Western Carolina 13, Clemson 8
Clemson, S.C. - Western Carolina pounded out a season-high 22 hits on Wednesday night as it completed its first-ever, home-and-home sweep over the Clemson Tigers with a 13-8 victory at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Wednesday marked the eighth time since the two began playing a home-and-home series in 1978 that the Catamounts had a chance to complete the two-game sweep after claiming the first game, winning in Cullowhee, 8-4, in mid-March. Seven times prior, the Catamounts had won the front end of the two-game series only to see Clemson rally to take the back-end to split the two meetings.
However, after seeing its early lead evaporate with a four-run home half of the fifth, Western Carolina responded with eight unanswered runs including four in both the top of the sixth and seventh innings to pull out the victory.
Eight of WCU's nine players posted multiple hits including a game-high four by junior Tyler White and three apiece for senior Ross Heffley and sophomores Adam Martin and Julian Ridings. White finished 4-for-6 with three singles, a double and two runs driven in while Martin posted the Catamounts' only other extra base hit with a two-RBI triple down the right field line.
Western Carolina (21-9) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, and led by the same margin at 4-1 before the Tigers clawed back within a run at 4-3 with two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Clemson tied the game at four in the home half of the fourth inning before WCU managed to reclaim the lead, 5-4, in the top of the fifth.
Clemson used a three-RBI triple by Thomas Brittle, capitalizing on two walks and a hit batsman, as a part of a four-run fifth inning that pushed the Tigers ahead, 8-5, through five innings. Brittle finished 2-for-3 with the three RBI while Richie Shaffer - who was held without a hit in four plate appearances in the first meeting - finished 3-for-5 with two RBI for Clemson. Steve Wilkerson added the only other extra base hit for Clemson, a double as a part of a 2-for-5 night.
The Catamounts then scored eight-unanswered runs in the top of the sixth and seventh innings combined to pull away for the five-run victory. WCU was very opportunistic, capitalizing on five walks issued by Tiger pitching and four errors committed by the home squad in the win.
Senior Andrew Blackwell (1-0) scored the victory in relief for the Catamounts as one of eight pitchers used by head coach Bobby Moranda. The Pisgah Forest, N.C., native scattered three hits through the inning and two thirds he tossed out of the bullpen, working around one walk.
Junior Adam Curtis received a no-decision in the start, working an inning and a third before being lifted in the second inning. Curtis surrendered three runs on five hits with a pair of walks, giving way to fellow southpaw, Jon Nadale. The junior transfer from Petaloma, Calif., tossed two and a third in relief, scattering three hits and holding the Tigers to a single run until a strained muscle in his pitching forearm forced him to the bench in the fourth inning.
The Catamount bullpen of Tyler Powell, Hunter Brister, and Blackwell got the game into the seventh inning with a WCU lead. Friday night starter Jordan Smith made his first collegiate relief appearance for an inning, retiring Clemson in order in the bottom of the seventh inning, with redshirt senior Vance Chavis striking out the side with one hit allowed in the eighth.
Catamount closer Preston Hatcher regained some of his swagger in the ninth inning of the non-save opportunity, striking out two in a perfect frame.
Clemson (15-14) reliever Patrick Andrews (0-1) was saddled with the loss as one of seven pitchers used by Jack Leggett and the Tigers. Andrews allowed four unearned runs on three hits with a walk and a strikeout in one inning of work.
Western Carolina returns to Southern Conference play with a three-game series scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6:00 pm with coverage on the Catamount Sports Network, online at CatamountSports.com, getting underway at 5:45 pm.
Georgia Southern 8, Bethune-Cookman 6
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Baseball team scored six unanswered runs and defeated the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats 8-6 on Wednesday night at J.I. Clements Stadium. Chase Griffin (Leesburg, Ga.) broke open a 6-6 tie with a pinch-hit home run in the eighth to put the Eagles on top for good.
Georgia Southern (15-15) returned to .500 for the first time in seven games after the bullpen combined for five scoreless innings and two hits. Josh Stevenson (Social Circle, Ga.) (1-2) faced the minimum in the eighth inning and struck out two batters for his first win as an Eagle after GSU put two runs on the board in the bottom half of the frame. Kyle Rowe (Valdosta, Ga.) (S, 2) followed suit and retired the top of the order for the save.
