit to 6-5 on an RBI groundout to second base. However, with the tying run just 90 feet from home plate, freshman Preston Troutman (Rockwell, N.C./East Rowan) struck out looking at three-straight pitches to end the game.
The contest went to extra frames due in large part to a costly error and a lack of timely hitting by the Mountaineers. Two of HPU's four runs in regulation were unearned due to a throwing error by Appalachian shortstop Will Callaway (Greenville, S.C./Eastside) in the third inning but, perhaps more critically, ASU put runners on base in five of the final six innings of regulation but were not able to push a run across after jumping out to a 4-2 advantage after just three stanzas.
Holmes led the Mountaineers' 11-hit attack by going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and Tyler Tewell (Charlotte, N.C./Butler), Hector Crespo (Miami, Fla./Florida Christian) and Myers all drove in runs for ASU. Despite the RBI on a third-inning sacrifice fly, Myers had his 18-game hitting streak snapped with an 0-for-3 evening.
Miller suffered the loss for Appalachian to fall to 2-2 on the season.
Steve Antolik drove in all four of the Panthers' runs in regulation with a two-run double in the third inning and a two-run home run in the sixth and finished 4-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored. Antolik and Drew Geissenger (3-for-5, three runs) accounted for seven of HPU's nine hits and scored five of their six runs.
Spencer Andrews (3-1) earned the win with three innings of one-run relief.
Appalachian hits the road for the next four contests, beginning with a pivotal three-game Southern Conference series at College of Charleston this weekend. The three-game set begins on Friday at 6 p.m. at Patriots Point Park in Mount Pleasant, S.C.
Kennesaw State 6, Western Carolina 2
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina failed to find a rhythm offensively on Wednesday evening as Kennesaw State handed the Catamounts a 6-2 nonconference loss at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium. WCU was held to just five base hits - all singles - in suffering its seventh loss in its last eight games.
With the defeat, WCU split the regular season series with the Owls after downing KSU 5-1 on the road back on March 15.
Making his first collegiate start on the mound, junior Cameron Dullnig (0-1) suffered the loss for the Catamounts after allowing just two runs on three hits. The San Antonio, Texas, native worked around one walk with a career-high four strikeouts. Four WCU relievers combined to toss the final five innings with Adam Curtis surrendering two runs on two hits in an inning while Jeremy Sluder tossed two and a third, giving up a run on three hits with a strikeout.
Kennesaw State (27-21) broke a scoreless tie in the top of the second with a pair of runs, the first coming after Peyton Hart was plunked by a 2-2 pitch ahead of Sean McClurken who tripled to right center field to give the Owls the advantage. The next batter, Drew Fowlkes, lifted an RBI double to right to push across the second run.
The visitors extended their lead with a two-spot in the top of the fifth off a solo homer by Ronnie Freeman before consecutive walks and an RBI single by McClurken handed the Owls a 4-0 lead through five.
McClurken and Fowlkes both drove in a pair of runs for the Owls with the latter finishing 3-for-5 in the winning effort.
The Catamounts scratched the scoreboard in the home half of the seventh with a pair of runs. Tyler White opened with a four-pitch walk with Aaron Attaway delivering a two-out single to right center to score White from second. Luke Gragg then singled through the right side with Attaway advancing to third on the play. KSU's relay to third got away from the third base man allowing Attaway to scamper home for the second run of the inning with Gragg ending up at third base on the play where he was stranded.
Five different Catamounts recorded the squad's five base hits with Attaway recording the lone RBI on Wednesday. Ross Heffley drew a pair of walks in a 0-for-2 outing on the day.
Kennesaw State added runs in the top of the eighth and ninth innings to provide the final tally, 6-2.
Steve Janas (1-0) earned the victory for Kennesaw State by working five scoreless innings and holding the Catamounts to just two hits. He worked around a pair of walks with three strikeouts. Reliever Dean Jordan worked around three walks and three hits, allowing two runs before Andrew Austin and J.B. Johnson closed out the final two frames to secure the win.
Western Carolina (18-27-1) opens a crucial three-game Southern Conference series at Furman on Friday night at 7 pm with the series continuing Saturday at 4 pm and concluding with a 1 pm first pitch on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard online at www.CatamountSports.com.