Appalachian State 2, Georgia Southern 0
BOONE, N.C. – A Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium-record crowd of 1,116 saw Sam Agnew-Wieland turn in his second consecutive complete-game shutout to lead Appalachian State to a 2-0 win over Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon.
With its second straight victory over Georgia Southern (19-11, 9-5 SoCon), Appalachian State (17-9, 8-5 SoCon) moved within a half-game of the first-place Eagles in the Southern Conference standings. Appalachian looks to complete its first-ever series sweep over GSU when the clubs meet in the finale of their three-game SoCon series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at Smith Stadium.
Agnew-Wieland (5-2) followed up last Saturday’s five-hit shutout win against Wofford with an even more dominant performance against Georgia Southern. The right-handed junior allowed just two hits, struck out nine and needed only 102 pitches to complete the whitewashing. He did not surrender a hit to 19 straight batters between Chase Griffin’s single to left field in the first inning and Robbie Dodds’ infield hit in the seventh and retired 14 in a row between his only walks of the afternoon in the second and sixth innings.
The Mountaineers gave Agnew-Wieland all the run support he would need in the bottom of the first when Will Callaway slapped a two-out RBI single through the left side of the infield. They tacked on an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh on an error by GSU relief pitcher Justin Hess, which allowed Preston Troutman to score from third and give Appalachian State a 2-0 lead.
That would be more than enough for Agnew-Wieland, who sat down Georgia Southern’s final nine batters of the afternoon to become the first Appalachian State pitcher since at least 2003 with two complete-game shutouts in a season. During that same 11-season span, he is one of only two Mountaineer hurlers with multiple whitewashings in a career, joining Seth Grant, who tossed shutouts as a junior in 2011 and a senior in 2012.
Callaway finished 3-for-4 and recorded three of Appalachian’s five hits as a team. Hector Crespo and Gabe accounted for the Mountaineers’ only other hits.
Agnew-Wieland out-dueled Georgia Southern starter Jason Richman, who allowed just two runs (one earned) on five hits in 6 2/3 innings of work but was saddled with the tough-luck loss to fall to 4-2 on the campaign.
Samford 3, Wofford 2
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford junior pitcher Alex Milazzo pitched 7 1/3 innings, giving up just one run on four hits, to lead the Bulldog baseball team to a 3-2 win over Wofford on Saturday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
The win improved Samford’s season record to 17-14 overall and 7-7 in Southern Conference play. Wofford dropped to 13-20 overall and 4-10 in league play. The win gives Samford the series victory after a 3-2 win in Friday’s series-opener.
Milazzo (5-0) struck out five batters, while allowing just three walks in earning the win. Andres Gracia came in to get the final two outs of the eighth inning, and Arthur Strauss pitched the final inning to earn his sixth save of the season.
For Samford at the plate, Zeth Stone, Tommy Corbin and Caleb Bryson drove in a run each. As a team, Samford had eight hits in the win.
Wofford’s Jesse Morris (4-3) pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and striking out six batters to take the loss. Matthew Pelt and Seth Neely each had two hits and an RBI to lead the Terriers at the plate.
Samford took the lead first with two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Jared Watson singled to lead off the inning, stole second base then moved to third base when Frankie Navarrete reached base on a fielder’s choice. Watson then scored the game’s first run on a sacrifice fly by Stone. After Navarrete stole second base, he scored on a single by Corbin for a 2-0 Samford lead.
The Bulldogs added a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to push their lead to 3-0. Brandon Powell pinch-ran for Phillip Ervin after Ervin singled. Powell then moved to second base when Christiaan Durdaller grounded into a double play. Powell then scored when Bryson reached base on an infield single for a three-run Samford lead.
Wofford put its first run on the scoreboard in the top of the eighth inning to cut the Samford lead to 3-1. Neely singled to drive in Pelt to pull the Terriers to within two runs.
The Terriers plated their second run of the game in the top of the ninth inning to make the final score 3-2. Pelt singled to drive in Clark Wise for the game’s final run.
The teams will conclude their series with a game Sunday at 1 p.m. (CT) at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
The Citadel 14, Elon 7
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel knocked out 15 hits and scored in six of its eight innings at the plate in a 14-7 victory over Elon that evened the Southern Conference series at Riley Park at a game apiece.
The rubber game is Sunday at 1 p.m. with freshman right-hander Austin Mason pitching for the Bulldogs against senior left-hander Spencer Medick.
The run total was the second-highest of the season for The Citadel (17-15, 6-5 SoCon), trailing only an 18-9 win over Wofford on March 17, and allowed the Bulldogs to snap an eight-game losing streak to the Phoenix (19-13, 11-6).
