Elon 9, Georgia Southern 1
STATESBORO, Ga. – Kyle Webb struck out a personal-best 11 hitters and tossed the second complete game of his career as the Elon Phoenix claimed a 9-1 victory over the Georgia Southern Eagles in the final game of a Southern Conference series on Sunday.
Webb (5-2), who allowed just one infield single after the fifth inning, did not issue a walk and threw just 111 pitches on the day. He had at least one strikeout in eight of his nine innings.
After Georgia Southern (23-20, 12-12 SoCon) took a 1-0 lead in the second on a Brent Pugh single, Elon (23-23, 15-9) began its comeback with three in the fourth. Alex Swim began the rally with a leadoff triple to left and scored on Antonio Alvarez's infield single. After Chris Bresnahan doubled, Wil Leathers drove home Alvarez with a single down the left-field line. The final run scored on Blaine Bower's infield single.
The Phoenix continued its offensive assault in the fifth when a bases-loaded wild pitch let Casey Jones score. Alvarez then drove home two on a double to left-center before later scoring on a Bresnahan single.
Elon finished its scoring with two more in the sixth. After Ryan Kinsella walked, Swim connected on his first home run of the season, a two-run shot to left-center.
The loss went to Eagle starter Matt McCall (3-1). He was charged with five runs on seven hits in four innings.
Seven of Elon's nine starters had at least one hit. Both Swim and Alvarez had three-hit days, while Sebastian Gomez and Bresnahan had two-hit outings.
The Maroon and Gold will be back on the diamond with two midweek games against Wake Forest. The two will play at 6 p.m. in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Tuesday before playing a 6:30 p.m. contest at Elon's Latham Park on Wednesday.
Georgia Southern returns to action Tuesday at North Florida. The trip to Jacksonville will be the first of two midweek contests. The Eagles will also host Charleston Southern on Wednesday.
College of Charleston 8, Radford 2
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – College of Charleston won its sixth rubber game of the season to take the series from Radford with an 8-2 victory on Sunday afternoon. After the win, Charleston players joined in solidarity with childhood cancer patients by shaving their heads and raising money for cancer research.
The Cougars (24-19) performed well behind a stellar pitching performance from Matt Pegler and timely hitting from the bottom of the lineup. The Highlanders (24-19) committed three errors in the first inning and could only manage six hits in the loss.
Pegler (2-2) picked up his first win since the beginning of March with a quality Sunday start, a role he was familiar with last year en route to a 10-win season. Pegler scattered five hits through seven innings and allowed just one unearned run. He struck out eight batters and only allowed one walk.
Offensively, CofC was led by the 6 though 9 hitters, who combined for six hits, five runs and three RBIs. Ryan Welke hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning, while Morgan Phillips and Cody Martin each tallied two hits. Gunnar Heidt hit a two-run double in the second inning for his 11th multiple-RBI game of the season.
Radford’s Zach Woolcock went 3-for-4 at the plate with a solo home run. Josh Gardiner registered the Highlanders’ only other RBI. Starter Keith Fritz (2-3) picked up the loss in a six-inning start, allowing all eight runs, six earned.
Charleston took advantage of three RU errors in the first inning and Ben Boykin and Brandon Murray tallied RBIs to put CofC up 2-0. The Cougars added three more in the second inning with an RBI single from Blake Butler and a two-out double from Heidt that scored Butler and Welke.
Radford finally got on the board in the top of the fifth after a Cougar error set up a two-out single from Gardiner to score Blake Sipe. However, Welke responded in the bottom of the sixth inning with a two-out, three-run homer to left field, his third of the season, which put the game out of reach.
After the contest, Cougar players, coaches and staff joined with barbers from the Broad Street Barber Shop to shave heads and raise money for childhood cancer research through the Vs. Cancer Foundation. The funds are used locally for a charity called Hugs for Harper.
Overall, 42 people volunteered to have their heads shaved and a number of fans and supporters donated money on the spot. The College of Charleston will continue to accept donations at games and online through the end of the season.
Samford at Appalachian State (canc.)
BOONE, N.C. – Sunday's series finale between Appalachian State and Samford has been washed out due to heavy rain in High Country. The contest will not be made up.
Appalachian State (23-16, 11-11 SoCon) and Samford (23-21, 9-11 SoCon) split their weather-abbreviated Southern Conference series at a game apiece.
Appalachian returns to action on Tuesday at 5 p.m. when it hosts longtime local rival ETSU at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium. The clubs will finish their suspended game from last Wednesday (the Mountaineers lead, 3-1, in the seventh inning) before playing their regularly scheduled contest shortly after the suspended game's conclusion.
Samford will play again Tuesday night with a contest at crosstown rival UAB. The game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. (CT) start from UAB’s Young Memorial Field.