Bethune-Cookman (16-13) got a solid start from Scott Garner, who worked out of jams in the second and third innings, but Jordan Dailey (3-4) allowed four runs on four hits over two innings of relief for the loss. Garner worked around 11 hits over four innings and allowed four runs with one strikeout and no walks.
The Eagles put two runs on the board in the eighth inning including the lead off homer by Griffin. Michael Burruss (Marietta, Ga.), who went three-for-four with two RBIs on the day, plated a second run in the inning with a two-out single up the middle to score Scooter Williams (Detroit, Mich.). Williams walked and was sacrificed to second base before moving to third base on a ground out.
Georgia Southern tied the ballgame at 6-6 on a steal of third base by Burruss and an errant throw by catcher Carlos Delgado in the seventh inning. Stryker Brown (Dalton, Ga.) followed with a single and reached third base before being stranded after Dailey struck out Hunter Thomas (Johns Creek, Ga.) and Ben Morgan (Evans, Ga.) to end the inning.
Bethune-Cookman erased an early Eagle lead with two unearned runs in the third inning. An error and a single put runners on the corners with one out and both runs crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by Josh Johnson and an error by the third baseman.
The Wildcats expanded on a one-run lead with a four-run fifth inning. Four-straight batters reached base before Alejandro Sanchez tallied the first and only hit of the inning to plate two runs. Brashad Johnson drove in the first run of the inning with a bases-loaded walk. Nick Johnson grounded into a double play but drove in Brashad Johnson for the final run of the inning.
Georgia Southern cut the deficit to one run with three runs in the bottom half of the frame. The Eagles opened the inning with two hits and a walk before Brown plated the first run of the inning on a ground out to second base. T.D. Davis (Evans, Ga.) followed with a hard-hit ball through the right side to score Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.), who bunted down the third base line for a base hit earlier in the frame. Thomas added a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Burruss from third base.
Georgia Southern will hit the road in the morning and will face Davidson in the series opener Thursday night at 6 p.m. The series continues with a 6 p.m. first pitch on Friday and a 2 p.m. start on Saturday.
The games can 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.
No. 3 North Carolina 11, Elon 3 (7 inn.)
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- In a game that was delayed 45 minutes by rain and was called after seven innings, the third-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels took advantage of the wildness of Elon pitchers to claim an 11-3 victory over the Phoenix.
Elon (18-12) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first as Alex Swim doubled with two outs to extend his hitting streak to 23 games and then scored on a Ryan Kinsella single.
Three of the season-high 12 walks allowed by Phoenix pitching came to the first three hitters of the game as North Carolina (23-6) loaded the bases in the bottom of the first. The Tar Heels would only manage to score one run on a ground out before Elon escaped a big inning.
UNC added a run in the second on a Tommy Coyle single before the maroon and gold evened the score at two in the third. Eric Serra led the frame off with a triple to right-center and then scored on a bunt by Sebastian Gomez.
Things quickly unraveled for the Phoenix in the third. After the first two hitters were set down a bunt single and walk put two aboard for Shell McCain who doubled home both runners. With two on following a hit batter, Coyle tripled down the right field line to make it a 6-2 game.
In the fourth Elon again retired the first two hitters, but two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases before another walk scored one. UNC would add three more runs in the inning - one on a wild pitch and two on an error.
Both teams scored once in the seventh to provide the final margin. Elon's run came when Joey Tomko scored on a Chris Bresnahan sacrifice fly.
Jim Stokes (1-3) took the loss after being charged with six runs on five hits in 2.2 innings. He issued five walks.
RC Orlan improved to 5-0 after he tossed 1.2 scoreless innings in relief.
Elon will play again on Friday at 6 p.m. in Greenville, S.C., as the Phoenix returns to SoCon play with a series at Furman.
No. 10 South Carolina 7, College of Charleston 0
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The 10th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks took a 7-0 victory over College of Charleston in front of a sellout crowd of 1,767 at Patriots Point.
The win marked the eighth straight win for the two-time defending national champion Gamecocks (21-8) over the Cougars (21-9). The contest was the first for CofC this year against a nationally ranked opponent and marked the first time that College of Charleston has not scored a run in a game.
Gamecock pitcher Adam Westmoreland (2-0) led South Carolina to the shutout with 5.1 strong innings, giving up just two hits and striking out three. Carolina's bullpen finished the game strong as Tyler Webb pitched 2.2 shutout innings and Nolan Belcher finished the ninth inning with two strikeouts. CofC managed just four hits against USC's pitching staff, tying for the lowest output this season.
