Elon 8, The Citadel 2
Charleston, S.C. - Despite taking an early lead on Saturday afternoon, The Citadel was unable to overcome a big fourth inning by Elon as the Phoenix captured the series with an 8-2 victory at Riley Park.
The Citadel (20-26, 8-15) was able to take advantage of only one of Elon's five errors on the day and that came in the bottom of the second when Justin Mackert (Cleveland, Ohio) doubled off Phoenix starter Thomas Girdwood. After moving to third on a groundout by Drew DeKerlegand (Pearland, Texas), Calvin Orth (Jacksonville, Fla.) then reached on a throwing error by second baseman Sebastian Gomez, allowing Mackert to score the first run of the game.
Moving up a day in the rotation due to an illness to scheduled starter Austin Pritcher (Charleston, S.C.), Justin Russell (Jacksonville, Fla.) breezed through the first three frames but would not make it out of the fourth as Ryan Kinsella lined a two-run homer down the right field line that stayed fair by just inches to give Elon a 2-1 lead. After getting the second out of the inning, Garrett Koster singled, Harry Austin walked and leadoff man Niko Fraser singled to left to score Koster. Then on a double steal by Austin and Fraser, a throwing error by Orth allowed Fraser to go to third and Austin came in to score. Jake Luce then poked a base hit to right to plate Fraser and knock Russell from the game.
Elon (32-18, 20-6) would extend the lead in the sixth despite not getting a hit until the ninth inning after Russell was removed from the contest. A leadoff walk to Grant McCoury by reliever TJ Clarkson (Coral Springs, Fla.) would lead to run as a throwing error by DeKerlgand at third would allow a pair of runners to move to scoring position and a sac fly by Austin would plate McCoury to make it 6-2.
An RBI double off the bat off Matt Simonelli (Orlando, Fla.) in the bottom of the seventh would score Nick Orvin (Moncks Corner, S.C.) and chase Girdwood from the game. However, Phoenix closer Mitch Conner did not give up a hit over the remaining 2.2 innings and struck out a pair to earn his seventh save of the season. Girdwood (4-4) picked up the win, going 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits, two runs (one earned) with a pair of walks and two strikeouts.
The Phoenix would get pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth off Logan Cribb (Rock Hill, S.C.) when Kinsella's two run single scored Alex Swim and Eric Serra. Kinsella went 2-for-4 with four RBI and a run scored to lead Elon on the day.
Russell (1-4) took the loss for The Citadel, allowing five hits, five runs (four earned), four walks and struck out two in 3.2 innings. Simonelli went 2-for-4 with an RBI double to lead the Bulldog offense. Brad Felder (Bowman, S.C.) extended his hit streak to 16 games while William Ladd (Winnsboro, S.C.) reached base for the 21st consecutive game on an infield single.
"Our pitchers had too many lead off walks today," said head coach Fred Jordan. "Elon does a tremendous job throughout their lineup of being patient at the plate. I thought Girdwood got stronger as the game went on. We looked to have him on the ropes a few times, but he got out of it and ran with the lead."
The Citadel and Elon meet on Sunday in the series finale at 1 p.m. at Riley as eight Bulldog seniors will be honored before the game. The game will be broadcast live by play-by-play announcer Darren Goldwater on Sports Radio 1450 AM in Charleston and on all new CitadelSports.com. Live stats and video will also be available along with recap and box score following the game.
Georgia Southern 12, Wofford 4
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Baseball team (27-20, 14-9) evened a series that has seen a 15 combined errors with a 12-4 victory over Wofford (20-27, 7-16) on Saturday, May 7th. The Eagles began the day with the induction of former pitchers Julio Ayala and Brett Lewis to the Wall of Fame.
Justin Hess (Panama City, Fla.) made just his fourth start on the mound this season and pitched a solid five innings. Hess improved to 3-2 on the year after allowing one earned run, three total, on five hits. The bullpen did its part as well, holding the Terriers to just one run over four innings.
Georgia Southern allowed a first inning run for the sixth consecutive game, but rebounded with two of its own in the bottom half of the inning. A RBI ground out and two-out double by Tom Richardson (Lilburn, Ga.) drove in the two runs.
The Eagles added a single run in the third inning to take a 3-1 lead before both teams scored two runs each in the fourth inning. GSU broke open the game with a combined seven runs in the sixth and seventh innings to extended the lead to 12-3. The Terriers fourth run of the contest crossed the plate in the eighth inning.
Tom Dolinak allowed only one earned run through five innings in his start for Wofford, but was tagged with the loss. Dolinak (L, 3-6) gave up five total runs on six hits, but five Terrier errors allowed the Eagles to score four unearned runs. The Wofford bullpen did not fare as well as Georgia Southern's, allowing seven combined runs over three innings.
