Appalachian State 9, No. 29 Western Carolina 8
BOONE, N.C. – Dillon Dobson’s walk-off double capped Appalachian State’s rally from an 8-1 seventh-inning deficit and lifted the Mountaineers to a thrilling 9-8 win over Western Carolina in Saturday’s regular-season finale at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
With the victory, Appalachian State (28-22, 13-14 SoCon) clinched fifth place in the final Southern Conference standings. The Apps play fourth-seeded The Citadel (32-24, 18-12 SoCon) in the 2013 Southern Conference Championship opener on Wednesday at 10 a.m. at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C.
It looked like Appalachian would ride a four-game SoCon losing streak into the tournament when regular-season champion Western Carolina (38-18, 23-7 SoCon) scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a commanding 8-1 lead. However, the Mountaineers scored two runs in the seventh, three in the eighth and three more in the ninth off of WCU closer Preston Hatcher to complete the come-from-behind win.
The epic rally came exactly one year after Appalachian State scored five ninth-inning runs off Hatcher in a SoCon-title-clinching 5-4 triumph at Western Carolina. Much like Appalachian’s historic victory in Cullowhee, N.C., last season, Hatcher was brought on Saturday in a non-save situation but blew a big lead en route to a heart-breaking loss.
The Mountaineers had already cut the deficit to 8-3 when Hatcher was summoned from the bullpen with runners on first and second base and nobody out in the eighth. The SoCon saves leader promptly walked the first batter he faced then surrendered three runs (two inherited, one of his own) before escaping the eighth with a narrow 8-6 lead still intact.
After Jeffrey Springs worked his second straight scoreless inning in the top of the ninth, Hatcher got things going for the Apps in the bottom of the stanza when he hit Brandon Burris with the first pitch of inning. Hector Crespo followed by legging out a double to shallow center field and the Mountaineers had the tying run in scoring position with nobody out.
Crespo’s double proved to be the first of four straight hits for the Apps to close out the game. After Crespo, Noah Holmes drilled a line drive off Hatcher’s leg that brought Burris home from third with Appalachian’s seventh run, moved Crespo to third with the tying run and putting Holmes aboard as the winning run.
Three pitches later, Will Callaway tied it at 8-8 with an RBI single to center field. That set up Dobson, who ripped the first pitch he saw from Hatcher into the right-center field gap. Holmes easily scored the winning run from second as Dobson’s first-career walk-off hit bounced off the wall in right-center.
Springs (3-3) earned his third win of the season by keeping the Catamounts’ high-powered offense off the scoreboard in the eighth and ninth innings. Hatcher, who has 14 saves and six wins on the campaign, suffered the loss to fall to 6-3.
Offensively, Crespo, Callaway, Dobson and Preston Troutman had two hits apiece to pace the Mountaineers’ 11-hit attack. Seven of the Apps’ 11 hits came in the final three innings.
Crespo led Appalachian with three RBI and Callaway extended his hitting streak to 25 games with a leadoff single in the eighth inning. Callaway’s 25-game hitting streak is tied with Tommy Green (1988) for the second-longest in Appalachian State history, just two shy of the school-record 27-game streak compiled by Rand Smith in 2009.
Dykota Spiess led 29th-ranked WCU with three hits and Adam Martin drove in half of the Catamounts’ eight runs with a fifth-inning grand slam.
UNCG 7, The Citadel 4
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Senior outfielder Christian Wolfe became the UNCG single-season record holder in batting average and redshirt junior outfielder Cole Harrison recorded the game-winning hit in his last game as a Spartan as the UNCG baseball team scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to pick up a 7-4 Southern Conference victory over The Citadel in the season finale for the Blue and Gold.
The Spartans (24-31, 11-19 SoCon) picked up their third league series victory of 2013 and ended head coach Link Jarrett’s first season with the program with a series win over the SoCon’s then second-place squad. The series loss bumped the Bulldogs (32-24, 18-12 SoCon) down to the No. 4 seed for next week’s league tournament.
Wolfe surpassed Ryan Gordon’s 2003 season batting average mark of .416, as he was 3-for-4 in Saturday’s contest to end his campaign at an impressive .421. That average should be good enough to pace the Southern Conference in 2013 and Wolfe should become the first Spartan to do so since Jermaine Mitchell led the circuit with a .397 total in 2006.
Harrison was also 3-for-4 in the game with a run scored and two driven in. A total of seven Spartans tallied base knocks, with Harrison and sophomore outfielder Eric Kalbfleisch both recording doubles. Kalbfleisch ended his year with 21 two-baggers – tied for the third-most in a single season in the program annals and currently the second-most in the conference.
