Samford 12, No. 3 Florida 7
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-Samford right fielder Brandon Miller hit two home runs to bring his nation-leading total to 20 for the season in leading the Bulldog baseball team to a 12-7 win over the third-ranked Florida Gators in Samford's final home game of the 2012 season Tuesday night at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
Miller became the first player in Samford history to hit 20 home runs in a single season.
"Obviously that is a great honor for him," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "He's truly left his mark on the program. Wins like tonight help solidify what our kids feel like this program is becoming. To beat a team like Florida and a program with that tradition is huge for us, and for Brandon to hit two home runs against them justifies his ability."
The game was the final home game for Samford's 12 seniors on the 2012 roster, and several of the seniors came up big in the Bulldogs' win. Miller went 2-for-4 with two homers and four RBI. Saxon Butler went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Senior pitchers Joseph Burns and Tyler Vanderheiden turned in strong performances pitching in relief.
"That was a special night for a heck of a group of seniors," Dunn said. "All of those guys played well tonight. Saxon got a huge hit, Brad (Moss) caught well. All of those guys just competed tonight. What a great way for those guys to walk off the field for the last time."
In addition to the seniors' performances, C.K. Irby went 2-for-5 with a triple and three RBI. Irby (4-1), who also was Samford's starting pitcher in the contest, tossed 5.0 innings, allowing just one run on one hit to earn the win. Tyler Filliben went 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Tommy Corbin also went 2-for-5 at the plate for Samford.
For Florida at the plate, Daniel Pigott went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Preston Tucker went 2-for-3 for the Gators. Mike Zunino hit a home run and drove in three runs in a 1-for-4 performance. Johnny Magliozzi (4-3) pitched 1.2 innings, giving up five runs on seven hits to take the loss on the mound for Florida.
Samford scored three runs in the first inning, two runs in the second inning and two more in the fourth inning to take a 7-0 lead. In the first inning, Irby hit a triple to center field with the bases loaded, driving in Miller, Phillip Ervin and Moss. In the second inning, Zeth Stone hit his first home run of the season with Filliben on base for a 5-0 Samford lead. In the fourth inning, Miller hit his first home run of the night with Butler on base for a seven-run Samford lead.
Florida put its first run on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Samford lead to 7-1. Jeff Moyer doubled to lead off the inning and later scored on a ground out by Taylor Gushue.
Samford answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 8-1. Filliben singled to center field to drive in Christiaan Durdaller for a seven-run Samford lead.
The Gators added a run in the top of the sixth inning when Tucker scored on a sacrifice fly by Justin Shafer. Samford came back with two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 10-2. Miller homered for the second time, this time with Ervin on base, for a nine-run Samford lead.
Florida cut the lead to 10-5 in the seventh inning when Zunino homered to left field with Tucker and Nolan Fontana on base. Samford added two more in the bottom of the seventh inning. Butler singled to center field to drive in Filliben and Corbin to push Samford's lead to 12-5.
The Gators added two final runs in the top of the ninth inning to make the final score 12-7. Brian Johnson and Pigott drove in a run each in the ninth inning for Florida.
The third-ranked Gators are the highest-ranked Division I team Samford has ever defeated.
Samford will wrap up the 2012 regular season with a three-game non-conference series at Oklahoma beginning Thursday. The teams will play Thursday at 6:30 p.m., Friday at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m.
College of Charleston 9, Coastal Carolina 8 (12 inn.)
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - In a playoff-type atmosphere with two rivals fighting for NCAA at-large positioning, the College of Charleston won a walk-off victory in 12 innings over Coastal Carolina, 9-8, at Patriots Point on Tuesday night.
Entering the bottom of the 12th inning with the scored tied at eight, CofC's Marty Gantt reached on an infield single with one out. Bradley Goodson then knocked a base hit through the right side and Gantt sprinted to third base. After an intentional walk to Brandon Murray to set up a double play, redshirt-sophomore Daniel Aldrich dropped in a single over the second baseman's head that scored Gantt and the Cougars celebrated their third walk-off win at home this season.
The win gave College of Charleston (35-17) a boost in the NCAA at-large discussion as the Cougars snapped a four-game losing streak against the rival Chanticleers (34-17).
CofC battled back from deficits in the first and second innings and took an 8-6 lead in the bottom of the sixth frame on an RBI from Murray. CCU scored two runs in the top of the eighth to tie the game and send it to extra innings.
