Wofford 7, Niagara 4

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – On Monday afternoon, the Wofford baseball team defeated Niagara 7-4 at Russell C. King Field. The Terriers were limited to only five hits on the day but took advantage of six errors by the Purple Eagles.

Wofford begins the season 3-0, while Niagara is 0-4. For the Terriers, Matthew Ramsay had two RBIs and Stephen Cantrell had two hits. The Purple Eagles were led by Pavel Chavez-Rusova with a two-run homer.

The Terriers loaded the bases in the bottom of the first on two walks and a catcher’s interference. A hit by pitch to Matthew Ramsay scored one run, but Wofford left the bases loaded. In the top of the second, Niagara loaded the bases with two outs, but all three were stranded.

In the top of the third, the Purple Eagles had an RBI single by Logan Linder to tie the game at 1. In the Wofford half of the third inning, the Terriers scored four runs on just two hits with three errors by Niagara. Ramsay and Cantrell had RBI singles in the inning as Wofford took a 5-1 lead.

Niagara got one run back in the top of the fourth when a runner scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-2. In the bottom of the fourth, Matthew Kaskow walked and scored on a double by Alec Paradowski. Paradowski stole third base and was able to score when Matthew Ramsay reached on an error to push the lead to 7-2.

In the top of the sixth, Chavez-Rusova hit a two-run homer to left field to cut the lead to 7-4. Neither team was able to score in the seventh or eighth innings. The Purple Eagles went down in order in the top of the ninth inning to end the contest.

Wofford starter Luke Leftwich (1-0) went three innings and gave up one run on five hits with five strikeouts. DooJoon Park was on the mound for three innings and allowed three runs on three hits with three strikeouts. J.D. Osborne worked two innings and did not allow a hit with two strikeouts. Eric Eck threw the top of the ninth with two strikeouts.

Niagara starter Anthony Caringi (0-1) threw four innings with seven runs allowed, but only three were earned. He gave up three hits and had five strikeouts. Sean Quinlan went an inning with two strikeouts. Jordan Schwartz worked three innings with two hits allowed and one strikeout.

Wofford will travel to East Tennessee State on Tuesday afternoon for the first road contest of the season with a 3 p.m. first pitch. The Terriers return home on Friday for the beginning of a three-game series against Pittsburgh.

Appalachian State 13, Canisius 6

BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State hit three home runs in a four-run second inning and never looked back en route to a 13-6 win over Canisius in the Mountaineers’ 2013 home opener on Monday afternoon at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.

Preston Troutman Josh Zumbrook and Dillon Dobson all went deep in Appalachian State’s four-run second inning, which turned a 2-1 deficit into a commanding 5-2 lead. The Mountaineers went on to score twice in the third and fourth innings and four times in the seventh to stretch the advantage to as large as 13-4 before Canisius plated single runs in the eighth and ninth innings to account for the final margin.

Nine different players recorded base hits in the victory for Appalachian State (2-0), led by Troutman, who added a pair of singles to his second-inning homer and finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. After not hitting any home runs as a freshman last season, Troutman has gone deep in each of the first two games of his sophomore campaign.

Making only the second start of his career, Zumbrook had a breakout performance with a two-run triple in the seventh to go along with his solo blast in the second. He finished 2-for-4 with a walk, three RBI and two runs scored.

With his two-run bomb in the second, Dobson became the second Appalachian State freshman this season to homer for his first career hit. He got the second hit of his career with a double in the fourth and finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.

Alex Leach and Brandon Burris went 2-for-4 and 2-for-5, respectively, to round out five Mountaineers with multiple hits. Appalachian banged out 15 hits as a team, six of which went for extra bases.

On the mound, Sam Agnew-Wieland got the win in his Appalachian State debut, allowing just two runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings of relief. Appalachian State made three errors behind starter Jeffrey Springs, who was forced to throw 75 pitches in just three innings despite allowing only three hits. Springs struck out four but was saddled with three unearned runs.

Jose Torralba and Christian Segar had two hits apiece for Canisius (2-2) but the top four hitters in the Golden Griffins’ batting order combined to go 4-for-22 with eight strikeouts.

Appalachian State returns to action this weekend when it hosts a three-game series versus Butler (1-2). The set opens on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.