Sophomore RHP Brennen James picked up the victory as he gave up just one hit in the eighth and struck out a batter. The Spartans received a solid start from senior LHP Corey Taylor, as he allowed four runs in 6 1/3 innings with four strikeouts. Freshman RHP Ryan Clark posted his second save of the season, throwing a perfect ninth with a strikeout. The rookie began his UNCG career in stellar fashion, compiling a 5-1 record in 26 appearances with a 2.05 earned run average.
The Citadel threatened right from the start, as Mason Davis singled to left-center on the first pitch of the game. A couple of one-out walks would then load the bases, but Taylor struck out Tyler Griffin looking for the second out before inducing a fly out off the bat of Drew DeKerlegand.
A pitching duel ensued from there before the Bulldogs put up another threat in the top of the fourth. Griffin doubled to left field to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a groundout by DeKerlegand. However, Taylor worked out of the jam again by getting a lineout to short and striking out Bailey Rush.
The visitors finally got to Taylor in the fifth. The inning began innocently enough with Johnathan Stokes grounding out to short. However, two straight singles and a walk would load the bases. A hit-by-pitch with Bo Thompson at the dish brought home the first run of the contest and Griffin doubled to left to make the score 3-0. Taylor would tally two straight strikeouts, however, to prevent further damage.
The Spartans had a good chance to score in the bottom of the sixth, but after Wolfe reached third with one out, senior infielder Trevor Edwards and senior infielder Lloyd Enzor struck out consecutively to terminate the threat.
After The Citadel tacked on a run in the top of the seventh, UNCG answered with one of its own in the bottom of the frame. Kalbfleisch doubled down the left-field line to open the stanza and Harrison laid down a textbook bunt for a single, moving Kalbfleisch to third. Sophomore outfielder Zac MacAneney then grounded into a double play, but Kalbfleisch scored to make it a 4-1 ballgame.
James would allow a one-out single in the top of the eighth to Stokes, but the runner was picked off 1-3-6 to end the inning.
Redshirt freshman infielder Nin Marrero and Wolfe posted consecutive singles to greet Bulldog reliever Kevin Connell in the bottom of the eighth before Spina reached on a fielder’s choice and Wolfe moved to third on a throwing error by Rush. With one out and runners on the corners, Edwards was intentionally walked to load the bases. Austin Livingston came on to toe the rubber next, but he would walk Enzor to bring home a run and make the score 4-2. The Citadel then signaled for its closer, Skylar Hunter, but he proved ineffective for the second straight day, walking Kalbfleisch and giving up a two-run double to Harrison to put the Spartans in front for the first time at 5-4. MacAneney then singled through the left side to score Kalbfleisch and push the UNCG advantage to 6-4.
The Bulldogs then brought out Austin Mason out of the bullpen, but he would be pulled without throwing a pitch – leaving it up to the fifth pitcher of the inning, David Rivera, to try to quell the Blue and Gold rally. Freshman catcher Jake Hall put the exclamation point on the six-run outburst as he singled through the left side to plate Harrison and give the home team a 7-4 lead. Marrero would strike out for the second out before Spina grounded out to end the frame.
Clark sliced through the top of The Citadel’s order in the ninth to seal the Senior Day victory for the Spartans.
College of Charleston 8, Georgia Southern 6
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – College of Charleston overcame a 4-1 deficit in the sixth inning and went on to defeat Georgia Southern, 8-6, on Senior Day at Patriots Point Athletic Complex on Saturday.
The win gave the Cougars (31-24, 18-11) their first home sweep of the season as College of Charleston won its last regular-season game while playing in the Southern Conference. The Cougars won five straight games, the longest winning streak of the season.
With The Citadel’s loss to UNCG, the Cougars secured the second-place seed of the Southern Conference tournament and will face Georgia Southern at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Derrick Smith (1-0) earned his first win of the season with a two-inning relief appearance in the fifth and sixth innings. Dre Watts came on for yet another multiple-inning save, his eighth of the season and third save in five games.
Carl Wise had two home runs in the contest and finished with three RBIs, while Blake Butler extended his hitting streak to nine games with three hits, including the go-ahead two-RBI single in the sixth inning. Wise hit three home runs in the series, while he and Butler have combined for a .536 average and 18 runs in the Cougars’ five-game winning streak.
Gunnar Heidt and Ben Boykin each recorded doubles, while Alex Pastorius came off the bench to get a two-run pinch-hit single.