The win was also the 499th at home for The Citadel in 22 seasons under head coach Fred Jordan, including 135 at College Park and 364 at Riley Park.
Mason Davis and Calvin Orth both had three hits for The Citadel and four other Bulldogs had two-hit games. Orth scored three times and slammed a three-run homer in the eighth, his second of the season, to put the finishing touches on the victory.
Joe Jackson also went deep with a two-run shot in the seventh to expand what was just a 9-6 Citadel lead to a five-run margin. Jackson reached base all five times up with two hits, a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch, scored three runs and knocked in three to give him the team lead in RBIs with 32.
Logan Cribb worked the first 5 2/3 innings to earn the win and even his record at 2-2 on the year. He allowed seven hits and six runs, with only two of them being earned, walked one and struck out a season-high six batters.
The game was tied at 1 when the Bulldogs bunched together five hits and scored five times in the bottom of the fifth to take a lead they would never relinquish. Jackson and Drew DeKerlegand had RBI singles, Stokes drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Bailey Rush capped the uprising with a two-run double into the right field corner.
The runs came off Elon pitcher Tyler Manez (1-3), who was forced into action when Kyle Webb, the scheduled starter, had to return home on a family emergency. Manez gave up seven hits and six runs in 2 2/3 innings.
The Phoenix responded to the big Citadel inning with one of its own in the fourth, scoring three times, including run-scoring singles by Chris Bresnahan and Blaine Bower. But an error and DeKerlegand's second RBI single of the game in the bottom of the frame rebuilt the Bulldog margin to 8-4.
Ryan Kinsella hit his 11th home run of the season in the top of the fifth to break a tie with The Citadel's Bo Thompson for the SoCon lead and pull Elon within three runs again. Bases-loaded walks issued to Thompson in the bottom of the fifth and Elon's Antonio Alvarez in the sixth left the Bulldogs in front 9-6 heading into the late innings.
Thompson walked twice and was hit by a pitch to extend his streak of consecutive games reaching base to 28 this season and 31 in a row dating back to the end of the 2012 season. Hughston Armstrong, moved up to second in Jordan's batting order, had a single to extend his hitting streak to a career-long 10 games.
Western Carolina 8, Furman 5
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Tyler White stroked a two-run ninth-inning double to break a tie ball game and help Western Carolina to an 8-5 victory over Furman in Southern Conference baseball action Saturday afternoon at Latham Stadium.
The win evened the series between the Catamounts (18-15, 8-6 SoCon) and Paladins (18-12, 6-8 SoCon) heading into Sunday’s 1 p.m. finale.
White’s two-run double off of Paladin reliever Ben Carlson split the right-center field gap and scored Aaron Attaway and Cody Jones to give Western Carolina a 6-4 lead. Two batters later, Dykota Speiss deposited a Carlson pitch over the right-field fence for a two-run home run to make it 8-4.
Furman tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth against Catamount closer Preston Hatcher, putting two runners on and scoring on a groundout to make it 8-5. Jordan Simpson drew a two-out walk to bring the potential tying run to plate, but Hatcher responded by striking out Will Muzika looking to end the game.
Hatcher got the call from the bullpen in the eighth after Muzika walked with one out and advanced to third on a Hunter Burton double. After intentionally walking Taylor Johnson to load the bases, Hatcher induced an inning-ending double play off the bat of Paul Nitto to keep it a 4-4 game.
Western Carolina grabbed a 4-0 lead after three innings, plating three runs in the second against Paladin starting pitcher Tyler Wood and a run in the third on a Jacob Hoyle solo home run to left field.
Furman began chipping away at the Catamount advantage in the fourth, scoring two runs on a Jordan Simpson bases-loaded walk and Muzika sacrifice fly that drove home Alex Abrams.
The Paladins cut it to 4-3 an inning later when Johnson led off with a single, stole second and came home on a Griffin Davis single, and the Paladins knotted it up in the sixth on a Johnson RBI single up the middle on the first pitch he saw from Catamount reliever Hunter Brister.
Furman stranded runners in seven of the nine innings and 14 total for the game.
Western Carolina had 13 hits and Furman 12.
White’s two-run double in the ninth spiced a 3-for-5, two-RBI performance, and Bryant Notebook also went 3-for-5 for the Catamounts. Speiss’ two-run home run highlighted a 2-for-4, three-RBI game that also included two runs.
Five Paladins had two hits apiece, including Burton, Johnson, Abrams, Davis and Chris Ohmstede.
