Appalachian State 5, North Carolina A&T 3
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Tyler Tewell (Charlotte, N.C./Butler) doubled with two outs in the top of the ninth inning and scored the go-ahead run on an infield single by Jeremy Dowdy (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) to lift Appalachian State University baseball to a 5-3 win over North Carolina A&T on Tuesday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium.
With the score knotted at 3-3 and two outs in the top of the ninth, Tewell ripped a line-drive double that one-hopped the right-field wall to extend the frame for Appalachian (5-2). Dowdy fell behind 0-2 to N.C. A&T reliever Joe Mackey but hit a bouncer back up the middle on Mackey's 0-2 offering. A&T shortstop Luke Tender made a diving stop behind second base to keep the ball in the infield but Tewell never broke stride as he rounded third and slid in under Tendler's high throw to the plate with the go-ahead run.
Dowdy, who advanced to second on the unsuccessful bid to throw Tewell at the plate, stole third and, after a Tyler Zupcic (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) walk, scored on Noah Holmes' (Rockwell, N.C./East Rowan) hot-shot grounder back to the mound. Zupcic was thrown out rounding third on the play but not before ASU extended its lead to 5-3.
The two-run cushion would be more than enough for Mountaineer closer Nathan Hyatt (Brevard, N.C./Brevard), who slammed the door in the bottom of the ninth for his third save.
Perhaps a bit hungover from this past weekend's monumental series victory at No. 7 LSU, Appalachian fell into a 2-0 hole just three batters into Tuesday's contest. However, after surrendering three-straight hits to open his first collegiate start, including a two-run double to A&T's Dario Little, true freshman Jeffrey Springs (Belmont, N.C./South Point) settled in for four strong innings, limiting the Aggies to just the two runs on four hits while striking out four.
ASU struggled at the outset versus N.C. A&T southpaw Ruben Torrellas but finally reached Torrellas for three runs in the sixth. Noah and Trey Holmes (Rockwell, N.C./East Rowan) drew back-to-back walks to lead off the frame, Preston Troutman (Rockwell, N.C./East Rowan) put the Apps on the board with an RBI double, Will Callaway (Greenville, S.C./Eastside) drove in the tying run on an infield single and Daniel Kassouf (Lexington, N.C./North Davidson) gave Appalachian a 3-2 lead with a sacrifice fly.
North Carolina A&T (3-5) knotted the score at 3-3 on Marquis Riley's two-out RBI single in the seventh to set up the Mountaineers' ninth-inning rally.
David Port (Dunwoody, Ga./Dunwoody) retired all four batters he faced, including sitting the side down in order on just seven pitches in the eighth, to earn his first win of the year. Tewell, Dowdy and Callaway all had two hits to pace Appalachian offensively.
Winners of three-straight, the Mountaineers open the home portion of their schedule this weekend with four games versus Rider. Friday's home opener is set for 3 p.m. at ASU's Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
College of Charleston 7, Jacksonville 0
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - College of Charleston fans held their breath as the Cougars took a perfect game into the ninth inning at Jacksonville, before an infield single broke it up on the first at bat of the ninth inning.
The Cougars (6-1) shut out Jacksonville (2-6) by a score of 7-0, behind a dominant starting performance by senior Ryan West in his first career start. West (1-0) went six innings with no hits and no walks, striking out four before being relieved due to pitch count.
Senior Kyle Owings and junior Dre Watts pitched perfect innings in the seventh and eighth to set up the drama in the ninth inning. Senior closer David Peterson came in to finish, but a slowly hit dribbler to the left side broke up the no-hitter and perfect game.
College of Charleston has never thrown a perfect game and the only no-hitter came in 2004 against Western Carolina.
"I'm obviously very proud of Ryan West today," head coach Monte Lee said. "He had great command and literally had a perfect performance. We had outstanding defense behind him, and we were able to get RBIs in two-out situations. It was a great effort out there today."
This season, the Cougar pitching staff have now put together three different no-hit bids going 4.1 IP (in a seven-inning game), 7.1 IP and 8.0 IP with Christian Powell, Matt Pegler and now West all posting strong starts.
The Cougar offense took the lead in the third inning with a two-out walk from junior Gunnar Heidt. Heidt stole second and scored on a double by Bradley Goodson. Senior Rob Harding kept the inning alive with a single on the next at-bat to score Goodson from second.
CofC manufactured another run in the sixth inning as Marty Gantt led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After a fly out and ground out, Tyler Jackson doubled Gantt home from third to make it 3-0.
College of Charleston added four insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning. Daniel Aldrich hit his second home run of the season, a three-run shot to center field to score Gantt and Goodson. Gantt's 13 runs on the season lead the team.
Steven Eagerton took his second loss of the season for Jacksonville. He allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings.
College of Charleston will host Elon in a three-game conference set starting on Friday at 6 p.m.