College of Charleston's Ryan West (2-3) picked up the loss despite five strong innings where he gave up just two runs and struck out three. The Gamecocks hit relievers Christian Powell and Nick Osterman for four earned runs to put the game out of reach.
Offensively, Joey Pankake led the Gamecocks with a 3-for-5 performance with a home run, two doubles, three runs and an RBI.
The Gamecocks got on the board in the top of the first inning after a pop fly from Pankake fell between shortstop Bradley Goodson and outfielders Brandon Murray and Marty Gantt, allowing him to reach second. A single and a grounder from Dantzler scored Pankake to put South Carolina up 1-0.
The Cougars threatened with runners on third in both the second and third innings, but could not crack the scoreboard. In the second inning, USC induced a grounder from Gunnar Heidt and forced out Cody Martin at second before catching Brandon Glazer in a rundown between third and home to end the inning.
In the bottom of the third inning, Jimmy Holton advanced to third with one out after a single and a balk, but popups from Gantt and Murray ended the inning.
South Carolina added its second run in the fifth inning off of two-out hits from Pankake and Christian Walker. Four hits in the sixth inning off of Powell plated two more runs for the Gamecocks, who extended the lead to 4-0.
Pankake's solo home run in the sixth inning and a single, double and a wild pitch in the seventh inning gave USC its final runs to make the final score, 7-0.
College of Charleston will travel to Appalachian State this weekend for a crucial SoCon series against the current conference leaders. Friday's first pitch is slated for 6 p.m.
Charleston Southern 5, The Citadel 2
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern rallied from a 2-0 deficit with five unanswered runs to hand The Citadel a 5-2 defeat in non-conference action Wednesday afternoon at CSU Ballpark. The Bulldogs return to Southern Conference play this weekend with a doubleheader against Samford on Friday afternoon starting at 5 p.m. EST.
The Bulldogs (12-17) scored a pair in the top of the fourth to get things going offensively. Tyler Griffin led off the frame with a sharp single to first and Joe Jackson dropped a sacrifice bunt to move Griffin to second. Drew DeKerlegand laced a RBI double to the gap in left-center to plate Griffin for a 1-0 lead. The two-bagger was DeKerlegand's eighth of the season. One out later, Hughston Armstrong drilled a RBI single up the middle to bring in DeKerlegand for the 2-0 advantage.
Charleston Southern (10-20) knotted the game at 2-2 in the fifth, scoring both runs on a two-out, two-run double down the right-field line by Jaren Sustar. Thomas Levander hit a single to right with one away and Harrison Wilkins walked to put a pair of runners on for the Bucs. A groundout to third by Bobby Ison advanced the runners into scoring position and Sustar delivered the tying blow on a 0-1 pitch from Citadel starter Bryce Hines.
The Bucs took a 4-2 lead in the sixth on a solo home run by Chase Shelton and a RBI single by Brian Welch. Shelton tagged a 2-0 pitch from Bulldog reliever Brett Tompkins over the fence in right for the 3-2 lead. Brian Hunt singled to left and advanced to second on a fielding error by Justin Mackert before Welch jumped on the first pitch from Tompkins, lining a single to right for a two-run lead.
Alex Tomasovich's two-out RBI single up the middle in the seventh added an insurance run for the Bucs who defeated the Bulldogs for the first time since 2010 and just the second time in the last 11th meetings. The Citadel threatened in the ninth, loading the bases, but Orvin grounded out to the pitcher to end the game.
Zach Hagaman picked up the win for the Bucs, tossing three shutout innings of relief and allowing three hits and striking out two. Corey Deighan came in with two outs in the ninth to retire Orvin for his third save.
Hines struck out eight over five innings for the Bulldogs, allowing two runs on three hits with five walks in a no-decision. Tompkins (0-2) suffered the loss, giving up two runs, one earned, on three hits in one inning with two strikeouts. Orvin had three hits to lead the Bulldogs.
Wofford Baseball At Virginia Tech Cancelled
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Due to rain, the Wofford College baseball game at Virginia Tech that was scheduled for Wednesday, April 4 at 5:30 p.m. has been cancelled.
On Friday, Wofford will begin a three game series against Western Carolina with one game Friday at 6:00 p.m. and a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 2:00 p.m.