Appalachian State 6, High Point 4

BOONE, N.C. – Alex Leach had an RBI triple in the seventh inning and a two-run double in the eighth to lead Appalachian State’s comeback from a 4-0 deficit in Wednesday’s 6-4 victory over High Point at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.

Appalachian State (5-1) trailed 4-0 after just 2 1/2 innings and 4-1 going into the bottom of the seventh but rallied for three runs in the seventh and two in the eighth to claim its fourth straight come-from-behind victory.

Leach got the rally started in the seventh when he lined a triple into the gap in left-center field, driving in William Head from first to cut the Mountaineers’ deficit to 4-2. One batter later, Leach made it 4-3 when he scored on Will Callaway’s sacrifice fly to left.

After Noah Holmes drew a two-out, full-count walk, Josh Zumbrook capped the three-run seventh-inning rally by roping another full-count pitch down the left-field line to bring Holmes home all the way from first base with the tying run.

The score remained deadlocked until the bottom of the eighth when Leach struck again, this time with a two-out, two-run bloop double into shallow left field that gave the Mountaineers a 6-4 advantage.

Closer Rob Marcello easily made the lead stand up in the ninth, retiring the side in order for his third save in as many opportunities.

In addition to the run-scoring triple in the seventh and the go-ahead double in the eighth, Leach also drove in Appalachian State’s first run with an RBI groundout in the third. With the 2-for-4, four-RBI afternoon, the red-hot sophomore is now 10-for-20 (.500) with eight extra-base hits (five doubles, a triple and two home runs), 12 RBI and eight runs scored over the past five games.

Despite Leach’s heroics at the plate, the story of the day was the performance turned in by Appalachian’s bullpen. Relievers Josh Wilson, Taylor Thurber and Marcello combined to limit High Point (5-3) to just two hits over five scoreless innings to close out the ballgame. Wilson was especially impressive with four shutout stanzas in his first outing of the year while Thurber (1-0) worked a perfect eighth inning for the first win of his career.

Spencer Angelis went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI to pace the Panthers. Making his first appearance of the year, HPU’s Jaime Shultz (0-1) allowed two hits in 1 1/3 innings of work to suffer the loss.

Appalachian State begins the defense of its 2012 Southern Conference regular-season championship on Friday when it opens a three-game SoCon series at Davidson (4-2). The conference opener is set for 6 p.m. Friday at Davidson’s Wilson Field.

 

College of Charleston 12, Jacksonville 5

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – College of Charleston scored 12 runs on a season-high 14 hits to take a 12-5 win over Jacksonville on the road Wednesday afternoon.

The Cougars (4-4) tallied their first come-from-behind win of the season as CofC scored six runs in the third inning after falling behind 4-0 to start. Jacksonville (3-5) went hitless from the third to the seventh innings and allowed 12 straight runs to blow its early lead.

Junior Ryan Welke tallied a career-high three hits and knocked in a career-best three runs to lead the Cougar offense. Freshman Alex Pastorius hit his first career home run, a two-run shot in the fifth inning, in just his second start. He finished with three RBI and two runs scored.

Bradley Goodson was a perfect 2-for-2 on the day with two runs, a double and an RBI, and Ben Boykin tallied two hits, one a double, and an RBI.

Senior Drew Freie (2-0) picked up the win out of the bullpen with 2 2/3 innings pitched and just one hit allowed. He relieved starter Jimmy Revan in the top of the second inning after Revan allowed four runs, three earned, on four hits. The CofC bullpen backed up Freie’s strong performance as Taylor Alvarez, Blake Ross and Jake Zokan allowed just one run on three hits, striking out four.

JU starter Zach Gordon (1-2) picked up the loss after he gave up five runs, getting pulled before he could get one out in the six-run CofC third inning.

College of Charleston fell behind 4-0 after the Dolphins scored three runs in the bottom of the second with three hits and a CofC error.

The Cougars bounced back by loading the bases with none out in the top of the third. Boykin singled in a run with an infield hit that caromed off the pitcher. Brandon Murray followed with an RBI walk and then Welke drove in two with a line drive down the third-base line. Gunnar Heidt scored Murray with a sacrifice fly and Welke came home to score on a balk for the sixth Cougar run in the inning.

Welke singled home Boykin in the top of the fourth inning and Pastorius hit a two-run jack with Goodson on second in the fifth inning.

Cody Martin tallied an RBI single in the sixth inning, and Goodson and Pastorius followed with sacrifice flies.

Jacksonville’s Alex McCrae picked up his second RBI in the seventh after a double from Drew Luther, but it was too little, too late for the host Dolphins.

