Wofford 8, Albany 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - On Thursday night, the Wofford baseball team scored six runs in the third inning on the way to an 8-1 win over Albany at Russell C. King Field. The game was moved up a day due to impending rain on Friday.
Wofford is 4-4 and Albany is 0-4. The Terriers were led by Matt Moore with two hits and three RBIs, while James Foster, Mac Doyle, and Stephen Cantrell also added two hits each. Brandon Yarusi recorded nine strikeouts to pick up the win. The Great Danes were led by Nolan Gaige with three hits and an RBI.
The Great Danes opened the game with a double by Nolan Gaige, but he was left on base. Wofford began the bottom of the first with a triple by James Foster. A ground-out by Clark Wise scored Foster. Mac Doyle added a double, but the Terriers left two on base.
In the top of the third, Albany loaded the bases with two walks and a double but all three runners were stranded. Wofford led off with a single by Mac Doyle in the bottom of the third. A double down the left line by Konstantine Diamaduros scored Doyle for a 2-0 lead. The Terriers loaded the bases and a single by Matt Moore to left field scored two runs for a 4-0 advantage. With the bases still loaded, walks to James Foster and Clark Wise added two runs. A sacrifice fly by Mac Doyle made it a 7-0 game after three innings.
Albany loaded the bases on two singles and a walk in the top of the fifth with nobody out. Brandon Yarusi then struck out the next three batters to end the scoring threat. In the top of the seventh, the Great Danes got on the board when Mike Tirri had an RBI single to left field to make it a 7-1 score.
Wofford added a run in the bottom of the seventh on back-to-back doubles by Taylor Rozier and Matt Moore for an 8-1 lead. In the top of the ninth, Albany had a single and a walk, but both runners were left on base to end the contest.
Wofford starter Brandon Yarusi (1-0) went six innings and did not give up a run. He had nine strikeouts and allowed six hits. Alex Wilson threw two innings and allowed one run on two hits with two strikeouts. Eric Eck pitched the ninth and allowed one hit with a strikeout.
Albany starter Zach Kraham (0-2) went 2.1 innings and allowed seven runs on seven hits with two strikeouts. Greg Lutton threw 4.2 innings and allowed three hits and one run with five strikeouts. Ryan White went an inning and did not allow a hit with one strikeout.
The weekend series continues with a doubleheader against Air Force on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and one game against Valparaiso on Sunday afternoon.
The Citadel 4, Columbia 1
Charleston, S.C. - Austin Pritcher scattered two hits over six solid innings and Justin Mackert drove in a pair of runs as The Citadel won its third straight game, defeating Columbia University 4-1 at Riley Park Thursday evening. The Bulldogs even their overall record at 4-4, while Columbia fell in its season opener. The two team return to the field Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader that starts at 12 p.m.
The Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Mackert that plated Mason Davis. Davis opened the frame with a single down the right-field line and advanced to third on a double to left by Joe Jackson. Mackert lifted a 0-1 pitch to right that gave Davis ample time to scamper home for the 1-0 lead.
Columbia evened the score at 1-1 in the top of the second. Alexander Aurrichio led off the inning with a triple down the right-field line and scored when Eric Williams followed with a RBI groundout to second.
Mackert came through again in the third inning with a RBI triple to right center, giving the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead. Jackson hit a one-out single through the left side, but was retired on a fielder's choice by Nick Orvin for the second out. Mackert drilled a 0-1 pitch to the wall in right center to score Orvin from first and give the Bulldogs the lead for good.
The Bulldogs added single insurance runs in the fourth and seven innings for the 4-1 final. A sacrifice fly to left by Bailey Rush scored Bo Thompson from third in the fourth, while Rush drew a lead-off walk in the seventh, advanced twice on groundouts and came home on a wild pitch by Columbia reliever David Speer.
Pritcher allowed one run, striking out four and walking four. Ryan Hines and Zach Sherrill each tossed an inning of no-hit relief, with Sherrill picking up his second save of the season.
Pat Lowery took the loss for Columbia. The 2010 Ivy League Pitcher of the Year was touched for three runs on four hits in six innings, walking three and striking out four. The Lions managed only three hits on the evening, only one in the final six innings of play.
North Florida 8, Georgia Southern 5
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - After getting down 5-1 early in the contest, Georgia Southern battled back to tie at 5-5 but a walk-off home run lifted North Florida in game one of the four-game series. Ryan Roberson drove in five runs, including the final three, to power the Ospreys to an 8-5 victory at Harmon Stadium on Thursday.
The Eagles' bullpen held serve with four scoreless frames, allowing Georgia Southern (5-4) to tie the game on a Casey Kicklighter (Jesup, Ga.) double. The freshman designated hitter, who was a triple shy of the cycle in his first start, plated two runs to tie the game with a hard hit ball off the wall in left field.
Relief pitchers Chris Myers (Gainesville, Fla.), Will Middour (Atlanta, Ga.), Drew Johnson (Peachtree City, Ga.) and Jared Cheek (Buckhead, Ga.) combined to limit North Florida to one hit over four innings, but Cheek was tagged with the loss in his second inning of work. Cheek (0-1) allowed three runs on two hits in 1.2 innings. Justin Hess (Panama City, Fla.) got the start for Georgia Southern but struggled with two outs, allowing five runs on seven hits over the first four innings.
Kyle Westwood gave North Florida (5-3) another great start but left with a no decision after Chandler Jagodzinski allowed the tying runs to reach base in the top of the ninth. Westwood worked around 10 hits, allowing just two runs and struck out eight in his second start of the year. Tyler Moore (1-1) got the win after getting the Ospreys out of the jam in the ninth, but gave up the double to Kicklighter after recording a strikeout.
The Eagles picked up 15 hits but left 10 runners on base, including five in the final four frames. Michael Burruss (Marietta, Ga.) and Kicklighter both had four-hit games and reached base in their final three plate appearances. Ben Morgan (Evans, Ga.) and Eric Philips (Carrollton, Ga.) joined the duo with multi-hit games of their own and finished with two hits each.
The Georgia Southern offense broke a four-inning scoreless streak with a run in the sixth inning. Kicklighter doubled, his first collegiate hit, with one out and scored from third base on a ground out to short by Tyler Avera (Baxley, Ga.). Kicklighter added his first career home run to lead off the eighth inning to pull Georgia Southern within two runs before doubling again in the ninth.
The Eagles struck first in the game with a run in the top of the first inning, but North Florida followed with five unanswered runs to lead 5-1 after the third inning. The Eagles led off the inning with back-to-back singles from Scooter Williams (Detroit, Mich.) and Burruss before Phillips grounded into a double play to score the run.
However, GSU's two-out pitching struggles continued and four of the Ospreys' first five runs came with two outs. Ryan Roberson plated two runs in the bottom of the first with a single to left. After a lead off homer in the second inning, Alex Bacon plated two more runs in the third inning with a two-out chopper back up the middle.
The Eagles return to Harmon Stadium for a 6 p.m contest on Friday night. The four-game series comes to Statesboro on Saturday for a 6 p.m. contest before concluding at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.
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.