Georgia Southern 10, Appalachian State 7
STATESBORO, Ga. – Ben Morgan broke open a tie ball game with a two-RBI single as the Georgia Southern Eagles rallied from a four-run deficit to take the series from the Appalachian State Mountaineers 10-7 on Sunday at J.I. Clements Stadium.
Georgia Southern (19-6, 3-3 SoCon) scored seven runs in the eighth inning to rally from a 7-3 deficit and win its first series against Appalachian State (6-16, 1-2 SoCon) since 2010. The victory also handed Rodney Hennon his 600th career victory in his 17th season as a head coach.
Mountaineer starter Jeffrey Springs retired the first batter of the eighth inning but allowed a double to Ryan Cleveland and exited after Garrett Chapman reached on a catcher's interference. Springs received a no decision after allowing five runs and striking out seven over 7 1/3 innings.
After a walk loaded the bases in the eighth, Dalton Busby laced a ball right at third baseman William Head, who was unable to get an out, scoring a run. Kody Adams drove in two more with a single to center field and Busby scored two batters later on a wild pitch. Morgan plated the go-ahead runs with a base hit through the right side of the defense and later scored on a wild pitch.
The rally handed Ryan Frederick the win. Frederick (3-0) retired all six batters he faced and struck out two in the ninth inning to close the book on the come-from-behind win.
Dallas DeVrieze faced three batters and all three reached base on a walk, hit and an error. DeVrieze (0-2) took the loss after allowing three runs and was unable to record an out in the eighth inning.
Appalachian State got a first inning run after Will Middour walked Michael Pierson with the bases loaded. Morgan tied the game for GSU with a two-out home run in the third inning.
The Eagles took a 2-1 lead after Adams hit his fourth home run of the season in the fifth inning, a two-out shot over the Walker Pharmacy Homer Hole sign in right field.
The Mountaineers rallied back with home runs of their own, scoring four runs on a pair of long balls from Tyler Stroup and Alex Leach in the sixth inning and again in the seventh inning when Pierson drove in two with a home run to right field.
Georgia Southern is on the road for the rest of March and will travel to Jacksonville, Fla., on Tuesday to take on the North Florida Ospreys. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
Appalachian State is at High Point on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Samford 8, The Citadel 3
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Samford baseball team earned an 8-3 win at The Citadel in the third game of a three-game Southern Conference series Sunday afternoon at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
With the win, Samford won the series over The Citadel, two games to one. For the season, Samford is 13-10 overall and 2-1 in SoCon games. The Citadel dropped to 10-14 overall and 1-5 in SoCon play.
Samford starting pitcher Alex Milazzo (3-1) pitched five innings, allowing three runs on four hits to earn the win on the mound for the Bulldogs. Chase Traffica and Andres Gracia pitched two innings each to finish the game on the mound for Samford.
Offensively for Samford, Tyler Filliben went 2-for-4 with three RBIs. T.J. Dixon went 2-for-5 with a triple and two RBIs. Drew McWhorter and Brandon Powell had two hits each. Danny Rodriguez and Frankie Navarrete drove in a run each for Samford.
The Citadel’s Austin Mason (1-1) pitched four innings, allowing three runs on four hits to take the loss on the mound. Calvin Orth led The Citadel at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a home run and one RBI.
The Citadel struck first, plating a run in the bottom of the third inning. With one out in the inning, Orth hit a solo home run to left field for a 1-0 Citadel lead.
Samford came back with three runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 3-1 lead. McWhorter and Brandon Powell singled, and Caleb Bryson walked to load the bases with no outs. With one out, Rodriguez singled to drive in McWhorter to tie the score. With two outs, Filliben singled to drive in Bryson and Rodriguez for a two-run Samford lead.
The Citadel scored a run in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut the Samford lead to 3-2. Mason Davis hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Johnathan Stokes for The Citadel’s second run of the game.