College of Charleston returns home to host South Alabama this weekend for a three-game, nonconference series. The first game will start at 6 p.m. on Friday.

 

Furman 6, USC Upstate 5

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Paul Nitto’s two-out, line-drive single down the left-field line in the bottom of the ninth inning scored Jordan Simpson from third base to give Furman a 6-5, comeback victory over USC Upstate in baseball action Wednesday afternoon at Latham Stadium.

Nitto’s walk-off, game-winning hit, the third by Furman (6-2) this season, came on a 2-2 offering by Spartan reliever Chad Sobotka and completed the Paladins’ comeback from a 5-0 deficit. Last year, Furman trailed USC Upstate 6-0 at Latham Stadium before rallying for a 10-7 victory.

Simpson singled to lead off the Furman ninth and advanced to second on a Taylor Johnson two-out base hit that bounced into the grass approximately 20 feet to the third-base side of the pitcher’s mound. Sobotka gloved the ball, but his throw to first base went into Johnson, who jarred the glove off the hand of Spartan first baseman Trey Richardson, allowing Simpson to advance to third. Nitto followed with an eight-pitch at-bat before ripping the last pitch of the game down the left-field line out of the reach of a diving Tyler Lesch.

Trailing 5-0 after three innings, the Paladins’ started their comeback with an unearned run in the fourth. Furman tied it an inning later, scoring four runs on three hits and an error. Will Muzika’s RBI double scored Andrew MacLatchie to make it 5-2, and two batters later, Johnson belted a three-run home run to left field off of Spartan reliever Reid Noah to knot it at 5-5.

Furman loaded the bases with one out in the eighth before Upstate’s Gaither Bumgardner rallied to get out of the jam by striking out Griffin Davis and Andrew MacLatchie.

Mauldin, S.C., senior Ben Carlson (2-0) pitched around errors in both the eighth and ninth innings to earn the victory, allowing only one hit while striking out three.

Sobotka (0-1) took the loss.

USC Upstate (5-2) was in control early on after striking for three runs in the second. Taking advantage of a Paladin error – the first of five in the game by Furman – the Spartans grabbed a 2-0 lead on Trey Richardson’s third home run of the season, a two-run blast to left field. A sacrifice fly later in the inning made it 3-0.

The Spartans added two more unearned runs in the third, taking advantage of two hits and two more Paladin fielding miscues, to increase their advantage to 5-0.

From the fourth inning on, however, Furman relievers Ryan Morse, Alex Abrams and Carlson combined to throw six innings of shutout ball, allowing only two hits and striking out seven.

Johnson paced Furman at the plate, going 2-for-4 with the three-run home run. Nitto, the Greenville native and former star at J.L. Mann High School, had two hits to extend his SoCon’s longest current active streak to 16 games.

Jordan Stamper went 2-for-2 to lead USC Upstate, which collected nine hits in the contest.

Furman opens Southern Conference play this weekend when it travels to Elon to face the Phoenix in Friday’s 4 p.m. series opener. Saturday’s game is scheduled for 2 p.m., and first pitch for Sunday’s finale is set for 1:30 p.m.

 

Western Carolina 8, Longwood 5

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina pushed across five runs on four hits and capitalized on two Longwood errors in the first inning on Wednesday afternoon, snapping a four-game losing skid with an 8-5 victory over the Lancers at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.

Junior infielder Aaron Attaway led three Catamounts with multi-hit games, legging out a triple and two singles to finish 3-for-5, while sophomore Bradley Strong drove in two on a 2-for-5 showing that also included a triple. Tyler White also collected two hits in a 2-for-4 showing, including his second double of the year and team-leading 12th RBI.

Making his first start since May 15, 2011, redshirt junior Taylor Sandefur (1-0) set the tone on the mound, posting four scoreless innings after surrendering one run on two hits in the first frame. The Mechanicsville, Va., native worked six innings, limiting the Lancers to four hits and two runs, only one of which was earned. Sandefur struck out four against two walks.

Reliever John McClure gave up three runs on four hits with a walk and strikeout in his WCU debut, while Bryce Danielson fanned one against one hit in an inning out of the bullpen. Sophomore Tyler Powell scored his first career save, striking out two in a perfect ninth inning.

Leading off the first inning with a sharp single to left, Austin Neary scored WCU’s first run, crossing the plate ahead of Strong’s RBI triple to right-center to tie the game at 1. Attaway singled to bring Strong home to hand the Catamounts the lead, 2-1. With two aboard, Cody Jones delivered an RBI single to center, where the ball rolled through his counterpart, allowing Bryant Noteboom to score a second run and Jones to end up at third base.

