Furman 8, Gardner-Webb 5
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Jordan Simpson went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs and Furman used a seven-run first inning to grab an early lead en route to an 8-5 victory over Gardner-Webb in Tuesday baseball action at Moss Stadium.
The victory was the third straight for Furman (29-23), gave the Paladins the season split with Gardner-Webb (25-25), and clinched a winning season for the Paladins — the program’s first since 2008.
Furman will open its final series of the regular season on Thursday when it entertains Dayton in a 6 p.m. game, followed by a Friday 4 p.m. contest and Saturday noon finale.
The Paladins begin Southern Conference Championship play next Wednesday at Fluor Field with a seed and opponent to be determined by the final weekend of conference action. Furman can finish anywhere from fifth through eighth in the SoCon standings.
Furman roughed up Gardner-Webb starter Hunter Smith (1-1) in the first inning, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs. Hunter Burton’s leadoff triple set the table, and he scored the first run on a sacrifice fly. A Paul Nitto sacrifice fly made it 2-0, and the Paladins followed with four consecutive RBI base hits, highlighted by a Simpson two-run single, that stretched the lead to 6-0. Burton collected his second hit of the frame with an RBI single that drove home Simpson to complete the seven-run outburst.
Gardner-Webb cut the lead to 7-4 with a four-run second, highlighted by a Danny Yelverton three-run home run off of Furman pitcher Matt Solter, who made his first career start.
After Simpson’s third RBI of the game in the fifth gave Furman an 8-5 lead, the Paladins wiggled out of a jam in the Gardner-Webb fifth. With runners at second and third with one out, Furman reliever Drake Browne (2-2) struck out the Bulldogs’ No. 3 and No. 4 hitters, Benji Jackson and Brad Collins, to end the threat.
Jacques de Gruy came on for Browne in the sixth and pitched the final four frames, scattering four hits and recording three strikeouts, to close out the Bulldogs and secure his second save of the campaign.
Every Furman starter registered a hit as the Paladins combined for 15 safeties in the contest. Simpson’s three-hit performance was matched by Burton, whose leadoff triple was the eighth of his career. Griffin Davis went 2-for-5 with a double, and Taylor Johnson registered his third straight multi-hit game with two singles in five at-bats.
Browne was credited with the victory after working the scoreless fifth and striking out two.
Smith took the loss, lasting just an inning and yielding all seven Furman runs in the decisive first.
John Harris went 4-for-4 with a double and two runs scored for Gardner-Webb, which finished with 10 hits.
College of Charleston 10, Jacksonville 0
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – College of Charleston shut out Jacksonville and took a 10-0 win in nonconference baseball action at Patriots Point on Tuesday night.
The Cougars (28-24) tallied 11 hits and the pitching staff recorded 13 strikeouts while holding Jacksonville (17-35) to just three total hits.
Freshman Nathan Helvey (5-3) earned the win as he pitched five innings, striking out six and only walking two. He took a no-hitter into the fourth inning, and recorded his second partial shutout of the season. Relievers Griffin Jones and Blake Ross combined for three shutout innings with no hits and five strikeouts, while Dre Watts recorded two strikeouts in the ninth inning.
Wes Torrez (1-4) suffered the loss for Jacksonville, allowing five earned runs in the first 4 1/3 innings.
Brandon Murray and Ryan Welke each hit home runs for the Cougars. Murray finished with three RBIs and two runs scored. Gunnar Heidt tallied a double and a single with three RBIs, and freshman Blake Butler registered three hits with a career-high four runs.
Morgan Phillips had two hits and two RBIs, and freshman Lorenzo Wright knocked the first hit of his career in the eighth inning.
The Cougars loaded the bases with a single and two hit-by-pitches in the first inning when Phillips singled to center to score Butler and Murray.
Welke’s solo home run to left field pushed the Cougars’ lead to 3-0 in the second frame.
Charleston added to the lead with three more runs in the fifth inning, using a JU error and wild pitch to get Butler to third base. Heidt scored him on a sacrifice fly and then Murray knocked his ninth home run to right field.
Heidt and the Cougars struck again in the seventh inning with a double down the right-field line that scored Butler. Consecutive sacrifice flies from Murray and Cody Martin scored two more runs and the lead extended to 9-0. Heidt added another RBI in the eighth inning with two outs to make the final tally of 10-0.
