The Citadel 11, Georgia Southern 0
STATESBORO, Ga. – Calvin Orth homered twice and drove in five runs to back the shutout pitching of Austin Pritcher and two relievers in an 11-0 victory over Georgia Southern in the opening game of a Southern Conference series Friday at J.I. Clements Stadium.
The Bulldogs moved back over the .500 mark both overall (18-17) and in the conference (7-6) with their second shutout of the season and fifth game with double figures in runs. The Citadel also snapped a three-game losing streak in conference series openers.
The Eagles dropped to 21-12 and 10-6 in the league. The Bulldogs will be looking to win their first SoCon series since taking two of three from Wofford on March 15-17 in game two of the set Saturday at 5 p.m. Logan Cribb will pitch for The Citadel against Georgia Southern's Justin Hess.
Pritcher cruised through the first seven innings to win for the first time since earning a 12-3 win over Samford on March 8. He allowed five hits and his seven strikeouts pushed him over the 200 mark in his career, finishing the night with 203. With 18 victories in his career, Pritcher (4-2) is the winningest active pitcher in the SoCon.
Skylar Hunter and Ross White both worked hitless innings to complete the shutout, the first since an 8-0 win over Pittsburgh on March 1. Sam Howard took the loss for Georgia Southern after surrendering 11 hits and six runs (five earned) with three strikeouts in six innings.
Orth gave The Citadel the only run it would need when he tucked an opposite-field solo homer just inside the right-field foul pole. He added a grand slam to highlight a five-run eighth that blew the game wide open. The junior first baseman doubled his season home run total to four.
Hughston Armstrong singled with one out in the second, his second of four hits in the game, and scored when a base hit by Bo Thompson skipped past left fielder Zac Lenns all the way to the wall.
Armstrong matched his career-high hit total that he first established against Samford on March 10. He also stole two bases in the game and is a perfect 11-for-11 on the year. Thompson extended his streak of consecutive games reaching base by a hit, walk or hit batter to 34 straight games.
The Citadel pushed its lead to 5-0 with a three-run fifth. Mason Davis hit the first pitch of the inning from Howard over the fence in right-center for his first home run of the season. Armstrong singled, Drew DeKerlegand walked and the duo pulled off a double steal, setting the stage for a two-run single by Johnathan Stokes.
The Bulldog shortstop has at least one RBI in his last six games and a total of nine over that stretch. Bret Hines had three hits, including a double, for the first multiple-hit game of the freshman third baseman's young career.
The Citadel tied a season high with 16 hits and has 17 games with double figures, only two shy of its total from the entire 2012 season.
College of Charleston 10, Davidson 5
DAVIDSON, N.C. – College of Charleston broke open a tight game with a five-run eighth inning to defeat Davidson, 10-5, in the first game of the SoCon series on Friday.
College of Charleston (19-14, 10-5) tallied 15 hits and reached double digits in runs for the 10th time this season. Davidson (9-22, 4-12) committed three errors in the game, leading to three unearned runs.
Freshman Player Loving (1-1) picked up the win for College of Charleston, pitching 2 1/3 innings with three strikeouts as he allowed one run on one hit. Starter Matt Pegler had the no-decision as he gave up four runs on seven hits through 5 1/3 IP.
Davidson starter Ryan Lowe (3-5) took the loss, giving up five runs, two earned, on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Junior Brandon Murray led the way offensively, tallying a new season high with four RBI. He had a two-run home run in the seventh inning, which proved to be the eventual game-winner.
Carl Wise, Cody Martin and Blake Butler each tallied three hits, with Butler scoring three Cougar runs. Wise had two doubles in his third straight start in the field, while Martin also tallied a double.
Gunnar Heidt scored two runs on one hit and a walk with a steal, while Morgan Phillips extended his team-best reached-base streak to 16 games with a walk and a run scored.
Davidson’s Lee Miller hit two solo home runs, while pitcher Ryan Lowe hit a solo home run and drove in another to keep Davidson close.
There were six ties and lead changes before the Cougars took the lead for good with Murray’s two-run bomb to right field that went over the scoreboard in the seventh inning. CofC then scored five runs on five hits in the eighth inning to put the game away for good.
College of Charleston won on Friday night for just the second time in SoCon play this season.
College of Charleston and Davidson will play the second game of the series Saturday at 2 p.m. from Wilson Field. RHP Ryan West will take the mound for the Cougars against Davidson’s Danny Mooney.
Western Carolina 9, Samford 8
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – After Samford erased a five-run deficit in dramatic fashion in the top of the ninth inning with two two-run home runs and a solo shot that knotted the game at 8, Western Carolina rallied in the home half of the frame to take Friday’s Southern Conference opener from the Bulldogs, 9-8, at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
Junior Aaron Attaway capped the wild ninth inning for the Catamounts by dropping a two-out, 2-0 offering into center field with the winning hit falling just in front of a diving Jared Watson. The hit allowed Attaway’s classmate Luke Gragg to scamper home from third base with the winning tally, halting WCU’s five-game losing skid to Samford, which dated back to 2011.
The Catamounts became the third SoCon team to reach 20 victories on the season, improving to 20-16 overall and 10-6 in conference play.
