Georgia Southern 14, No. 13 Clemson 5
STATESBORO, Ga. – The Georgia Southern Eagles scored seven runs over the first three frames and ran away with the midweek series opener against the 13th-ranked Clemson Tigers 14-5 at J.I. Clements Stadium on Tuesday.
Ryan Frederick held Clemson (12-7) scoreless over the first three innings as Georgia Southern (17-4) jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Frederick (2-0) pitched into the fourth inning and earned the win in his first midweek start of the season.
The Eagles tallied 13 hits and walked a season-best 11 times en route to snapping a 13-game losing streak in the series that dates back to 2001. Aaron Mizell led the offense charge with four RBIs and his team-leading ninth home run of the season. Stryker Brown and Ben Morgan both tallied three hits, while Aaron Palmer walked four times.
Making his second career start against GSU, Zack Erwin allowed seven runs and left in the third inning after walking Brown to load the bases for the third time that inning. The Eagles scored four runs that frame on three hits and three bases-loaded walks. Erwin (1-1) suffered his first loss of the season after allowing five hits and four walks over 2 2/3 innings.
Clemson finished with 10 hits, with five of the top six batters in the order recording two hits apiece. Steve Wilkerson drove in two runs with a double in the sixth inning and a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning.
The Eagles opened the scoring with three runs in the first inning. Dalton Busby scored the game's first run after evading the tag of first baseman Jon McGibbon during a rundown between third base and home plate. Ryan Cleveland followed Chase Griffin's RBI fielder's choice with a two-RBI double.
GSU scored a combined five runs in the middle three innings, with two coming on a Kody Adams homer in the fourth inning. Mizell hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning and plated a run in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly.
Clemson scored three runs in the ninth inning, its most of any inning. Garrett Boulware started the scoring with an RBI single and later scored on a Steve Wilkerson sacrifice fly. Steven Duggar plated the second run of the inning with another sacrifice fly.
The midweek series concludes Wednesday at 4 p.m. Right-hander Caleb Pressey will make his first start of the season for the Eagles. The Tigers will counter with right-hander Brody Koerner.
UNC Asheville 7, Furman 6
GREENVILLE, S.C. – UNC Asheville third baseman Robert McIntosh homered and drove in four runs to rally the Bulldogs past Furman, 7-6, in nonconference baseball action on Tuesday afternoon at Latham Stadium.
The loss dropped the Paladins to 8-12 on the season while UNCA upped its record to 5-14.
With UNCA trailing 6-2, McIntosh ignited the Bulldogs’ rally with a solo homer to left field off of Furman reliever Matthew Quarles in the top of the fifth and delivered a two-out, two-run single up the middle in the sixth inning to trim the margin to 6-5.
Hunter Bryant knotted the game at 6-6 in the top of the seventh by doubling down the left-field line to score Pete Guy, who had reached base on a one out walk. After Paladin reliever Billy Greenfield struck out Joe Tietjen, Sam Turner lined an RBI single to right-center to plate the go-ahead run with two outs.
Jordan Simpson reached on a leadoff single for the Paladins in the ninth, but the sophomore was thrown out trying to steal second and closer Scott Robinson fanned Andrew MacLatchie to end the game.
Reliever Brian Connolly, who held Furman scoreless on two hits over two innings of work, earned the victory to improve to 2-0. Robinson notched the save, his third of the season, after recording two outs to close the contest. UNCA relievers held Furman scoreless on just four hits over the final five innings.
Greenfield suffered the loss for Furman to fall to 1-2. The freshman allowed two runs on two hits in one inning of work out of the Paladin bullpen. Starter Alex Abrams surrendered two runs on four hits in three innings before giving way to Quarles, who allowed three runs on five hits in his three innings on the mound.
Furman jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom half of the first inning. Heath Burton and Hunter Burton opened the game with walks and scored when Simpson’s two-out grounder to third base was thrown wide of the bag. Jarrod Rickman followed with a double into the right-center field gap to score Simpson.
After UNCA plated a pair of runs in the top of the third, Furman answered with three more in the bottom of the fourth inning. Sky Overton was hit by a pitch to start the inning and moved to third on a wild pitch before scoring on Heath Burton’s infield single on a high chopper to second base. Chris Ohmstede launched his second homer of the season, a two-run shot to left field, just two batters later to up the Paladins’ lead to 6-2.
McIntosh went 2-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs to key the Bulldogs’ 12-hit outburst, while shortstop Tommy Houmard went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple.
Simpson posted a 4-for-5 outing at the plate for Furman that included a third-inning double and fourth-inning triple. Overton added a pair of hits for the Paladins.
Furman returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts North Carolina Central in a 4 p.m. contest at Latham Stadium.
Alabama State 23, Samford 7
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Alabama State baseball team scored at least four runs in four different innings on its way to a 23-7 win over Samford on Tuesday evening at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
In the loss, Samford was led at the plate by Brandon Powell, who went 4-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. T.J. Dixon and Tripp Martin had two hits each for Samford. Heath Quinn also homered for Samford, going 1-for-5 with one RBI.
Cody Pugh (2-2) pitched two innings, giving up five runs, four earned, on four hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford. Pugh was one of 10 pitchers used in the game by Samford.
Alabama State was led at the plate by Cesar Rivera, who went 4-for-6 with two doubles, a home run and seven RBIs. Waldyvan Estrada went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and four RBIs. Dexter Price went 3-for-6 with a home run and two RBIs. Emmanuel Marrero went 2-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs in the win.
Alabama State’s Michael Estevez (3-1) pitched two innings, giving up two runs, both unearned, on four hits to earn the win on the mound for the Hornets. Estevez struck out two batters and allowed one walk. The Hornets used six pitchers in the contest.
Alabama State struck first with a run in the top of the first inning. Samford, however, came back to take a 2-1 lead with two runs in the bottom of the first inning.
The Hornets then took control of the game, beginning in the third inning. Alabama State plated five runs in the third inning, four runs in the fourth inning and five more in the fifth inning to take a commanding 15-2 lead.
Samford plated a run in the fifth inning and two more in the sixth to cut the lead to 15-5. In the seventh inning, Alabama State scored two runs and Samford plated one run to make the score 17-6.
The Hornets added one run in the eighth inning and five more in the ninth to take a 23-6 lead. The Bulldogs plated one final run in the bottom of the ninth inning on a home run by Powell to make the final score 23-7.
For the game, Alabama State pounded out 19 hits, while Samford managed 16 hits. The Bulldogs committed four errors, while the Hornets committed one error.
With the loss, Samford fell to 11-9 on the season. Alabama State improved to 18-6 with the win.
Samford will return to action on Friday, when the Bulldogs open Southern Conference play at The Citadel. The teams are scheduled to play Friday at 5 p.m. (CT), Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT) and Sunday at 12 p.m. (CT) at Riley Park in Charleston, S.C.