Charleston will conclude the regular season this weekend against Georgia Southern. The first game will be on Thursday night at 6 p.m.
The Citadel 21, Charleston Southern 6
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Tyler Griffin celebrated his return to the lineup by clouting two of The Citadel's six home runs, leading the Bulldogs to a 21-6 victory at Charleston Southern in their final nonconference game of the season.
The Citadel will take a 31-22 record into its final Southern Conference series of the year at UNCG, beginning Thursday at 6 p.m. The Bulldogs need to win two of three against the Spartans to clinch the No. 2 seed in the SoCon tournament, which gets under way May 22 at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C.
The six home runs tied the school record that had been done twice before, against Marshall on March 22, 1997, and East Carolina two days later. The 21 runs fell one shy of The Citadel's season high of 22 against Davidson 11 days ago.
Griffin missed the past 18 games since suffering a fractured foot at South Carolina on April 9 but returned with a vengeance. After getting hit by a pitch in his first at bat, he singled in two runs in the second, hit a solo homer leading off the fifth and added a two-run shot in the seventh to give him five RBIs on the night to tie his career high.
It was Griffin's second multi-homer game of the season, adding to his three round-trippers against North Florida in late February. He has 10 on the year to join Bo Thompson (13) and Joe Jackson (11) with double digits in that department.
Thompson added to his home run total with a grand slam in the fifth and also matched his career high with five RBIs. Jason Smith entered the game as a pinch hitter in the fifth and went 3-for-3, including his first career home run, a three-run shot that was followed by a solo clout by Mason Davis in the sixth.
Smith drove in four runs and Davis established a career best with four runs scored while also stealing two bases to increase his team-leading total to 21.
Drew DeKerlegand got the home run derby started when he hit a three-run blast to cap a five-run top of the first for The Citadel. Joe Jackson tripled in a run and scored on a Thompson double as the Bulldogs hit for the cycle in the inning.
Charleston Southern (21-30) battled back for three in its half of the first, highlighted by a bases-loaded double by Robbie Streett past a diving Calvin Orth inside the line at third. But the Buccaneers could not match the offensive fireworks put on by The Citadel, which scored twice in the second and seven in the fifth to blow the game open at 14-3.
The Bulldogs finished with 19 hits against eight Charleston Southern pitchers. The Citadel used seven hurlers, with the win going to Kevin Connell, who allowed four hits and one run with one strikeout while working the fourth and fifth innings.
No. 2 North Carolina 2, Appalachian State 0
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Appalachian State pitchers Jeffrey Springs and Tyler Moore limited one of the nation’s top offensive attacks to four hits but Appalachian managed just one hit of its own in a 2-0 loss to second-ranked North Carolina on Tuesday evening at Boshamer Stadium.
Two nights after Appalachian State (27-20) banged out a season-high-tying 19 hits in its series-clinching 13-3 rout at West Coast Conference champion Gonzaga, Will Callaway recorded Appalachian’s only hit with a first-inning single off of UNC starter Reilly Hovis (2-0).
Seven Mountaineers reached base after Callaway’s first-inning hit (six walks and a hit batter) but Appalachian went 0-for-10 with runners on base and stranded five in scoring position in the frustrating loss. The Mountaineers’ best scoring opportunity came in the sixth inning when Hector Crespo and Noah Holmes walked back-to-back to lead off the inning. However, the next three batters struck out, leaving Holmes and Crespo stranded second and third base.
Springs (2-3) and Moore nearly matched North Carolina’s three hurlers pitch-for-pitch, but the Tar Heels scored the game’s only runs on a sacrifice fly in the third and an RBI groundout in the sixth. UNC (46-6) came into the game leading the nation with 8.6 runs per game and ranked 10th nationally with a .313 team batting average.
Besides the sterling performances by Springs (five IP, two hits, two runs, three strikeouts) and Moore (three IP, two hits, three strikeouts), Appalachian State’s highlight of the evening was Callaway’s two-out single to right field in the first inning, which extended his hitting streak to 22 games. Callaway’s 22-game hitting streak is just five games shy of the school record of 27, set by Rand Smith in 2009.
Appalachian State’s final preparations for next week’s Southern Conference Championship come this weekend when it hosts three games versus SoCon regular-season champion Western Carolina. The three-game series opens on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
Duke 12, UNCG 2
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Duke pounded out 17 hits Tuesday evening and cruised to a 12-2 victory over the UNCG baseball team in both squads’ final nonconference contest, at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
The Spartans fell to 22-30 overall while the Blue Devils evened their record at 26-26 heading into a weekend series with No. 8 NC State.
