College of Charleston 8, Wofford 4

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - Despite a rain delay that lasted four hours and 42 minutes, the College of Charleston pulled out the weekend sweep with an 8-4 win over Wofford on Sunday.

The win marked the second straight SoCon sweep for the Cougars (15-5, 7-2) while Wofford fell to 8-12 and 0-3 in the conference.

The game-winning hit came in the bottom of the sixth inning from pinch-hitter Brandon Glazer who launched a three-run home run to left field to put College of Charleston up 6-4. Senior Marty Gantt followed it with a laser to left center on the very next pitch for CofC's first back-to-back home runs of the 2012 season.

Junior Tyler Jackson came in off the bench and hit a solo home run in the eighth inning to add insurance. Rob Harding and Dre Watts each had two hits and Gunnar Heidt tallied a two-RBI single in the second inning.

Senior Nick Osterman (1-0) earned the win for College of Charleston while David Peterson picked up his sixth save after pitching the eighth and ninth innings. Christian Powell earned a no decision in his fifth start of the season.

Wofford's Alex Wilson (1-2) earned the loss for the Terriers. David Roney hit a solo home run to lead the offensive effort.

After a three-run third inning that featured four hits including a home run, Wofford took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the third inning when the game was halted because of lightning in the area. After four hours and 42 minutes, the game resumed in the bottom of the third and College of Charleston promptly tied it with a double from Gantt and an RBI double from Daniel Aldrich to score the senior from second.

"I told our guys how important it was to come out of the delay with energy, especially since we were behind," said head coach Monte Lee. "I was pleased that we did just that and tied the game immediately. Brandon Glazer was the player of the game for his pinch-hit home run and our bullpen came in and did a great job."

Wofford retook the lead in the top of the sixth inning when a walk to Roney loaded the bases for Matthew Kaskow who was hit by a pitch. Osterman induced Matt Moore to fly out to center to end the frame.

The CofC fireworks came in the bottom of the sixth when Bradley Goodson earned a two-out walk to set up Glazer's pinch-hit three-run home run to take the lead. Gantt's solo shot on the next pitch made the score 7-4.

Aided by several great defensive plays from Heidt and Goodson in the middle of the infield, the Cougars were never threatened after the sixth and Peterson finished with two innings, one hit and one strikeout.

Gantt's outstanding performance at the plate extended his reached base streak to 17 games, while he has hit safely in the last four games.

College of Charleston will travel to UNC-Wilmington on Tuesday, March 20 for a 6:30 p.m. start.

 

Davidson 9, Elon 8 (11 inn.)

DAVIDSON, N.C. - Senior Jake Berman's two-out, walk-off hit in the 11th inning gave Davidson its second consecutive come-from-behind, extra inning victory over Elon, 9-8, in Southern Conference baseball action Sunday at Wilson Field.

Davidson (7-10, 2-4 SoCon) trailed 8-7 entering the bottom of the 11th inning after surrendering an RBI-single to catcher Alex Swim in the top half. Junior third baseman Andrew Barna and senior second baseman James Cerbie both singled to lead the inning off, and Zeblo drove in Barna from second base with a single to left field to tie the game.

RHP Jordan Darnell relieved LHP Andrew MacDonald (2-1) on the mound for Elon (12-8, 6-3 SoCon) and walked sophomore designated hitter Chris Dyer to load the bases, but then induced back-to-back force-outs at home. Berman, who went 3-for-6 on the day, then stepped up to the plate with two outs and lifted a pitch just over the left fielder's glove to end the game.

Elon had a chance to earn the victory in nine innings after Swim and shortstop Garrett Koster both hit solo home runs in the top of the ninth to put the Phoenix ahead 7-5, but an RBI-single by Zeblo and a sacrifice fly by sophomore catcher Daniel Gerow tied the game at 7-7 to force extra innings. With one out, Barna reached base on a throwing error and moved into scoring position when Cerbie drew a walk. Zeblo drove Barna home with a single, and then Dyer entered the game as a pinch hitter and singled to right field to load the bases, setting up Gerow's sacrifice fly to right field.

The Wildcats had lost seven-straight to Elon, the defending SoCon regular season champions, before Friday's win, and the series victory over Elon is Davidson's first since the Phoenix joined the Southern Conference beginning with the 2004 season.