Ben Morgan led the Eagles with a three-hit day and three RBIs, including a home run in the top of the ninth inning. Tyler Avera added an RBI and a run, and Brent Pugh scored a run with an RBI.
Georgia Southern jumped on top in the third inning with three singles and RBIs from Morgan and Pugh. Wise responded for CofC with a solo home run in the bottom of the inning, but the Eagles added two more runs in the fourth and fifth inning to build a 4-1 lead.
Charleston rallied big in the bottom of the sixth frame, starting with a walk from Murray and a single from Cody Martin. After a sacrifice bunt from Phillips and hit-by-pitch from Tyler Jackson, Pastorius lined a shot into the gap in right-center to score two runs and make it a one-run game. Boykin was then hit by a pitch to reload the bases for the red-hot Butler, who knocked his third hit of the game and scored the go-ahead runs.
CofC added insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning with a single from Jackson, double from Boykin and home run from Wise.
Despite GSU’s two-run homer from Morgan in the ninth frame, Watts held on to make the final out and secure the 8-6 victory.
Charleston has now finished first, second or third in the SoCon regular season in nine of the last 10 years. The Cougars will play in nightcap of the SoCon tournament opening day on Wednesday, going for a fourth straight win over Georgia Southern.
Before the game, CofC honored the careers of 10 seniors: Watts, Drew Freie, Bradley Goodson, Tyler Jackson, Griffin Jones, Cody Martin, Matt Pegler, Jimmy Revan, Ryan West and Jake Zokan. The group tallied a 152-87 record in their collective four years at College of Charleston.
Old Dominion 8, Wofford 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford baseball team ended the 2013 season with an 8-1 loss to Old Dominion on Saturday afternoon at Russell C. King Field. The Monarchs broke open a scoreless game with five runs in the top of the fifth inning.
Wofford finished at 20-36 on the season and Old Dominion is 30-24 overall. The Terriers were led by Matt Ramsay with three hits, while Connor Myers had three hits for the Monarchs.
In the top of the fifth, Tyler Urp led off with a triple and scored on a double by Connor Myers for a 1-0 ODU lead. An RBI double by Josh Eldridge and an RBI single by Ben Slaton pushed the lead to 3-0. Back-to-back RBI singles from Austin McGowan and Jordan Negrini made it 5-0 after the top of the fifth.
In the bottom of the sixth, Wofford loaded the bases with two singles and a walk but was unable to plate a run. Old Dominion added a run on a sacrifice fly by Austin McGowan in the top of the seventh for a 6-0 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, Alec Paradowski was hit by a pitch and Josh Hyman singled. A passed ball moved the runners into scoring position and a ground out by Seth Neely plated a run for a 6-1 score.
Old Dominion added an RBI double by Michael Perez and he scored on a wild pitch to take an 8-1 lead. In the bottom of the ninth, the Terriers were retired in order to end the season.
Brandon Yarusi started the game and faced one batter in his final appearance for the Terriers. Luke Leftwich (2-6) went 4 2/3 innings and allowed five runs on five hits with three strikeouts. Will Stillman threw 2 1/3 innings and gave up one run on three hits with three strikeouts. Tanner Hawley went an inning with one hit allowed. Eric Eck threw the ninth and allowed two runs on two hits with two strikeouts.
Old Dominion starter Mike Ney went three innings and did not allow a hit with two strikeouts. Dean Ali (4-3) threw three innings and did not allow a run on five hits with two strikeouts.
The game marked the final contest of the 2013 season for the Terriers. Before the game, the team’s six seniors were recognized. The six seniors are: Bradley Evsich, Matt Moore, J.D. Osborne, Taylor Rozier, Clark Wise and Yarusi.
During the course of the season, the Terriers set new school records for stolen bases, sacrifice bunts and strikeouts. The 10 Southern Conference wins were the most since the 2002 season.
Furman vs. Dayton (canc.)
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Saturday’s baseball game between the Furman Paladins and Dayton Flyers at Latham Stadium has been canceled due to rain and will not be made up, according to Furrman head coach Ron Smith.
The game was slated as the regular-season finale for Furman, which ran its winning streak to five games with Friday’s 5-2 victory over Dayton.
The Paladins will now prepare for Southern Conference tournament play, which gets under way Wednesday at Fluor Field in downtown Greenville. Furman (31-23, 14-16 SoCon), by virtue of being the tournament host school, will exercise its option to play the 5 p.m. Wednesday game. Furman’s seed and opponent for that game are still to be determined, however, due to Saturday league action.