Samford 12, Jacksonville State 4
JACKSONVILLE, Ala.-Samford right fielder Brandon Miller homered twice and drove in three runs to lead the Bulldog baseball team to a 12-4 win at in-state rival Jacksonville State Wednesday afternoon at Rudy Abbott Field.
With the win, Samford improves to 4-1 on the season. Jacksonville State drops to 0-2 with the loss. The win marked the first time Samford has won at Jacksonville State since 2008.
Miller went 3-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI to lead the Bulldogs at the plate. The two homers brings Miller's season total to six through the first five games of the season.
Center fielder Phillip Ervin also hit a home run, going 1-for-5 with three RBI. Zeth Stone went 2-for-4, while Austin Allison drove in three runs in a 1-for-4 performance at the plate.
Samford starting pitcher C.K. Irby (2-0) pitched 3.0 innings, giving up one run on two hits and striking out two batters, to earn the win on the mound. Relievers Gil Walker, Taylor Hammond, Tyler Vanderheiden, Arthur Strauss and Lex Rutledge also saw time on the mound for the Bulldogs.
For Jacksonville State, Jay Davis went 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI. Erik Underwood also went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Daniel Watts (0-1) took the loss for JSU, tossing 3.1 innings, allowing five runs on four hits.
Jacksonville State jumped on top first with a run in the bottom of the second inning. Davis homered to left field to give the Gamecocks a 1-0 lead.
Samford took control of the game with nine runs in the top of the fourth inning. Christiaan Durdaller singled to drive in Miller for the game-tying run. Samford took the lead when Brandon Powell scored on a sacrifice bunt by Tommy Corbin. Allison then doubled to drive in Brad Moss, Corbin and Durdaller for a 5-1 Samford lead.
Ervin later homered to left field with Allison and Stone on base to make the score 8-1. The inning's final run was scored when Miller homered to left field to give Samford a 9-1 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Jacksonville State plated a run to cut Samford's lead to 9-2. Scott Underwood scored when Michael Bishop reached base on a Samford error for the Gamecocks' second run of the game.
Samford added three runs in the top of the sixth inning to push its lead to 12-2. Saxon Butler singled to left field to drive in Stone for the inning's first run. Miller then hit his second home run of the game, with Butler on base, for a 10-run Samford lead.
The Gamecocks added two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the final score 12-4. Andre Bishop singled to drive in Michael Bishop for the first run of the inning. Erik Underwood later singled to drive in Andre Bishop to cut the Samford lead to eight runs.
Samford will return to action on Friday, Feb. 24, when the Bulldogs open a three-game series at South Alabama. Friday's series opener is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start from Mobile, Ala.
Wofford 9, Gardner-Webb 2
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - The Wofford baseball team won 9-2 over Gardner-Webb on Wednesday afternoon at John Henry Moss Stadium. The Terriers took an early 3-0 lead in the second inning and added five runs in the top of the ninth for the win.
Wofford is 2-1 and Gardner-Webb is 3-1. The Terriers were led by James Foster with three hits and three RBIs, while Stephen Cantrell had three hits and two runs scored. Pete Noordsy went seven innings for the win. The Runnin' Bulldogs had four players with one hit each.
The Terriers left two runners on base in the top of the first and the Runnin' Bulldogs stranded one in the bottom of the first. Wofford got on the board in the top of the second when Stephen Cantrell had an RBI single that scored David Roney, who had reached on a walk. James Foster hit a single up the middle that scored two more runs as Wofford took a 3-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth, James Foster hit a double to right field which scored Stephen Cantrell, who reached on a bunt single, as the Terriers took a 4-0 lead. Wofford had runners on the corners in the top of the fifth, but were unable to add to the advantage.
Wofford left two on base in the top of the seventh inning and one on base in the top of the eighth. In the bottom of the eighth, Gardner-Webb had two runners in scoring position but both were left on base.
The Terriers opened the top of the ninth with a single by James Foster. Josh Hyman reached on a sacrifice bunt and both runners advanced on a throwing error. Mac Doyle was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Konstantine Diamaduros then hit a triple down the right line to score three runs and give Wofford a 7-0 lead. A double by Eric Brenk scored Diamaduros and a single by David Roney drove in Brenk for a 9-0 score with one out.
Gardner-Webb had the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. An error allowed Adam McFarland to reach first and two runners scored on the play. A strikeout ended the game with a 9-2 final score.