Cerbie reached base four times for Davidson, going 1-for-3 with three walks, an RBI and a run. Senior centerfielder Drew Gadaire, who had the walk-off hit Saturday, went 2-for-5 with two RBI and a walk. Zeblo (2 RBI) and senior first baseman Calvin Sigelbaum both went 2-for-6.

Koster (4-for-5) and Swim (3-for-6) led the Phoenix at the plate and both had two RBI and two runs scored each.

Freshman LHP Henry Sisson (1-1) earned his first career win after entering with one out in the seventh inning. He ended up pitching 4.2 innings and allowed three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out five. MacDonald took the loss after entering the game in the seventh inning, working four innings and surrendering four runs (two earned) on five hits and a walk.

LHP Spencer Medick started for Elon and struck out eight in six innings, and allowed four runs (two earned) on nine hits and three walks. Sophomore RHP Danny Mooney allowed four runs on eight hits and three walks and struck out three in 6.1 innings of work for the Wildcats.

Elon took a one-run lead on an RBI-single by first baseman Ryan Kinsella (2-for-4) in the first inning, but Davidson answered with two unearned runs in the bottom half of the inning. Gadaire hit a single through the left side to score Berman and advance sophomore left fielder Forrest Brandt to third, and Brandt scored when Barna hit into a double play.

Another single by Gadaire to left field drove in a run in the third inning, and Sigelbaum drove in a run in the fourth inning with a perfectly placed bunt to give Davidson a 4-1 lead. The Phoenix scored two runs in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh inning to take a 5-4 lead, but the ‘Cats tied the game in the bottom of the seventh. RHP Jim Stokes loaded the bases by hitting a batter and walking two, and Cerbie plated a run by hitting into a fielder's choice after MacDonald relieved Stokes.

Davidson will travel to Durham Tuesday for a 6 p.m. game against NC Central, and will then head south to take on College of Charleston in a three-game Southern Conference series beginning Friday evening at 6 p.m.

 

Appalachian State 7, The Citadel 6

BOONE, N.C. - Right fielder Tyler Tewell (Charlotte, N.C./Butler) threw out pinch-runner T.J. Clarkson at the plate for the final out of Appalachian State University baseball's heart-stopping 7-6 win over The Citadel on Sunday afternoon at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.

With the victory, Appalachian (17-3, 6-0 SoCon) completed its first-ever three-game series sweep of The Citadel (8-11, 1-5 SoCon). The Mountaineers also won for the 15th time in their last 16 games, upped their home record to 11-0 and moved to 6-0 in Southern Conference play for the first time in 34 years.

ASU took a seemingly safe 7-3 lead into the ninth inning and brought closer Nathan Hyatt (Brevard, N.C./Brevard) on in a non-save situation to finish off the victory. However, Hyatt struggled for the second-straight Sunday. The right-handed junior walked the first batter he faced then surrendered three-straight singles to allow The Citadel to cut the deficit to 7-4 with the bases loaded and nobody out. Hyatt retired the next two batters with a strikeout and a flyout to left field but the Bulldogs' Joe Jackson followed with a two-out, two-run single up the middle to bring The Citadel within a run at 7-6.

The next batter, Nick Orvin, singled to right field and, running on contact, Clarkson never broke stride as he headed for home representing the would-be tying run. Tewell fielded Orvin's sharp single on one hop and fired a strong throw that beat Clarkson to the plate by several strides. Catcher Jeremy Dowdy (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) easily applied the tag to end the ballgame.

Aside from Tewell, the star of the day was ASU shortstop Will Callaway (Greenville, S.C./Eastside), who went 4-for-5 with two doubles, his second home run of the season, two RBI and three runs scored. In the process, the red-hot junior extended his hitting streak to 11 games and raised his batting average to a team-best .405. He is hitting .477 (21-for-44) during his 11-game hitting streak and has multiple hits in 10 of the last 15 ballgames.

Appalachian scored in each of the first six innings to jump out to what appeared to be a comfortable 7-3 advantage. In addition to Callaway's 4-for-5 effort, Dowdy went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored to help lead the Mountaineers' 11-hit attack.