Samford added four runs in the top of the sixth inning to push its lead to 7-2. McWhorter singled and later scored on a wild pitch for the inning’s first run. Navarrete later hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Powell for a 5-2 lead. Dixon then singled to drive in Bryson for Samford’s sixth run of the game. Filliben then singled to drive in Damon Waller for a 7-2 Samford lead.
The Citadel plated a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the Samford lead to 7-3. Connor Walsh hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Bo Thompson to bring The Citadel to within four runs.
Samford came back with a run in the top of the eighth to increase its lead to 8-3. Bryson singled to lead off the inning. Dixon later tripled to score Bryson for a five-run Samford lead.
Samford will return to action on Tuesday, when the Bulldogs play at in-state rival Jacksonville State. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. CT start from Rudy Abbott Field.
The Citadel remains home for a pair of midweek games against in-state rivals, hosting Coastal Carolina on Tuesday at 4 p.m. followed by a contest with Charleston Southern on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Davidson 7, Wofford 3
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Shortstop Sam Foy homered and drove in three runs and a four-run third inning was all Davidson needed, as the Wildcats defeated Wofford, 7-3, to clinch the Southern Conference baseball series Sunday afternoon at Wilson Field.
Davidson improved to 13-7 overall and is off to its best start in SoCon play since 2000, when the ‘Cats also started 5-1. Davidson has also won 10 out of its last 11 games. Wofford fell to 15-9 overall and 1-2 in the SoCon.
Foy and designated hitter Ryan Lowe (2 R, RBI) both went 2-for-4 to lead the ‘Cats offensively, while Lowe (1) also earned the save on the mound after pitching the final three innings without allowing a hit or a walk. Foy extended his team-best and career-best hitting streak to 14 games, while Lowe has reached base in all 20 games so far this season.
Right fielder Lee Miller (1-for-2) and first baseman Ben Arkin (0-for-3) drove in a run each for Davidson on sacrifice flies.
RHP Nick Neitzel (3-0) remained undefeated, earning the win after allowing just two runs on two hits and three walks with six strikeouts.
The Terriers were limited to just five hits for the game, led by designated hitter Alec Paradowski, who went 2-for-5 but did not factor in the scoring.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the third inning, when the Wildcats plated four runs on four hits. RHP Connell Anderson (1-2) struggled during his second time through the ‘Cats’ lineup, as with one out, he yielded three straight singles to the top of the order, with three-hole batter Lowe driving in the first run of the game. A wild pitch scored another run, and then after a walk, Foy hit an RBI single through the right side for the third run. Miller followed with a sacrifice fly for the fourth and final run of the frame.
Right fielder James Plaisted (1-for-3) hit an RBI double in the fourth inning to put Wofford on the board, but Foy’s two-run home run in the fifth inning extended Davidson’s advantage to 6-1. The Terriers added two more runs in the sixth, but that was as close as they would come, as they were unable to muster any offense against Lowe over the final three innings.
Davidson is slated open a home-and-home series with Duke on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Wilson Field.
Wofford travels to Gardner-Webb on Wednesday night before a weekend series at Western Carolina.
Western Carolina 9, Elon 7
ELON, N.C. – Western Carolina played opportunistic baseball on Sunday afternoon, outlasting both a three-hour rain delay and multiple rallies by the Elon Phoenix to claim its eighth straight Southern Conference series with a 9-7 victory at Latham Park. The Catamounts scored runs in seven of the nine innings and capitalized on seven Elon errors to claim the rubber-match finale.
WCU improved to 13-9 overall with the win and opened league play at 2-1. Dating back to last season, the Catamounts have won 18 of their last 20 SoCon games.
Plating runs in the top of both the first and third innings, the Catamounts jumped out to a 2-0 lead before a steady rain shower chased the teams from the field. Bradley Strong doubled to left-center field in the opening frame, eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly by Adam Martin. Strong again reached in the third, coaxing a nine-pitch walk before promptly stealing second, advancing to third as the throw to second skipped into right center. One of Saturday’s heroes, Jacob Hoyle, then singled down the right-field line to drive in the run for the WCU lead.