Mercer 12, Georgia Southern 4
STATESBORO, Ga. - Behind three home runs and four doubles, the Mercer Bears out-slugged the Georgia Southern Baseball team 12-4 in a mid-week loss at J.I. Clements Stadium on Tuesday. In the first of five games this week, the Eagles allowed seven extra-base hits and hit just one of their own in their third loss of the year.
Ben Morgan (Evans, Ga.) had the one hit and went three-for-four with a double out of the nine hole for Georgia Southern (5-3). The sophomore had half of the team's six hits and only three others put a tally in the hit column. The pitching staff struggled with putting Mercer (9-1) away after getting the first two outs in the inning and allowed eight two-out runs. Sam Howard (Cartersville, Ga.) (1-1) took the loss in the first start of his career. He surrendered five runs on five hits in three innings and struck out four batters.
The Bears' pitching staff limited the Eagle's offense to six hits and allowed only one earned run. Dimitri Kourtis (2-0) cruised through the first two innings and faced just three over the minimum in his final three innings of work to earn the win. David Teasley struck out four batters out of the bullpen and threw a scoreless 1.2 innings. Logan Gaines led the offense with four hits, four runs scored and three RBIs and finished the night a triple shy of the cycle.
Mercer jumped ahead early on a pair of two-out home runs in the first and third innings. Travis Benn capped off a two-out rally in the first inning with a three-run homer over the wall in left center. A leadoff single by Derrick Workman in the third inning came around to score on a two-out big fly from Nick Backlund.
Georgia Southern pulled within two runs with some two-out magic of their own in the bottom of the third inning. A pair of unearned runs crossed the plate after the rightfielder dropped a playable running catch near the line. Before the error, Morgan led off the inning with a double and scored on a wild pitch after Scooter Williams (Detroit, Mich.) bunted him to third.
Mercer, however, pulled ahead 10-4 with five runs, three in the fifth and two in the seventh inning. A pair of doubles drove in a leadoff walk in the top of the fifth and base hits from Jamie McMillian and David Reid-Foley plated two runs in the seventh inning.
The Eagles got a third unearned run across the plate in the seventh inning on a single from Michael Burruss (Marietta, Ga.), but the Bears added another two runs in the eighth inning on Gaines' two-run homer to center field.
Georgia Southern opens a four-game series with North Florida in Jacksonville Thursday at 6 p.m. and returns to J.I. Clements Stadium Saturday at 6 p.m.
All games can be heard on 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.
Troy 13, Samford 6
TROY, Ala.-Troy's Boone Shear drove in six runs, going 3-for-4 at the plate, to lead the Trojan baseball team to a 13-6 win over Samford Tuesday evening at Riddle-Pace Field.
Cole Limbaugh (1-1) took the loss on the mound for Samford. Limbaugh pitched 3.0 innings, giving up seven run, six earned, on six hits. Charles Terry, Gil Walker, Sean Handlan and Andres Gracia also saw time on the mound for Samford.
Samford was led at the plate by Phillip Ervin, going 3-for-5. Brandon Miller went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI. Christiaan Durdaller hit a two-run home run in a 1-for-4 performance at the plate.
Troy's Nate Hill (1-0) pitched 3.0 innings, giving up no runs on one hit and striking out five batters to earn the win. Behind Shear at the plate for Troy, Danny Collins went 3-for-5 with an RBI.
Troy plated three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take an early 3-0 lead. Shear singled to drive in Tyler Hannah and Collins for the first two runs of the game. Josh McDorman then singled to drive in Logan Pierce for a three-run Troy lead.
The Trojans added four runs in the third inning to push their lead to 7-0. Shear singled to drive in Hannah for the first run of the inning. With the bases loaded, Pierce and Collins scored when McDorman reached base on a Samford error. Shear then scored from third base when Chase Mathis grounded out to give the Trojans a seven-run lead.
Samford put two runs on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning. Miller doubled with one out to start the rally. With two outs, Durdaller hit a two-run home run to right field to cut the Troy lead to 7-2.
The Bulldogs added a run in the top of the fifth inning to make the score 7-3. With the bases loaded, Saxon Butler was hit by a pitch to bring Brad Moss in to score for Samford's third run of the game.
Troy plated a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to push its lead to 8-3. With the bases loaded, Clay Holcomb scored from third base when Shear reached base on a fielder's choice for a five-run Troy lead.
The Trojans added five runs in the eighth inning to make the score 13-3. Shear drove in two runs in the inning. Collins, Tyler Vaughn and Tyson Workman also drove in a run each in the inning for Troy.
Samford plated three runs in the top of the ninth inning to make the final score 13-6. Miller drove in two runs and Tommy Corbin drove in one for the game's final three runs.
Samford will return to action on Saturday, March 3, when the Bulldogs open a three-game series with Penn State. Saturday's series-opener is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start from Joe Lee Griffin Field. The teams will also play Sunday at 2 p.m. and Monday at 6 p.m.