For Attaway, the walk-off hit was his second of the season, both coming against Bulldogs. The Morganton, N.C., native also delivered a walk-off base knock in game one of a Saturday doubleheader against The Citadel back on March 30, winning the game and clinching the SoCon series victory.
Finishing 2-for-5, Attaway was among four Catamounts with multiple-hit games, with junior Julian Ridings pacing the squad by going 3-for-3, just a triple shy of the cycle. The Shelby, N.C., native belted a solo homer in the fifth inning, adding a single and a double, scoring twice while driving in a pair. Senior Tyler White matched Ridings with three hits, finishing 3-for-5 with a team-high three RBIs, while Jacob Hoyle collected two hits with an RBI.
Catamount starter Jeremy Null settled after early issues with free passes, surrendering two runs in the first inning without allowing a Bulldog base hit. The hard-throwing right-hander recovered to toss 6 2/3 innings, countering five walks with five hits while holding the Bulldogs to three runs on seven hits in factoring in the no-decision.
Freshman reliever Jonathan Waszak came on in the seventh inning with the bases loaded but slammed the door on the ‘Dogs by getting Christiaan Durdaller to fly out to right field. Waszak threw an inning and two thirds before surrendering the first two-run homer in the ninth, issuing a walk with two strikeouts overall.
Senior Preston Hatcher (5-2) picked up the victory out of the bullpen, tossing the final 2/3 of an inning, ending the visitor’s half of the ninth with a strikeout, while allowing three runs on three hits.
Samford (19-16, 8-8 SoCon) trailed 8-3 entering the ninth inning before Zeth Stone lead off with a sharp single up the middle. Waszak got Tommy Corbin to ground out to Bradley Strong at second base for the first out before designated hitter C.K. Irby hit a two-run home run to right center field, trimming the deficit to three, 8-5, and sending WCU back to its bullpen.
In a match-up of SoCon preseason All-America selections, Samford’s Phillip Ervin tripled off the left field wall off of WCU’s Hatcher ahead of Durdaller, who homered to left to make it a one-run game, 8-7. Caleb Bryson then drove a 2-2 offering over the fence in left to tie the game in dramatic fashion with Hatcher retiring Watson on a groundout and fanning McWhorter to end the inning.
In WCU’s half of the frame, Dykota Spiess led off with a five-pitch walk, chasing reliever Patrick McGavin (0-4), who eventually took the loss. Cody Jones successfully sacrificed Spiess into scoring position with a bunt before Gragg beat out an infield single to short, putting runners at first and second with one out. Strong then laced a single to right field and Spiess held at third to load the bases. Following a fielder’s choice that tallied the second out of the inning at home plate, Attaway drove home Gragg from third on his flare to center field to plate the game-winning run.
McGavin tossed 2/3 of an inning as the second reliever out of the bullpen for Samford. He was tagged for the one run without allowing a hit but walked two against one strikeout. With the late-inning rally, Bulldog starter Alex Milazzo remained perfect on the season, factoring in the no-decision after surrendering seven runs on seven hits with four walks and four strikeouts. Reliever Andres Gracia pitched 2/3 of an inning, surrendering three hits, including the one to Attaway.
Samford jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, capitalizing on two walks and a hit batter to load the bases before Ervin drove home a run on a groundout and Durdaller plated a run on a sacrifice fly. The lead was short-lived, though, as WCU used back-to-back hits by Attaway and Ridings to put runners at second and third, and White drove home his first of three runs on a groundout. Hoyle then singled to right field to tie the game at 2 through one complete.
Consecutive walks to open the second sparked a three-run rally by Western Carolina, with Ridings plating a run on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly. White then pushed across two more runs with a single to left-center field making it 5-2 in favor of the home squad.
Ridings secured his second RBI of the game with a one-out solo home run to right center in the fifth, with Gragg drawing a bases-loaded walk to plate the seventh run for the Catamounts, 7-2.
Ervin, who finished 2-for-4 with two extra-base hits in the loss, hit a solo homer in the sixth inning to pull the Bulldogs back to within four, 7-3, before Austin Neary came through with a pinch-hit double to left center in the eighth. The Baltimore, Md., product worked his way to third on an groundout before racing home on a wild pitch to give WCU back the five-run cushion, 8-3, setting up the ninth inning.
Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. WCU redshirt senior Morgan McKinney (LHP, 1-2, 4.31 ERA) will face off against Samford’s Irby (RHP, 5-2, 3.71 ERA).
Wofford 10, Furman 8
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Josh Hyman and Matt Ramsay both homered and Wofford exploited a leaky Furman defense to post a 10-8 Southern Conference victory over the Paladins on Friday evening at Russell C. King Field.
The win halted an eight-game losing skid for Wofford (14-22, 5-11 SoCon), while the loss marked the eighth setback in the last nine league games for Furman (6-10 SoCon).
Wofford built a 7-0 lead after four innings, taking advantage of three Furman errors to score a pair of unearned runs in the second, three more in the third on a Ramsay three-run home run, and two in the fourth on a Hyman two-run clout — all off of Paladin starting pitcher Nate Smith.
