Western Carolina 3, No. 2 Mississippi State 2
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Jeremy Null struck out a dozen Bulldog batters while scattering three hits over eight solid innings as Western Carolina held off second-ranked Mississippi State to pull the upset, 3-2, Friday night in the 2014 season opener Friday night at Dudy Noble Field.
The Southern Conference’s Preseason Pitcher of the Year, Null struck out seven of the first 13 batters he faced and held the Bulldogs hitless until the leadoff batter of the fifth inning. He worked around a lone walk to pick up his first win of the season and the 14th of his WCU career.
In his WCU debut, freshman LHP Bryan Sammons recorded two-thirds of an inning to earn his first collegiate save. The Wilmington, N.C., product secured the final two outs in the nail-biting bottom of the ninth inning as he induced a ground ball out to short to ice the Catamount victory.
Western Carolina’s players and coaches learned of their new destination – and the nationally ranked opponent who awaited them – on Thursday evening after Winter Storm Pax shuffled scheduling on opening weekend. Departing early Friday morning, the Catamounts made the nearly eight-hour trek to Starkville – and then were nearly flawless for eight innings, carrying a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
Behind the bulk of the game, Mississippi State (0-1) managed to light the scoreboard in the home portion of the ninth inning. Alex Detz drew a leadoff walk, chasing sophomore reliever Colton Davis after just one batter. His classmate, Jonathan Waszak, was then tagged for two singles, the second by Wes Rea that drove home two runs. Waszak then settled to retire C.T. Bradford with the game-tying run moving to second base.
With the tying run still in scoring position, Sammons was summoned from the bullpen to face pinch-hitter Cody Brown, who drew a walk. Sammons then got Jacob Robson to fly out to center field with the tying runner tagging and advancing to third. However, Sammons got Heck to ground out to Aaron Attaway to end the game.
Senior DH Luke Gragg led the Catamount offensive attack with three of team’s eight hits in the winning effort, finishing 3-for-4 with an RBI. Attaway likewise posted a multi-hit game, finishing 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring twice.
Western Carolina grabbed the early lead, capitalizing on a couple of Bulldog miscues to plate a pair of runs in the top of the first. Attaway reached after being plunked to open the season with Bradley Strong drawing a walk to put two aboard ahead of Jacob Hoyle. The hard-hitting first baseman singled through the right side to bring Attaway home for the first run of the season and a 1-0 lead. After Hoyle stole second base, Dykota Spiess walked to load the bases. Gragg then delivered his first of three hits, singling to first base to drive Strong home.
The Catamounts again threatened in the top of the second with back-to-back walks to Reece Strong and Attaway with a sacrifice bunt moving both into scoring position. However, consecutive strikeouts ended WCU’s threat.
Mississippi State mounted its first real challenge in the fifth inning when Bradford broke up Null’s no-hit bid with a leadoff single up the middle. Yet, two fly ball outs and another strikeout left the lone Bulldog runner stranded at first base.
All told, Bradford collected two of Mississippi State’s five hits on the night.
Western Carolina (1-0) tacked on a third run in the seventh inning for insurance – and what proved to be the game-winner. Attaway laced a one-out double down the right-field line to move into scoring position. Two batters later, senior Cody Jones dropped a two-out single into right field to bring home the game’s third run.
In the bottom of the frame, WCU’s Null faced his biggest challenge of the game as Mississippi State mounted a two-out charge. Bradford picked up his second single of the game, taking one back up the middle before DH Daniel Garner singled to right to put runners at the corners with two away. Yet, Null was able to strike out pinch-hitter Jacob Robson to thwart the rally, maintaining the 3-0 advantage, setting the stage for the ninth-inning drama.
Mississippi State turned three double plays against the Catamount offense on Friday night. WCU stranded eight runners, while the Bulldogs left six on base.
Game two of the three-game series is slated for 5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. CT. Senior RHP Jordan Smith is scheduled to make his 45th career start on the mound for WCU.
The Citadel 6, Virginia Tech 2
CHARLESTON, S.C. – James Reeves tossed six innings of two-hit ball and was backed by early offense and stellar defense in a 6-2 victory over Virginia Tech to conclude the first day of the Homewood Suites Tournament presented by Charleston Crab House at Riley Park.
The junior left-hander matched his career-long outing first set in a 2-0 win over Columbia early in his freshman season. He retired the first seven Hokies before allowing consecutive singles in the third, setting the stage for the first set of Bulldog defensive heroics.
With Virginia Tech runners at first and second and one out, Mason Davis made a diving grab of a Saige Jenco grounder and forced Ricky Surum at second. A walk loaded the bases, but Davis again came up big with the glove, taking a hit away from Mark Zagunis on a stop behind the bag and flipping to Johnathan Stokes to force Alex Perez to kill the threat.
Reeves pitched around walks in the fourth and fifth and set down the Hokies in order in the sixth to wrap up his day, finishing with 82 pitches, including 50 for strikes. He was making his return to the weekend rotation after working out of the bullpen for most of the second half of the 2013 campaign.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs wasted little time putting runs on the board, scoring twice in each of the first three innings against Virginia Tech starter Tanner McIntyre and reliever Kit Scheetz.
Davis singled, stole second and scored on a base hit by Bo Thompson, and Calvin Orth added a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 in the first. Stokes doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Davis, and Hughston Armstrong had a two-base hit to bring home Bailey Rush in a two-run second, chasing McIntyre.