The four-run sixth inning for Georgia Southern saw only two hits with two errors allowing four unearned runs to cross the plate. A leadoff walk to Arthur Owens (Fayetteville, Ga.), who reached base in all but one plate appearance in his first start of the series, came around to score after a throwing error was wide of home plate.
Shawn Payne (Stone Mountain, Ga.) singled with one out in the inning, stole second and scored along with Michael Burruss (Marietta, Ga.), who reached on a fielder's choice, after a failed rundown play. A RBI-single by Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) drove in the fourth run of the inning.
After two quick outs to start the seventh inning, Georgia Southern tallied five-straight hits to score three runs on a home run by Burruss, his third of the season.
The series finale between Georgia Southern and Wofford is set for 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. In the rubber match of the three-game set, Joe Lower (West Palm Beach, Fla.) will take the mound for the Eagles against a Terrier starter to be named later.
College of Charleston 6, UNCG 5
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - Redshirt-junior C Rob Kral (Randolph, N.J.) jumped on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the ninth, roping a two-run single into center field, giving the College of Charleston a 6-5 walk-off win over UNC Greensboro Saturday evening in Southern Conference action at Patriots Point. The win improves Charleston to 31-17 overall and 15-8 in the conference, evening the weekend series at a game apiece.
Down 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth, junior 2B Rob Harding (Columbia, S.C.) drew a full-count walk and senior SS Jamie Holler (Rock Hill, S.C.) reached on a bunt single to first. Junior 1B Marty Gantt (N. Augusta, S.C.) advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt and Kral stroked the first pitch from UNCG reliever Dylan Hathcock into center as Harding and Holler raced home for the win.
Charleston jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the opening inning as Kral deposited a 2-0 pitch over the wall in right for his seventh homer of the season. UNCG tied the game in the top of the second on a RBI single by Cody Walker that plated Drew Gehringer.
The Cougars took a 3-1 lead in the sixth as Kral drew a full-count walk and with two outs, redshirt-freshman RF Daniel Aldrich (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) knocked his 20th home run of the season to give Charleston a two-run advantage. Aldrich jumped on a 1-0 pitch from UNCG starter Brandon Browne and it cleared the fence in right
UNCG chipped away at the Cougars' lead with single run in the seventh and pulled ahead with three runs in the eighth for a 5-3 lead. A RBI double by Thomas Troelstrup that scored Brindle, who reached on a fielding error by Kral. In the eighth with two outs, Gehringer reached on a fielder's choice and stole second. On a steal attempt to third, Kral threw the pickoff throw in the dirt, allowing Gehringer to score on the error. Eric Brindle reached on a fielding error by Harding, Andrew Spleth walked and Joe Hager reached on an infield single to load the bases. Troelstrup lined a two-run double up the middle to give the Spartans their first lead of the game.
Charleston cut into the deficit with a single run in the bottom of the eight on RBI double down the left-field line by redshirt-junior 3B Matt Leeds (Boca Raton, Fla.) that scored Gantt to make the score 5-4 and setting up the ninth-inning rally.
Kral led the Cougars at the plate with three hits and three RBI, while redshirt-junior LF Jose Rodriguez (Hialeah, Fla.) added a pair of hits. Sophomore LHP Jake Zokan (Columbia, S.C.) earned the win for Charleston, recording the final two outs of the ninth. Junior starter David Peterson (Walnut Creek, Calif.) tossed eight innings, allowing five runs - one earned - on nine hits with five strikeouts.
The two teams close out the series Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. Free admission is offered to all fans and the first 100 mothers will receive a special gift from College of Charleston athletics.
Appalachian State 10, Western Carolina 5
BOONE, N.C. - Jeremy Dowdy (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) broke a 4-4 tie with a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning and Hector Crespo (Miami, Fla./Florida Christian) followed with a three-run homer to lead Appalachian State University baseball to a 10-5 win over Western Carolina on Saturday evening at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
A season-best crowd of 804 saw sixth-place Appalachian (27-19) move to 11-11 in Southern Conference play while ninth-place Western Carolina (17-25-1, 7-15 SoCon) suffered another blow in its quest to be a part of the eight-team SoCon Tournament field.
ASU jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning but WCU plated four runs of its own in the top of the second to knot the contest at 4-4.
Behind a gutsy performance by Mountaineer starter Ryan Arrowood (Rutherfordton, N.C./Central) and a dominating effort by Western's Matt Benedict, the score remained 4-4 going into the bottom of the sixth.
After Daniel Kassouf (Lexington, N.C./North Davidson) drew his second walk of the evening, Zack Briggs (Lexington, N.C./Central Davidson) followed with ASU's first hit off Benedict since the first inning, a line-drive single to center field that put runners on first and second base with one out.