Furman got on the board in the sixth with a Paul Nitto three-run home run, followed by an Alex Abrams solo blast that pulled the Paladins to within 7-4.
The Terriers answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth on a James Plaisted RBI double to make it 8-4.
It remained that way until the eighth, when Furman used three walks off of Terrier reliever JD Osborne to load the bases with one out before Abrams sprinted home on a wild pitch by Osborne’s replacement, Eric Eck. Will Muzika then singled to shortstop to drive in Chris Ohmstede and Heath Burton, who scored from second following an error to cut the lead to 8-7.
Eck got out of the inning by retiring Burton on a groundout and then picked up a pair of insurance runs in the eighth on a two-out Clark Wise RBI infield single and fourth Furman error of the game, which allowed Ramsay to score from third base.
Nitto delivered an RBI single in the ninth to drive home Taylor Johnson, who had reached on an error, but Eck doused the rally by striking out Abrams, Ohmstede and Griffin Davis in order to end the game.
Wofford, which out-hit Furman 13-8, used its early game offense to make a winner of starting pitcher Jesse Morris (5-3), who allowed four runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out nine.
Eck worked the final 1 2/3 innings to earn the save, his eighth of the season. He recorded four strikeouts for the Terriers, whose four pitchers combined to notch 16 strikeouts in the game.
The loss was charged to Smith (4-2), who allowed seven runs, five of which were earned, on seven hits over four innings.
Hyman went 3-for-4, including the two-run home run, and scored three times. Wise also had three hits and recorded three stolen bases for the Terriers, who swiped eight bags in the contest.
Nitto broke out of his recent slump with a 2-for-5, four-RBI performance. Muzika also had two hits, as did Jake Jones, who made his first start in left field in over a month due to a foot stress fracture.
The Paladins and Terriers play at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Appalachian State 9, UNCG 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Appalachian State scored four early runs Friday night and made them stand, downing the UNCG baseball team 9-1 in a Southern Conference contest inside the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
The Spartans fell to 16-18 overall and 4-9 in league play with the loss, while the Mountaineers improved to 19-10 and 9-6.
UNCG senior outfielder Christian Wolfe extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a base knock in his fourth and final at-bat of the evening, driving in classmate and infielder TJ Spina to break up the shutout in the eighth inning. Sophomore RHP Max Povse took the loss for the Spartans, throwing six innings and giving up five runs (four earned). He allowed eight hits while also striking out four batters.
Jamie Nunn threw 7 2/3 innings for Appalachian State and picked up his seventh victory of the campaign by allowing just one earned run.
Hector Crespo laced a leadoff triple to left-center to begin the contest and would score on an RBI single by Jaylin Davis to put the Mountaineers on top 1-0 after one complete inning. Appalachian State added to its lead in the second when Gabe Dimock led off with a double and crossed home on an RBI single by Preston Troutman.
The big blow came in the top of the third, when Dillon Dobson reached on a UNCG error at third with no outs before Will Callaway drove a pitch deep over the left-center field fence to make the score 4-0.
The Spartans kept the Mountaineers off the board until the seventh when Davis led off with a double and Callaway added his third RBI of the evening with a single that scored Davis. Dimock grounded out to short with one away, but a throwing error by first baseman Trevor Edwards allowed him to cross home safely and stretch the visitors’ lead to 6-0.
In the bottom of the eighth, Spina singled to center with one out before classmate and designated hitter Lloyd Enzor drew a walk. Redshirt freshman infielder Nin Marrero proceeded to groundout, advancing the runners, before Wolfe came through with a sharp single through the right side that plated Spina from third.
Appalachian State would score three runs in the top of the ninth on five hits to salt the game away.
The Spartans and Mountaineers will play game two of their league series Saturday at 2 p.m.
No. 8 Louisville 10, Elon 1
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – For seven innings, the Elon Phoenix baseball team went toe-to-toe with the eighth-ranked Louisville Cardinals, but an explosive eighth inning by the home team saw the Maroon and Gold suffer a 10-1 defeat in the first of a three-game series.
Elon (20-16) was the first to score, grabbing a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth. The inning began with a Sebastian Gomez single to right. After he moved to second on a wild pitch, Ryan Kinsella ran his hitting streak to 13 games with a single to center to put runners on the corners. Gomez then scored on a double-play ball.
Louisville (26-7) knotted the game at 1 in the bottom of the fourth, thanks to an Elon error that came after Dylan Clark fanned the first hitter of the inning. The runner stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch before a walk put runners on the corners. Cole Sturgeon then tied the game with a single to center.
The game remained 1-1 until the last of the eighth, when Coco Johnson connected on the first pitch he saw for a one-out homer to left to score the deciding run. The Cardinals kept the attack up and finished the inning with nine runs on six hits to provide the final margin.
Clark (4-3) suffered the loss and was ultimately charged with six runs (five earned) on 11 hits in 7 2/3 innings. For the third time in his career, the lefty fanned eight hitters – a personal best.
The win went to Chad Green (5-2), who threw a career-long eight innings. He gave up one run on five hits.
The Phoenix and Cardinals will play game two of the series on Saturday at 3 p.m.