Sophomore RHP Blair Betts was tagged with the loss for the Blue and Gold, throwing 1/3 of an inning and allowing three runs on three hits. UNCG used eight pitchers in the game. Senior infielder TJ Spina led the Spartans at the plate with a 3-for-4 performance while scoring one run.
Duke threatened to have a big inning in the top of the first, but the Spartans picked off two runners to keep the visitors at bay. UNCG could not take advantage in the frame, wasting a one-out double by Spina.
After both teams went down in order in the second frame, the Blue Devils broke onto the scoreboard first. In the top of the third, Andy Perez and Mark Lumpa produced two consecutive two-out singles before Jeff Kremer came through with an RBI single of his own to make the score 1-0.
The Spartans answered in the bottom of the frame as junior infielder Sean Guite took the first pitch he saw and drilled it over the head of the Blue Devil right fielder and to the wall for a leadoff triple – his first extra-base hit of the season. Redshirt freshman infielder Nin Marrero wasted little time driving him in as he grounded out to second and allowed Guite to cross home safely.
UNCG was able to work around a two-out double in the top of the fourth to hold Duke off the board but went down in order in the bottom of the inning.
The Blue Devils used three straight hits to score the go-ahead run and put Betts in trouble in the top of the fifth. He was relieved by junior RHP Dylan Thompson, who uncorked a wild pitch for Duke’s second run of the inning before allowing a sacrifice fly to Chris Marconcini.
The Blue Devils would lead 4-1 after five complete. Duke tacked on two more runs in the sixth before an RBI single up the middle by senior infielder Lloyd Enzor scored Spina, who had singled with one out.
The rest of the contest belonged to the visitors as they plated three runs apiece in the seventh and eighth innings to account for the final score.
UNCG closes out its 2013 campaign this weekend, hosting The Citadel in a three-game Southern Conference series. The set begins Thursday at 6 p.m. inside the UNCG Baseball Stadium. The teams will complete the series with single games Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
North Florida 5, Georgia Southern 2
STATESBORO, Ga. – Tyler Moore held Georgia Southern to one hit over four innings in the North Florida Osprey's 5-2 win over the Eagles at J.I. Clements Stadium on Tuesday. The contest was the last nonconference game for the Eagles and the final home game of the regular season.
Georgia Southern (25-27) got its offense started off of reliever Jamie Cardwell and scored two runs in the sixth inning to cut North Florida's lead to three runs. The Eagles had multiple base runners in the final three innings but were unable to score any more runs. Corbin Olmstead (S, 6) allowed two leadoff singles in the ninth inning before recording the save with three straight outs.
Moore (2-0) picked up his second win of the season in his third start of the year. Moore, who had thrown just 7 1/3 innings on the season, held GSU to one hit over four innings. Moore also walked two and struck out four batters.
Matt McCall (3-2) suffered the loss after surrendering four runs over 1 1/3 innings. In relief of McCall, Chris Myers and Evan Challenger combined to throw 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball. Myers tossed a career-high 3 1/3 innings, while Challenger threw a career-long relief outing of 4 1/3 innings.
After being retired in order in the fifth inning, Georgia Southern tallied a hit in every inning and posted eight of its nine hits on the day. Kyle Streicher and Brent Pugh both posted two-hit days, while T.D. Davis drove in two runs with his 12th home run of the season.
North Florida (36-16) started the scoring with two runs in the first inning. Tyler Marincov plated a leadoff walk in Joe Wielbruda with a double. Marincov later scored after Donnie Dewees laced a double down the right-field line.
The Ospreys added two more runs in the second inning on three hits and an error. Corey Bass doubled with one out and scored from third base on a Wielbruda single to right field. Paul Kameris plated Spencer Herrman on the next at-bat on a ground ball to third base.
After Myers retired the side in order in the third inning, North Florida scored its final run in the fourth inning. Herrmann plated a leadoff single from Kyle Brooks with a base hit through the right side of the infield.
The Eagles got two runs back on a two-out home run from Davis. Davis pulled a ball over the wall in left field and around the foul pole for his first long ball since May 5.
Georgia Southern returns to action Thursday at the College of Charleston. The three-game set will be the final Southern Conference series of the season.