"I was so proud of the way that we battled as a team," head coach Monte Lee said. "We threw a number of pitchers at them and our offense responded when we were down early. We showed a lot of character to keep fighting the whole way."
In all, seven different pitchers took the mound for the Cougars, while the Chanticleers threw six pitchers. Junior Dre Watts (1-0) picked up his first win of the season after pitching a perfect 12th inning, while CCU's Aaron Burke was tagged with the loss.
The reigning SoCon Player of the Week, Aldrich finished the game going 4-for-7 with a home run and three RBI. He hit a two-run homer to dead center field in the bottom of the first inning to cut the score to 3-2. Aldrich now has 19 hits in his last 11 games, as he's improved his batting average to .295 and reached 40 RBIs on the season.
Brandon Glazer also hit a home run, a two-run shot in the third inning that gave CofC its first lead.
Gunnar Heidt had a perfect day at the plate, going 4-for-4 with two walks and an RBI. His infield single in the 11th inning nearly won the game for CofC, as Aldrich raced around third and was tagged out at the plate. Heidt has now gone 6-for-7 with three walks in his last 10 at-bats.
Rob Harding and Murray each tallied three hits and an RBI, while Bradley knocked two hits and scored a run.
Coastal Carolina was led by Rich Witten's four-RBI performance which included a three-run homer in the first inning that put the Chanticleers up on CofC starter Jake Zokan. Jacob May went 3-for-4 with two RBI, and Brian Pruett knocked an RBI triple.
With the win, College of Charleston improved to 3-2 in extra-inning games. The contest marked the longest game this season for CofC in terms of innings (12) and overall time (4:50).
The Cougars will now head on the road to UNC-Greensboro to conclude the 2012 Southern Conference season. College of Charleston is currently one game behind league-leader Appalachian State who will be playing at Western Carolina this weekend.
Because of next week's SoCon Tournament, the series will begin on Thursday at 6 p.m. Friday's game will also start at 6 p.m., while Saturday's series finale starts at 1 p.m.
No. 24 Appalachian State 5, Gardner-Webb 3
BOONE, N.C. - Nathan Hyatt (Brevard, N.C./Brevard) matched a school record with his 13th save of the season to close out 24th-ranked Appalachian State University baseball's 5-3 win over Gardner-Webb on Tuesday evening at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
With the win, Appalachian moved to 37-12 overall and closed its 2012 home slate with a 24-2 record at Smith Stadium.
Pitching was the story of the night for the Mountaineers, as eight ASU hurlers combined to limit Gardner-Webb (28-25) to just two earned runs. Making his first start in over two months, true freshman Jeffrey Springs (Belmont, N.C./South Point) surrendered one run over three innings to earn the win and move to 2-0 on the season while the Apps' seven relievers limited GWU to just one earned run on four hits over the game's final seven stanzas.
Thanks to the sterling pitching, Appalachian got nearly all the scoring it would need when it plated three runs in the bottom of the first inning to grab a 3-1 lead. True freshman Brandon Burris (Concord, N.C./Mount Pleasant) highlighted the first-inning outburst with a two-out, two-run double.
Gardner-Webb sliced the deficit to 3-2 with an unearned run in the top of the fourth but the Mountaineers answered with an RBI single by Preston Troutman (Rockwell, N.C/East Rowan) in the bottom of the frame. The Apps stretched the advantage to 5-2 in the fifth when Tyler Zupcic (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) scored on the Bulldogs' second error of the evening.
GWU pulled within two runs on Brad Collins' mammoth leadoff homer in the sixth but would get no closer, as the Mountaineers' final five pitchers combined to allow just one hit while striking out four in four innings.
Hyatt began his record-tying performance inauspiciously when he hit the first batter he faced in the ninth inning. However, he went on to easily retire the final three hitters of the ballgame to nail down his 13th save of the campaign, matching the school record set by former teammate Chris Patterson in 2010.
Offensively, Zupcic went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored to account for nearly half of the Mountaineers' five runs and seven hits.
With the non-conference portion of its regular-season schedule in the books, Appalachian makes a quick turnaround for a three-game Southern Conference series at archrival Western Carolina, which begins on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Hennon Stadium in Cullowhee, N.C. With any combination of two wins over WCU and/or College of Charleston losses at UNC Greensboro, the Mountaineers would clinch no less than a share of its first SoCon championship since 1987.