Preston Troutman (Rockwell, N.C./East Rowan) then laced a ground ball that was fielded by a diving WCU third baseman Austin Schultz. Schultz recovered in plenty of time to cut down Briggs at second on the hot shot but his throw pulled Catamount second baseman Ross Heffley from the bag, leaving the bases loaded on the error.
Will Callaway (Greenville, S.C./Eastside) struck out for the second out of the inning but Dowdy roped a base hit through the right side of the infield, scoring Kassouf from third and Briggs from second to give the Mountaineers a 6-4 lead.
On the eighth pitch of the next at-bat, Crespo launched a 3-2 pitch into the beautiful High Country evening and well over the left center field wall for a three-run homer that gave Appalachian a commanding 9-4 advantage. The blast was Crespo's first of the season.
ASU tacked on another run on Troutman's third RBI of the night in the seventh. David Port (Dunwoody, Ga./Dunwoody) relieved Arrowood in the eighth and worked around a solo homer by WCU's Stephen Notaro in the ninth to close out the victory.
Arrowood labored through seven innings, surrendering season highs for hits (11) and walks (5), but pitched his way out of numerous jams and only gave up the four second-inning runs to move to 7-1 on the campaign. Benedict, who did not allow a hit over a 4.2-inning stretch after ASU's four-run first, wound up being tagged for nine runs (four earned) over six stanzas of work and suffered the loss to fall to 2-4.
Troutman (2-for-4, two runs, three RBI) and Briggs (2-for-3, two runs, RBI) paced the Mountaineers' nine-hit attack. Jack Myers (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park) extended his hitting streak to an ASU season-best 16 games with a first-inning infield single and Crespo stretched his hitting streak to 11 games with the sixth-inning bomb.
With the triumph, Appalachian has won 11 of its last 15 SoCon games after an 0-7 start in conference play. Western Carolina has lost five in a row overall and five of its last eight in SoCon action.
The clubs continue their three-game SoCon series on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Smith Stadium.
Samford 13, SIU Edwardsville 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.- The Samford baseball team pounded out 17 hits and two Bulldog pitchers allowed one unearned run on just two hits as Samford defeated SIU Edwardsville, 13-1, in the second game of a three-game non-conference baseball series Saturday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
Samford pitcher Charles Basford (5-4) pitched 7.0 innings, giving up the lone unearned run and allowing just two hits to pick up the win. Basford took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before giving up back-to-back singles with two outs. Relief pitcher Rumiko Forrester pitched the final 2.0 innings, allowing no hits to seal the win.
The Samford offense put together three big innings, plating four runs in the first inning, five runs in the sixth inning and three runs in the seventh to account for most of the Bulldogs' runs.
"This was a good job by our guys of putting together three big innings," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "And then Charles came out and gave us another seven strong innings on the mound."
For Samford at the plate, Kevin Putkonen went 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and five RBI. Saxon Butler, who played right field, first base and catcher at various times throughout the game, went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI. Butler's two doubles push his SoCon-leading total to 20 on the season.
Michael Johnson went 3-for-4 for the Bulldogs. Phillip Ervin went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Brad Moss drove in two runs in a 1-for-4 performance, and Tyler Filliben went 2-for-4.
For SIU Edwardsville, Joel Greatting and Brett Keeler had one hit each to account for the Cougars' two hits. Thad Hawkins had SIUE's lone RBI in the contest. Josh Malin (4-4) pitched 5.1 innings, giving up seven runs on 12 hits to take the loss.
Samford jumped on top early with four runs in the first inning and one run in the second to grab an early 5-0 lead. In the first inning, Putkonen drove in two runs, and Butler and Ervin drove in a run each to give Samford a four-run lead. In the second inning, Ervin drove in another run with an infield single.
SIU Edwardsville put its lone run on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth inning. Hawkins grounded out to second base to drive in Zach Hawkins, who had reached base on an error to lead off the inning, to cut the Samford lead to 5-1.
The Bulldogs plated five runs in the sixth inning to push their lead to 10-1. Moss drove in two runs with a single to center field to drive in Johnson and C.K. Irby for the first two runs of the inning. Putkonen later doubled to right field with the bases loaded to drive in Ervin, Butler and Moss for a nine-run Samford lead.
Samford added three final runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the score 13-1. Filliben scored the first run of the inning on a wild pitch. Butler later singled to left-center field to drive in Moss and Johnson for the game's final two runs.
With the win, Samford improves to 28-19. SIU Edwardsville drops to 20-23 with the loss.
Samford and SIU Edwardsville will conclude their weekend series with a game Sunday at 1 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 be viewed online via the Bulldog Big Screen at www.samfordsports.com.