Hatcher (3-2) was the beneficiary of the four-run Catamount ninth, earning the victory after working the final 1 2/3 innings that saw him yield a run on two hits and two walks while striking out one.
Carlson (3-2), who was charged with the loss, pitched effectively until tiring in the ninth. He allowed four runs on seven hits over 3 2/3 innings, recording a walk and four strikeouts.
College of Charleston 11, UNCG 3
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – College of Charleston flipped the script on UNCG on Saturday evening, taking an 11-3 victory to even the weekend SoCon series.
College of Charleston (17-13, 8-5) tallied 14 hits and took an 11-1 lead into the ninth inning. UNCG (16-15, 4-7) stranded eight runners and gave up a six-run CofC third inning to suffer the loss.
CofC’s Nathan Helvey (4-2) helped the Cougars bounce back from a tough Friday loss by tallying his fifth quality start and fourth win, pitching six innings and scattering seven hits and allowing just one run.
UNCG’s Corey Taylor (0-4) suffered the loss, lasting just three innings and giving up six runs on eight hits.
Ben Boykin led the Cougar offensive effort with three hits and two RBIs. Morgan Phillips knocked his first career triple, a two-run shot in the third inning. Blake Butler also had a big day at the plate, getting his second career three-hit game and scoring three runs.
The Spartans took an early 1-0 lead with a double from Eric Kalbfleisch and a single from Lloyd Enzor in the second inning. Kalbfleisch finished with a team-high three hits for the Spartans.
CofC exploded for six runs on seven hits in the third inning. After a walk from Brandon Murray loaded the bases, Charleston tallied five consecutive hits from Boykin, Carl Wise, Bradley Goodson, Ryan Welke and Phillips. Phillips’ two-out triple scored Welke and Goodson to make the score 6-1.
In the fourth inning, Butler singled and came home after a wild pitch and a groundout on an RBI single from Murray to push the lead to 7-1.
Charleston put the game out of reach in the sixth inning with three runs on two UNCG errors. Butler once again led off the inning with a hit and came home after a steal and a fielding error by UNCG’s Benigno Marrero. A single from Boykin set up pinch-hitter Tyler Jackson, who also reached safely after another Marrero error, scoring Murray from second. Goodson tallied his second RBI of the game on a perfectly placed bunt that allowed Boykin to score from third.
UNCG scored two runs in the ninth inning on a two-run homer from TJ Spina, cutting the lead to 11-3. However, reliever Drew Freie got the next two batters to finish out the contest.
College of Charleston will play in its fifth Sunday rubber game of the season tomorrow. The Cougars are 3-1 in rubber games so far this season. Game time is slated for 1 p.m.
UNCW 15, Davidson 2
WILMINGTON, N.C. – Corey Dick, Matt Keeler and Drew Farber combined to drive in 11 runs to lead UNCW past Davidson, 15-2, in nonconference baseball action Saturday at Brooks Field.
UNCW (22-10) scored the majority of its runs in bunches, scoring five in the third inning, four in the fifth and five again in the seventh, totaling 16 hits and taking advantage of six Davidson errors for six unearned runs. Dick drove in UNCW’s first three runs, going 3-for-6 and finishing with four RBIs. Keeler (2-for-3, 2 BB) had four RBIs, too, and he and Farber (2-for-3) both slugged three-run home runs.
Designated hitter Ryan Lowe (2-for-4) and center fielder Forrest Brandt (1-for-2, 2 BB) drove in Davidson’s lone runs in the third and seventh innings, respectively, on RBI singles. Shortstop Michael Zeblo also went 2-for-4, and scored the Wildcats’ run in the third inning after leading the frame off with a double. RHP Jordan Ramsey (5-2) held the ‘Cats (9-20) to the two runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out seven in seven innings.
Dick gave UNCW a 1-0 lead in the first inning by driving in a run with a single to left field. The ‘Cats tied the game in the third, but the Seahawks took command in the bottom half of the inning. The first two batters reached and Dick drove both home with a double to left. Third baseman Ryan LaGrange then singled and Keeler followed with a three-run homer before RHP Danny Mooney (3-4) retired the next three batters in order.
UNCW took a 10-1 lead after scoring four more runs in the fifth inning on Farber’s three-run home run and a bases-loaded walk. The Seahawks added five more runs in the seventh on five hits and three Davidson errors.
Davidson had used stout defense and strong pitching Friday in the first game of the three-game series to hold UNCW hitless with runners in scoring position and win 2-1 at Wilson Field. The two teams will play the rubber match Sunday at Brooks Field with first pitch set for 2 p.m.