Georgia Southern 7, Kennesaw State 3
KENNESAW, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Baseball team finished their non-conference slate with a 7-3 victory over Kennesaw State Tuesday night. The Eagles outscored the Owls 4-1 over the final five innings to pick up their third-straight victory and their third-straight season series sweep.
Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) sparked the scoring with his 326th career hit, a solo home run that extended Georgia Southern's (29-24) one-run lead to 4-2. The hit tied the all-time school record set by Scott Henley in 2001. Three batters later T.D. Davis (Evans, Ga.) cashed in back-to-back walks and plated Chase Griffin (Leesburg, Ga.) with a RBI single.
The Eagles added two more runs in the eighth inning after Andrew Austin walked the bases loaded to start the frame. GSU jumped ahead 7-3 after a wild pitch and a bases loaded walk by reliever Zack Griffith.
However, the Eagles had to hold on in the ninth inning after Kennesaw State (29-22) put runners on the corners and the tying run in the on-deck circle. With no outs on the scoreboard, Jarret Leverett (Eatonton, Ga.) came on in relief and retired the first three batters he faced in order. Leverett (S, 5) struck out two of the three batters he faced for his fifth save of the season.
Georgia Southern struck for two runs off of Owl's starter Nathan Harsch to start the game. The Eagles scored both tallies on Garren Palmer's (Dalton, Ga.) two-out single. Leadoff hitter Scooter Williams (Detroit, Mich.) was caught in a run down trying to score the first run of the game but allowed two runners to move into scoring position before he was tagged out.
Harsch got both runs back in the second inning. Andy Chriscaden started the rally with a double into the left field corner and scored the first of two runs on back-to-back singles by Will Howard and Max Pentecost. Howard moved to second on his hit after the relay throw got away from Davis and stole third base before scoring on the Pentecost single.
The Eagles broke a 2-2 tie with an unearned run in the third inning. Phillips dropped a ball down the right field line for a one-out double and scored on a two-out throwing error. The lead gave Sam Howard (Cartersville, Ga.) his third win of the season. The first of five relievers, Howard (3-1) threw 2.2 one-hit innings in relief of starter Heath Durand (Martinez, Ga.).
Georgia Southern concludes the regular season and Southern Conference play at Wofford this weekend. The Eagles will play one game on Friday and a doubleheader on Saturday against the Terriers.
All baseball games this season can be heard on the Boomer 103.7 FM and inside J.I. Clements 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. 13 North Carolina State 7, UNCG 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. - NC State's Chris Diaz went 3-for-5 with two RBI and scored twice as the Wolfpack shutout UNCG, 7-0, on Tuesday night at Doak Field in Raleigh, N.C.
UNCG (24-25) was shutout only for the second time as the offense was only able to muster three hits and only two runners reached second base in the loss.
No. 13 NC State (37-13) improved to 25-4 at home on the season as its top three hitters went a combined 7-for-11 with four RBI and the Wolfpack pitching staff shutout an opponent for the seventh time in 2012.
The Wolfpack tagged UNCG starter Adam Boghosian (0-2) with the loss as he allowed four runs (three earned) in only one-plus inning of work. NC State plated three runs in the first after Danny Cenela collected an RBI via groundout and Ryan Mathews followed up with a two-run blast to make it a 3-0 game.
NC States' Cenela struck again in the second inning as he delivered an RBI single to extend the lead to four, 4-0.
The Wolfpack's starter Logan Jernigan (5-1) found a nice groove as he retired 20 of the 23 batters he faced, as he struck out eight batters in 6 2/3 innings as he hit the century mark on the nose in pitches.
NC State would tack on three runs in the sixth inning after Diaz smoked a two-run single to center field. Tarran Senay gathered the games' last RBI as he earned it the easy way by drawing a bases-loaded walk to make it a 7-0 game.
Cambric Moye, Trevor Edwards and Lloyd Enzor were the only Spartans to get into the hit column as the team struck out 12 times.
The Spartans' Dominique Vattuone impressed as he went three innings and allowed only one hit while striking out a batter.
UNCG returns to action on Thursday as it starts its final series of the 2012 regular season campaign against the College of Charleston Cougars. UNCG is one game behind Furman for the final seed and eighth place for the Southern Conference Baseball Tournament. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. Saturday's game will commence at 1 p.m. with senior day ceremonies beforehand.