Moments after Hoyle reached first, the umpires pulled both teams from the field to begin what stretched out to a three-hour, 13-minute rain delay.
After the stoppage, Elon (14-9, 3-3 SoCon) managed to tie the game with a pair of runs in the home half of the fourth inning.
The Catamounts then methodically stretched their advantage to three with solo runs in the top of the fifth through seventh innings. In the fifth, senior Aaron Attaway reached on an infield error before being sacrificed to second ahead of Martin, who drive in his second run of the day with a single up the middle. Cody Jones reached on one-out error in the sixth before Attaway plated the run on a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2.
In the top of the seventh inning, Martin was plunked by a pitch to start the one-run rally, moving all the way to third on a failed pickoff attempt at first, with the ball rolling wildly down the right-field line. Hoyle plated the Catamounts’ fifth run as he flew out in foul ground to left with Martin tagging and scoring on the sacrifice.
Elon would not go away, though, as the Phoenix lit the scoreboard twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull back within a run, 5-4. Casey Jones lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Wil Leathers from third for the first run ahead of pinch-hitter Tyler McVicar, who laced an RBI double to left-center for the second marker.
Western Carolina seemingly blew the game open in the top of the eighth inning, scoring three runs on two hits and taking advantage of two Elon errors. Cody Jones pushed a perfect bunt to the right side for an infield single before stealing second to move into scoring position. Reece Strong, who came on for starting third baseman J.D. Long early in the game, laid down a sacrifice bunt but reached when the ball was thrown away at first. The overthrow allowed Jones to score and left Strong standing at third base, where Attaway plated him with a second sacrifice fly.
The Catamount eighth-inning rally continued as Bradley Strong singled through the right side for his second hit of the game. He promptly swiped second with the throw again eluding the Elon middle infielders, ricocheting into the outfield. Strong popped up and raced all the way home from second on the error to give WCU an 8-4 edge.
The Phoenix yet again rallied in the bottom of the frame to again trim WCU’s advantage back to just one run – all coming with two outs. Leathers drew a two-out walk before Quinn Bowers singled up the middle to put two aboard ahead of Ryan Cooper, who lifted a three-run homer over the fence in left to make it 8-7.
WCU worked a little two-out magic of its own in the top of the ninth to tack on an insurance run to stretch the lead to 9-7. Jones singled through the left side before Reece Strong walked. Attaway then secured his third RBI of the day on a sharp single up the middle to plate his classmate, Jones, to provide the final tally.
Jones led WCU at the plate, finishing 3-for-5 with three runs scored. Bradley Strong (2-for-4) and Hoyle (2-for-3) collected two hits apiece, with Strong’s first-inning double representing WCU’s lone extra-base hit of the game.
Senior Jordan Smith tossed six innings in the starting role to earn the victory on Sunday. The right-hander tossed the first two frames prior to the rain stoppage, then returned to the mound after the three-plus hour delay to pitch the next four frames. The Liberty, N.C., product held Elon to two runs while scattering six hits, striking out six against two walks.
Among an overall gutsy appearance by Smith, his final frame was perhaps the most telling of the entire outing. With Elon within two runs at 4-2, the Phoenix managed to load the bases with just one out. However, Smith fought back, striking out the next two batters in the order to end the threat and maintain the Catamount advantage.
WCU closer Tyler Powell picked up his third save of the season, securing the final out in the eighth inning before striking out the side in the ninth inning.
For Elon, four players combined for its 11 hits, with Casey Jones finishing 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Reliever Jacob Baker (0-2) took the loss after Elon rallied to tie the game at two in the fourth, surrendering two unearned runs on four hits in three and a third innings.
Western Carolina returns to action on Tuesday as it travels to Johnson City, Tenn., for the back-end of a midweek home-and-home against East Tennessee State. First pitch against the Buccaneers is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Elon is slated to play a home-and-home set with Wake Forest this week. The Phoenix is scheduled to go to Winston-Salem, N.C., to face the Demon Deacons for a 6 p.m. game on Tuesday before playing host to the same squad on Wednesday at 6 p.m.