Starting pitcher Rob Marcello (Royal Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach) allowed just three runs on five hits while striking out five over seven innings to up his record to 3-0 on the campaign. The southpaw ran into his only real trouble in the third inning when he issued a pair of walks and surrendered two doubles to allow the Bulldogs to plate three runs.

Jackson and Mason Davis combined to drive in five of The Citadel's six runs. Bulldog starter Logan Cribb (1-1) was roughed up for six runs (five earned) and eight hits in five innings to suffer the loss.

Appalachian hits the road for four games this week, beginning with a non-conference affair at High Point on Tuesday evening. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at HPU's Williard Stadium.

 

Samford 4, Furman 1

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-The Samford baseball team defeated Furman, 4-1, in the final game of a three-game Southern Conference series Sunday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

With the win, Samford improves to 13-7 overall and 4-2 in Southern Conference play. The Bulldogs win the series with the Paladins, two games to one. Furman falls to 11-10 overall and 1-5 in league play.

Samford was led at the plate by Brad Moss and Tommy Corbin, both going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Austin Allison went 2-for-3, and Brandon Miller hit his ninth home run of the season in a 1-for-4 performance.

Josh Martin (5-0) pitched 6.0 innings, giving up one run on four hits to earn the win on the mound. Martin struck out three batters in the win. C.K. Irby pitched the final inning to earn his third save of the season.

For Furman, Will Miller went 2-for-3 at the plate. Paul Nitto drove in the Paladins' lone run, going 1-for-2. Ben Carlson (1-3) tossed 6.0 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits to take the loss.

Samford jumped on top first with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out in the inning, Philip Ervin singled to get things started for the Bulldogs. Ervin then stole second base and advanced to third base when Irby reached base on a Furman error. Corbin then grounded out to shortstop to drive in Ervin for a 1-0 Samford lead.

The Bulldogs added three runs in the fifth inning to push their lead to 4-0. Austin Allison tripled to lead off the inning and later scored when Moss singled to right field. With two outs in the inning, Miller hit his ninth home run of the season to give Samford a four-run lead.

Furman plated a run in the top of the seventh inning to cut the Samford lead to 4-1. Will Miller reached base on an infield single to lead off the inning. Miller later scored from third base when Nitto hit a sacrifice fly to left field.

Samford will return to action on Tuesday, March 20, when the Bulldogs play at top-ranked Florida. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CT) start from Gainesville, Fla.

 

Georgia Southern 6, UNCG 5

STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Baseball team picked up their first Southern Conference series victory of the year with a 6-5 win over UNCG on Sunday afternoon. The combination of pitchers Will Middour (Atlanta, Ga.) and Kyle Rowe (Valdosta, Ga.) held the Spartans to three runs in the first eight innings, allowing Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) the opportunity to break open a 3-3 tie with the long ball in the seventh inning.

Phillips put Georgia Southern (9-11, 2-4), who had led for the first three innings, back on top with that home run. Stryker Brown (Dalton, Ga.) plated a third run in the inning with a single to center field after Scooter Williams (Detroit, Mich.) led off the inning with a double. He later scored on Phillips' third home run of the year. T.D. Davis (Evans, Ga.) followed with a single and scored from second base on Brown's base hit.

Rowe (2-1) allowed one run in his first inning out of the bullpen but faced just one over the minimum in the next three innings to earn the win. He was unable to close out the game after allowing two runners to reach base in the ninth inning and was lifted for Jarret Leverett (Eatonton, Ga.) (S,1). Both runs would score on a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch after Leverett had some early struggles, but he settled down to strike out Cole Harrison for the save. Dylan Hathcock (2-2) was tagged with the loss for UNCG after allowing the go ahead run to reach in the seventh inning.

UNCG (11-8, 2-4) was held to six hits but tallied five runs on seven walks and two errors. Middour allowed only two Spartan hits in the start but walked four batters. He did not allow a hit the first time through the order, but gave up two runs in the fourth inning after allowing a lead off walk. No UNCG player tallied more than one hit, but Trevor Edwards walked three times to score two of their runs.

Phillips plated four runs for the Eagles on two hits and a pair of sacrifice flies. Williams reached base in every plate appearance and scored three times on three hits and a walk. Brown and Clint Clark (Newnan, Ga.) also tallied multi-hit games and added to GSU's hit total of 12.