Tyler Griffin walked and Orth singled to lead off the third, and both runners came across when Drew DeKerlegand dropped a double inside the left-field line. The Bulldogs were held hitless the rest of the way by Scheetz but had already built a comfortable margin.
Following Reeves' six innings, Zach Sherrill worked a quick eight-pitch seventh before the Hokies threatened against Ross White in the eighth. An error and walk put runners at first and second with one out, but again The Citadel flashed the leather to frustrate the Hokies.
DeKerlegand robbed Zagunis of a hit with a diving catch in left, and Griffin gunned down Surum at the plate on a single by Sean Keselica to end the inning. Virginia Tech finally reached David Rivera for its only two runs in the ninth, but two ground outs and a strikeout ended the game.
The Citadel plays its second game of the tournament Saturday against Louisville. That contest will start approximately 40 minutes following the 11 a.m. game between Virginia Tech and Delaware.
Valparaiso 6, Samford 5
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford baseball team cut a five-run deficit to just one run over the final three innings, but the comeback fell just short as the Bulldogs dropped a 6-5 decision to Valparaiso in the season opener for both teams Friday night at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
Freshman outfielder Heath Quinn went 4-for-5 with a double and two RBIs in his collegiate debut. Senior catcher Drew McWhorter went 2-for-5 with a home run and one RBI. Left fielder Jared Watson and shortstop Tyler Filliben also had two hits each for the Bulldogs.
Senior transfer pitcher Chase Traffica (0-1) took the loss on the mound for Samford. Traffica pitched three innings, giving up six runs, just three earned, on four hits in taking the loss. Parker Curry, Cody Pugh and Patrick Maronde also saw time on the mound for Samford.
For Valparaiso, Jake Hanson went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Spencer Mahoney went 2-for-3 with two RBIs for the Crusaders.
Cole Webb (1-0) tossed six innings, allowing two runs on eight hits to earn the win. Karch Kowalczyk pitched the final inning to earn the save for Valparaiso.
Valparaiso jumped out to a 4-0 lead with four runs in the top of the first inning. After Mahoney walked and Chris Manning was hit by a pitch to open the inning, Andrew Bynum struck out for the first out of the inning. Michael Morman then reached base on a Samford error, and Mahoney scored on the play for the game’s first run. After Kowalczyk walked to load the bases, Andy Burns singled to drive in Manning to make the score 2-0. Hanson then doubled to drive in Kowalczyk and Burns for a 4-0 Valparaiso lead.
Samford put its first run on the board in the bottom of the second inning. Quinn singled to lead off the inning. After back-to-back fly outs, Caleb Bryson walked. Filliben then singled up the middle to drive in Quinn to cut the Crusaders’ lead to 4-1.
Valparaiso added two runs in the top of the fourth inning to make the score 6-1. Mahoney singled to drive in Hanson for the inning’s first run. Bynum later walked with the bases loaded to drive in Nate Palace for a five-run Valparaiso lead.
Samford started its comeback with a run in the seventh inning. Quinn reached base on a fielder’s choice to drive in Danny Rodriguez to make the score 6-2.
The Bulldogs added two more runs in the eighth inning to make the score 6-4. McWhorter hit a solo home run to left field to lead off the inning. Rodriguez later grounded out to drive in Hunter Swilling to bring Samford to within two runs.
Samford plated one final run in the bottom of the ninth inning to make the final score 6-5. Quinn doubled to center field to drive in Tripp Martin for the Bulldogs’ fifth run of the contest. The Bulldogs, however, were unable to push across any more runs, and Valparaiso walked away with the 6-5 win.
The same two teams will play again Saturday at 2 p.m. CST at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
No. 25 Arkansas 12, Appalachian State 2
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Besieged by travel issues that left it with only two-thirds of its travel roster and coaching staff in uniform, Appalachian State dropped a 12-2 decision at No. 25 Arkansas in Friday’s season opener at Baum Stadium.
Appalachian State’s travel itinerary for the opening-weekend series at Arkansas was thrown into disarray by the winter storm that slammed much of the eastern half of the United States this week. Appalachian had two different flights cancelled on Thursday and Friday, which allowed only 20 players and two coaches to make it to Fayetteville in time for Friday’s season opener.
The Mountaineers left Boone, N.C., at 5 a.m. ET Friday, and those that did get on a morning flight out of Charlotte Douglas Airport did not arrive at Baum Stadium until less than an hour before the original game time of 3 p.m. CT. The game was pushed back an hour to 4 p.m. CT to allow the Mountaineers time to take a full round of batting and infield practice.
However, the combination of travel fatigue and a very strong Arkansas club proved to be too much for Appalachian State (0-1) to overcome in Friday’s lid-lifter. The Razorbacks (1-0) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and added two runs in the third, three in the fourth and three in the fifth to take an 11-0 advantage before the Mountaineers scored their lone runs on a two-RBI single by Dillon Dobson in the eighth. Arkansas tacked on a single run in the bottom of the eighth to close out the scoring.
Arkansas banged out 13 hits in the win, led by three apiece from Joe Serrano, Brian Anderson and K.J. Wilkerson. Four Razorback pitchers combined to limit Appalachian State to just four hits. Junior Jalen Beeks struck out six in six scoreless innings to earn the win.
Dobson, Jaylin Davis, Tyler Zupcic and Michael Pierson notched Appalachian’s four hits. All-Southern Conference pitcher Jamie Nunn had an uncharacteristically shaky outing, allowing eight runs on eight hits while issuing four walks and hitting a batter in three innings of work to suffer the loss.
Appalachian State and Arkansas resume their three-game weekend series on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.