Winthrop 11, Western Carolina 5
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina homered twice as Jacob Hoyle delivered a solo shot and Dale Urquhart Jr. hit a two-run round-tripper, but it wasn't enough as Winthrop pounded out a season-high 20 hits to hand the Catamounts an 11-5 home setback Tuesday evening at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
Winthrop (16-33) tallied the most hits under second-year head coach Tom Riginos, taking advantage of 17 singles and three RBI-producing doubles. The Eagles won for the first-time ever in Cullowhee after having entered the game 0-6 all-time. The loss for WCU evened the seasonal series after the Catamounts won 13-3 in Rock Hill, S.C., back on Feb. 21.
Junior left-hander Adam Curtis (5-2) suffered the loss for WCU, surrendering five runs - only four of which were earned - on nine hits while striking out a pair. Curtis was one of five Catamount hurlers used in the game with senior Darron Dotson striking out a pair, junior leftie Hunter Brister fanning one, and redshirt senior Vance Chavis striking out two in an inning and a third.
The Eagles jumped out 3-0 through two and a half innings before the Catamounts answered with two runs in the bottom of the third to make it 3-2. It was as close as WCU would get. Winthrop scored four-straight runs between the fourth and sixth innings to pull ahead 7-2 before Hoyle's solo homer in the home half of the sixth inning made it 7-3.
Winthrop put the game further out of reach with a four-spot in the top of the eighth before Urquhart Jr. drove a pitch over the fence in left field for a two-run home run to provide final tally.
Sophomore Luke Gragg was the only player to record a multi-hit game for the Catamounts, finishing 2-for-4 after earning the start as the designated hitter. Senior Ross Heffley finished 1-for-5 with an RBI ground out.
Winthrop starter Tyler Klitsch (4-6) scored the win, allowing just two runs on two hits with a walk and a strikeout. A regular weekend starter, Klitsch was on a predetermined pitch count, tallying the win after working just two and two thirds innings.
Offensively for the Eagles, six hitters recorded multi-hit games including a 4-for-5 showing by T.J. Olesczuk. Matt Lobacz drove in three runs on a 3-for-5 outing while Jason Driver doubled twice in finishing 3-for-5.
Western Carolina returns home for the final home series of the regular season as it hosts league-leading Appalachian State for three games at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium Thursday through Sunday. Game times on Thursday and Friday are 5:00 pm, with Saturday's Senior Day scheduled for a 1:00 pm first pitch.
Clemson 9, Furman 2
CLEMSON, S.C. -- Phil Pohl's two-run home run highlighted a five-run Clemson third inning and powered the Tigers to a 9-2 victory over Furman in baseball action Tuesday evening at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
The victory completed the season sweep for Clemson (32-21) over Furman (23-29).
Furman grabbed a 2-0 lead early, tallying single runs in the first and second innings. Jarrod Rickman's RBI grounder in the first drove home Jake Jones, and in the second Jones' single to left field plated Chris Ohmstede.
That would be the high point for Furman, however, as Clemson roughed up Paladin starting pitcher Stephen Gary in the third, combining four hits with a wild pitch and an error to score five runs. Pohl's two-run home run just inside the left field foul pole capped the outburst and gave the Tigers a 5-2 lead.
Clemson tacked on single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to make it a 7-2 game, and finished off their work at the plate with a pair of sacrifice flies in the seventh for the game's final two runs.
Tiger starter David Haselden (4-1) settled down after early trouble and and allowed two runs on eight hits over 7 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out five.
Gary (3-1) took the loss, yielding five runs, four of which were earned, on five hits in three innings of work.
Furman, which out-hit Clemson, 9-8, was paced at the plate by freshman Jake Jones' 3-for-4 performance. Will Owens also had two hits for the Paladins.
Clemson's eight hits were scattered among eight different players, with Jon McGibbon joining Pohl in driving in a pair of runs.
The Paladins open a key three-game Southern Conference home series against Davidson on Thursday with a 7:00 p.m. contest at Latham Stadium. Currently in eighth place and attempting to secure the final berth into this year's eight-team SoCon Tournament (May 23-27) at Fluor Field, Furman holds a one-game lead over ninth place UNC Greensboro and two-game lead over Davidson heading into series with the Wildcats.