Wofford starter Pete Noordsy (1-0) threw a career-high seven innings and allowed only three hits with four strikeouts. Alex Wilson went two-thirds of an inning and allowed one hit with a strikeout. Eric Eck threw the final 1.1 innings and struck out two for the save.
Gardner-Webb starter Andrew Barnett (1-0) went 4.1 innings and allowed four runs on six hits. Mitch Warren threw two innings and allowed one hit with two strikeouts. Jeff Howell, Matt Liedberg, Jimmy Moore, Stephen Gilmore, and Matt Fraudin combined for the final 2.2 innings and allowed six hits and five runs with three strikeouts.
In the first inning, Mac Doyle had a single through the left side that was his 200th career hit. He is the sixth played in school history to reach the 200 hit mark.
The Terriers will begin a three-game series with Pittsburgh on Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. On Saturday they will begin at 2:00 p.m. and conclude on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
#10 Georgia Tech 11, #30 Georgia Southern 9
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Baseball team dropped their first game of the new year in a seesaw affair to #10 Georgia Tech on Wednesday. A stadium record 3,258 fans came out to J.I. Clements Stadium in the first mid-week contest of the year, but they went home disappointed after the Eagles fell 11-9.
A three-run home run off the bat of Georgia Tech's (4-1) Zane Evans in the top of the eighth inning broke open an 8-8 tie and handed Yellow Jacket reliever, Josh Heddinger, his first win of the season. The freshman pitched a scoreless seventh inning, retiring the three batters he faced.
Georgia Southern's (3-1) Chris Myers (Gainesville, Fla.) was tagged with the loss after Georgia Tech took the lead for good in the top of the eighth. Myers allowed two runs on a walk and two free passes in his two innings out of the bullpen.
The bats, despite being held to three hits through five innings, kept the Eagles in the game and tallied eight hits and 10 walks. Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) drove in four of the nine runs on two hits and plated a runner in three of his last four plate appearances.
Georgia Southern held an early 1-0 lead, and starter Justin Hess (Panama City, Fla.) worked around two-out base runners in the first two innings to keep Georgia Tech scoreless. Hess was unable to get the early outs in the third inning and was hurt by a three-run homer from Brandon Thomas.
The Eagles retook a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Phillips and a two-RBI single off the bat of Ben Morgan (Evans, Ga.). Georgia Tech rallied an inning later, scoring five runs on five hits. A walk and a double from Mott Hyde scored the opening run and Jake Davis put the Yellow Jackets back on top 8-5 with an RBI double to center.
Georgia Southern tied the game at 8-8 with three runs in the sixth inning on back-to-back two-out doubles from Phillips and T.D. Davis (Evans, Ga.). A single by Williams and a walk of Burruss set up the inning before the two-out work from the senior captain brought in two runs. The Eagles managed a run in the bottom of the eighth but were unable to make up the three-run deficit.
The game can also be heard on the Boomer 103.7 FM and inside the stadium on 88.1 FM. Audio for all games is also available on the web and subscription video is available for all home games at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/Eaglevision.
USC Upstate 17, Furman 3
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Gaither Bumgardner went 4-for-5 and drove in five runs and USC Upstate scored in each of the first five innings, including nine runs in the fifth, on the way to a 17-3 pasting of Furman in baseball action Wednesday afternoon at Harley Stadium.
Furman (2-3) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a Alex Abrams' two-run double, but that would be the lone highlight for the Paladins, who watched USC Upstate (3-1) tie it in the bottom of the frame on a Luke Weber two-run home run off Furman starting and losing pitcher Tyler Wood (0-1).
The Spartans came back with three more in the second, combining two hits with three walks to extend their advantage to 5-2.
The two teams traded single runs in the third, but after that it was all Upstate, as the Spartans added two more in the fourth for an 8-3 lead and then blew the game open with a nine-run fifth highlighted by a two-run home run by Austin Liput and two-run double by Jordan Stampler.
The Spartans pounded Paladin pitching for 19 hits and took advantage of eight walks and three wild pitches.
Stampler went 2-for-3 with two RBI and four runs scored for Upstate.
Abrams and Will Muzika combined for four of Furman's five hits.
Furman returns to action on Friday when it takes on Michigan State at 5:00 p.m. in the First Pitch Invitational at Fluor Field in downtown Greenville.