Georgia Southern took a quick lead with single runs in the first and third innings before UNCG tied the game with a pair of runs in the fourth inning. Williams scored both Eagle runs after recording base hits to lead off both innings. Phillips drove Williams in both times on sacrifice flies to put GSU up 2-0. The Spartans nearly batted around in the fourth inning to tie the game at 2-2 after Cambric Moye drove in both runs with a single to left field.

The Eagles got a run back in the fourth inning to take a 3-2 lead before UNCG tied the game at 3-3 in the fifth inning. Ben Morgan (Evans, Ga.) drove in Brown, who doubled to lead off the frame, with a single through the right side of the infield to give GSU a short-lived lead. Zach Leach singled with two outs in the fifth inning to even things back up for the Spartans.

Georgia Southern returns to J.I. Clements Stadium Tuesday for a mid-week contest against Jacksonville before traveling to Furman for the weekend series.

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.

 

Western Carolina 10, Fairfield 3

Jacksonville, Fla. - Western Carolina pushed across four runs in the bottom of the first inning to erase a one-run deficit on Sunday afternoon, cruising to a 10-3 neutral field, nonconference victory over the Fairfield Stags at JU's John Sessions Stadium. With the victory, the Catamounts improve to 15-5 on the year.

Three Catamounts finished with multiple-hit games as Aaron Attaway was 2-for-3, adding a pair of walks in the lead-off role. Cody Jones finished 2-for-5 in the win while Adam Martin recorded a 2-for-4 showing, driving in three runs including two on a triple to right field in the eighth inning.

Senior Ross Heffley drove in two on a 1-for-4 outing while Tyler White walked three times, finishing 1-for-2 with Connor Andrus scoring three times on a 1-for-2 performance, walking twice.

Freshman Jeremy Null (3-0) scored the victory on the mound for the Catamounts, scattering six hits through six innings while allowing three runs, only two of which were earned. Null worked around three walks with six strikeouts to pick up the victory.

WCU's bullpen was near perfect in the final three innings as four hurlers combined to close out the final three frames. Andrew Blackwell tossed an inning and a third, but was chased after three walks. Hunter Brister and Darron Dotson both worked a third of an inning while Vance Chavis fanned two in tossing a perfect ninth inning.

Fairfield (7-10) took an early lead in the top of the first inning after capitalizing on a fielding miscue in the WCU infield. However, the Catamounts got all the runs they would need in the home half of the frame, scratching the scoreboard for four on two hits and taking advantage of a pair of walks.

Attaway and White both drew five-pitch walks to put two aboard for Heffley who delivered an RBI single to left field to tie the game at one just three batters into the bottom of the first. A fielding error allowed Jacob Hoyle to score while also plating White for the 2-1 edge. Andrus delivered an RBI single through the right side to plate Hoyle with Martin driving in his first run on a sacrifice fly to left field as the Catamounts led 4-1 after one.

In the third, Andrus drew a one-out walk and promptly moved to third on a wild pitch that catcher Ryan Plourde couldn't locate. Another wild pitch allowed Andrus to scamper home for a 5-1 edge. Dykota Spiess lifted a double to centerfield and scored on a second Stags' error later in the inning as WCU led 6-1 through three complete.

Western Carolina added two runs in the fifth as Spiess drove in a run on a sacrifice fly to score Andrus with Heffley drawing a bases loaded walk to drive in the eighth run with the Catamounts leading, 8-1, through five.

Fairfield added two runs in the top of the sixth inning to trim WCU's advantage back to five, 8-3, but Martin's triple off the fence in right got the two back in the bottom of the eighth as the Catamounts scored the 10-3 victory.

Gavin McCullough (0-2) took the loss for the Stags after giving up eight runs on seven hits through the first four innings. The starter also walked five with one strikeout in the loss. Right fielder Taylor Wosleger recorded two of Fairfield's six hits on a 2-for-4 showing, adding a stolen base for Fairfield.

Western Carolina steps out of conference on Wednesday as it travels over the mountain to face UNC Asheville in a game that was rescheduled from early March. First pitch between the Catamounts and the Bulldogs is scheduled for 6:00 pm at historic McCormick Field, home of the minor league Asheville Tourists.

Wednesday's game will be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard online at www.CatamountSports.com.