An infield fielding error – the second miscue by the Lancers in the opening frame – scored Jones to give WCU a 5-1 edge after the first inning.

WCU (4-5) added a run in the fifth as Attaway tripled down the right-field line before being driven home by a single up the middle by White, stretching the margin to five, 6-1. Longwood responded half an inning later as Matt Dickason reached on an infield single before swiping second and advancing to third on a throwing error on his stolen base attempt. A wild pitch allowed Dickason to scamper home.

Consecutive walks to Jones and Danny Bermudez in the home half of the sixth put two aboard. Freshman J.D. Long – making his first collegiate start – sacrificed both runners into scoring position. Neary drove in Jones on a sacrifice fly to right field ahead of Strong’s second RBI hit of the game, giving WCU an 8-2 lead.

The Lancers (3-3) mounted their biggest rally in the top of the eighth inning, scoring three runs to cut WCU’s advantage in half. Dickason, who finished 4-for-5 with three runs scored, opened a string of three straight extra-base hits with a triple down the left-field line. Alex Owens drove Dickason home with a double to left-center and was plated by Brandon Delk’s double. Kyri Washington added a fourth extra-base hit with a two-out RBI double down the left-field line, scoring the third run. Danielson got C.J. Roth to ground out, ending the threat.

Owens joined Dickason with a multi-hit game, finishing 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored.

Longwood starter Brandon Vick (0-2) suffered the loss after allowing eight runs – only six of which were earned – on eight hits with two strikeouts against a pair of walks.

Western Carolina returns to Childress Field / Hennon Stadium for a three-game nonconference weekend series against the Hofstra Pride (2-6). The two will play a Saturday doubleheader beginning at noon on Saturday before a third series meeting on Sunday with a noon first pitch.

 

Charleston Southern 8, The Citadel 6

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern scored six times in the first and built an early 7-0 lead before holding off a Citadel rally in an 8-6 victory over the Bulldogs on Wednesday at CSU Ballpark.

The Bulldogs lost their third in a row to drop to 4-4 while the Buccaneers are now 5-3. The Citadel returns home this weekend when it hosts the Charleston Crab House Shootout presented by Homewood Suites.

The Citadel plays Pittsburgh and VCU on Friday and Saturday, respectively, at 4 p.m. each day and then faces UNC Asheville in a doubleheader on Sunday at 2:30. The second game is a makeup of a contest that was rained out on Tuesday.

Charleston Southern had six hits, including a pair of home runs in the first against freshman Nate Brecklin, who was making his first career start. Bobby Ison led with a solo homer to right center and Robbie Streett cleared the fence in left-center for a three-run shot as part of the big opening frame.

The Bucs added a run in the third before The Citadel began its comeback in the fourth. Jason Smith and Joe Jackson singled with one out for the first hits against CSU starter Tory Schroff, and Bo Thompson lifted a sacrifice fly to plate Smith to get the Bulldogs on the board.

Two innings later, The Citadel tallied four runs against relievers Ryan Garlow and Kyle Dyson. Smith and Jackson again singled and Thompson walked to load the bases with nobody out. A fielder's choice grounder off the bat of Tyler Griffin scored one run, and another came across on a pinch-hit double by Drew DeKerlegand.

With two outs, Johnathan Stokes came through with a two-run single for his first two RBI of the season to bring The Citadel within 7-5. Three walks and a wild pitch made it 7-6 in the seventh, but the Bulldogs could not get a big hit with runners on second and third and one out.

Meanwhile, The Citadel bullpen held CSU scoreless through the middle innings, with Logan Cribb tossing 3 1/3 innings of one-hit shutout relief. The Bucs added an insurance run in the eighth, and Austin Weekley set the Bulldogs down in order in the ninth to finish off the win.

Schroff went the first five innings and allowed four hits while striking out seven to earn his second win without a loss this season. Weekley gave up one hit and fanned two to earn the save.

The Bulldogs and Bucs meet three more times this season with games at Riley Park on Friday, March 22, and Sunday, March 24, with a contest at CSU Ballpark in between.

 

Presbyterian 4, Wofford 3

FOREST CITY, N.C. – On Wednesday night, the Wofford baseball team rallied in the ninth inning but was defeated 4-3 by Presbyterian at McNair Field. The Blue Hose scored three runs in the first inning and led 4-0 before the Terriers scored three runs in the ninth. The bases were loaded with one out, but Wofford was unable to plate the tying run.

Wofford is now 4-4, while Presbyterian is 5-4. The Terriers were led by Eric Brenk ,who was 4-of-4 on the night with two RBI. Seth Neely added two hits for Wofford. The Blue Hose were led by Aaron Preston with two hits and Brandon Paul with two RBI.

The Blue Hose jumped out to an early lead when Brandon Paul had a single through the left side in the top of the first inning to score two runs. Presbyterian added a run on a bunt single by Ryan Hagan for a 3-0 lead. Wofford was retired in order to end the first inning.

In the bottom of the second, the Terriers had two hits but were unable to score. Each team left one runner on base in the third inning. Presbyterian loaded the bases in the top of the fourth and one run scored on a wild pitch to take a 4-0 lead. Both teams stranded one runner in the fifth inning.

Presbyterian left one on base in the top of the sixth inning. In the top of the seventh, the Blue Hose had two runners on base, but both were stranded. For Wofford in the bottom of the seventh, Matthew Ramsay walked and a single by Brenk gave the Terriers runners at first and third with one out. A strikeout and groundout ended the scoring chance.

In the top of the eighth, the Blue Hose stranded two runners. Wofford went down in order in the bottom of the eighth. After Presbyterian went in order in the top of the ninth, the Terriers opened the bottom of the ninth with three straight walks. Brenk hit a single to right-center to drive in two runs. A bunt single by James Plaisted loaded the bases again. A fielder’s choice by Matthew Pelt scored a run when the throw home was wide to make it 4-3. The bases were loaded with one out, but a pop up and a strikeout ended the game.

Wofford starter DooJoon Park (0-1) went 3 2/3 innings and allowed four runs on five hits with one strikeout. Tanner Hawley worked 2 1/3 innings and gave up two hits with two strikeouts. Luke Leftwich went an inning and did not allow a hit with one strikeout. J.D. Osborne struck out two and gave up one hit in one inning. Eric Eck went an inning and did not allow a runner.

Presbyterian starter Brett Byrum (1-1) threw seven innings and did not allow a run on six hits, striking out three. Kelly Wright went an inning and gave up three runs with one strikeout. Michael Ricchi picked up the save with two hits and two strikeouts in the ninth.

On Friday, Wofford will host Dayton at 4 p.m. at Russell C. King Field. The Terriers also host Marshall on Saturday for a doubleheader at 2 p.m. before wrapping up the weekend with another contest against Marshall at 1 p.m.

 

No. 16 Georgia Tech 14, Georgia Southern 8

STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern rallied to within a run of No. 16 Georgia Tech in the fourth inning before the Yellow Jackets scored five runs over the final three innings to win 14-8 and complete a sweep of the midweek series at J.I. Clements Stadium.

Georgia Tech (8-1) took advantage of five Eagle errors and tallied 15 hits to score their second-most runs of the season. Dusty Isaacs, DeAndre Smelter and Zane Evans combined to throw five scoreless frames, and Matt Gonzalez drove in three runs. Daniel Palka added a game-high four hits, and three other Yellow Jackets finished with two hits each.

Georgia Southern (4-4) tallied four runs in the fourth inning to cut Georgia Tech's lead to 9-8 on a sacrifice fly from Ben Morgan, a two-RBI single from Chase Griffin and a double from T.D. Davis. Griffin and Davis finished with three RBI each. Davis bounced back from a hitless night on Tuesday and finished with a team-high three base hits.

Jonathan Roberts (1-0) picked up the win in relief of Yellow Jacket starter Sam Clay. Roberts threw 2 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on four hits. Clay lasted just 1 2/3 innings after giving up four runs on four hits.

Evan Challenger (0-1) was handed his first decision of the year after giving up seven runs – three earned – on six hits. Challenger tossed three innings, including the third inning, in which three Eagle errors led to four runs.

After each team led twice in the early innings, Georgia Tech jumped ahead for the final time in the fourth inning on a pair of solo home runs from Sam Dove and Daniel Palka. The Yellow Jackets added a single run in the seventh inning and a pair of runs in the eighth and ninth innings to take their final six-run lead.

Georgia Southern responded to an early 1-0 Georgia Tech lead by scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Davis drove in a pair with his first double of the day, and Garren Palmer plated the third run with a single.

The Eagles added a solo run in the second inning after Kyle Streicher, who finished with two hits, tallied a one-out double. Griffin recorded a two-out single to score Streicher from third base.

It will be baseball alumni weekend as Georgia Southern hosts Xavier in a three-game weekend series at J.I. Clements Stadium this weekend. Friday's first pitch is set for 6 p.m. with Saturday's game being a 2:30 p.m. start, and Sunday's series finale will begin at 1:30 p.m.