Elon 6, The Citadel 3
ELON, N.C. – Casey Jones drove in a career-best five runs and extended the longest hitting streak of his Elon career to 11 games as the Phoenix claimed a 6-3 victory over The Citadel Bulldogs in game one of a three-game Southern Conference baseball series on Friday afternoon from Latham Park.
After two scoreless innings, Elon (15-10, 4-3 SoCon) got on the board when Jones belted a two-out homer over the 12-foot-high wall, which gave the Phoenix a 3-0 lead. The shot was the second of the year for Jones and gave the maroon and gold homers in three consecutive outings.
The Citadel (12-15, 1-6) closed the gap to 3-1 in the top of the fourth, scoring on a Drew DeKerlegand sacrifice fly. The run snapped Elon starter Lucas Bakker's streak without allowing an earned run at 29 2/3 innings.
After the Bulldogs closed within one in the top of the fifth, Jones drove in his fourth run of the day with a ground out to first that plated Travis Docimo, who had reached on a one-out walk.
Once again, The Citadel chipped away and pulled back within a run at 4-3 in the top of the sixth. With the bases loaded with two outs, Ryan Kilgallen was hit by a pitch to force home a run before Bakker retired the next hitter to end the inning.
With one out and Quinn Bower on second in the last of the seventh, Jones drove the first pitch he saw from Ross White to the gap in left-center for a double that gave him his fifth RBI of the contest. Jones then scored on Chris Hall's two-out single.
Bakker (5-1) continued his performance of being the staff ace. The junior went eight innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on eight hits. It marked just the second time in seven outings that he has allowed more than one earned run. Bakker walked one and struck out five. Picking up his sixth save of the year was Ryan Pennell, who tossed the ninth, striking out one.
The loss went to Logan Cribb (1-4). Cribb gave up four runs on six hits in five innings of work.
Jones has now reached base safely in 15 consecutive games. Hall has hit safely in seven straight outings for the Phoenix. One streak that did come to an end was Sebastian Gomez's streak of reaching safely. The senior had reached safely in his last 20 contests.
For the Bulldogs, three of their nine hits came from Johnathan Stokes.
The two sides are scheduled to play game two of this series at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Appalachian State 4, UNCG 2
BOONE, N.C. – Jamie Nunn threw his first-career complete game, while Michael Pierson and Tyler Stroup both homered to lead Appalachian State to a 4-2 win over UNCG on Friday afternoon at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.
Pierson hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Stroup led off the third with a solo blast to provide Nunn with all the support he would need in Friday’s Southern Conference series opener.
After Nunn worked his way out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the top of the first, Pierson crushed a fastball from UNCG starter Ryan Clark (1-3) for a two-out, three-run blast to right field that gave Appalachian State (7-16, 2-2 SoCon) an early 3-0 lead.
Stroup stretched the Mountaineers’ advantage to 4-0 in the third with his leadoff bomb into the UNCG bullpen in right, and Nunn was the story the rest of the way.
After escaping from the bases-loaded bind in the first, Nunn retired 20 of the next 23 batters that he faced before giving up back-to-back hits with two outs in the seventh. He got out of the seventh unscathed but UNCG (13-12, 2-2 SoCon) finally got on the board in the eighth when, aided by a catcher’s interference call, the Spartans plated two runs to slice Appalachian’s lead in half to 4-2.
With only 106 pitches on his ledger through eight innings, Nunn went back to the mound for the ninth and easily got the first two outs of the frame. A two-out error by shortstop Dillon Dobson brought the tying run to the plate in the form of UNCG leadoff hitter Zac MacAneney, who was already 3-for-4 on the afternoon, but Nunn got MacAneney to ground out harmlessly to second base to end the game.
Nunn (2-4) scattered 10 hits, struck out five and allowed only one earned run in the first complete game of his career. Nunn’s previous career high for innings pitched was eight, while his longest outing of this season had been 6 2/3 innings last Friday night at Georgia Southern.
In addition to driving in all four Appalachian State runs, Pierson and Stroup combined for four of the Mountaineers’ six hits. Pierson went 2-for-3 while homering and driving in three runs for the second straight game. Stroup also went deep for the second game in a row and finished 2-for-4.
Appalachian State and UNCG continue their three-game SoCon series on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Smith Stadium.
Samford 9, Furman 5
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford baseball team belted four home runs on its way to a 9-5 Southern Conference win in the first game of a three-game series with Furman on Friday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
Samford’s Tyler Filliben went 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBIs. Drew McWhorter went 3-for-4 with a home run and one RBI, while Caleb Bryson went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs.
Alex Ledford (5-1) pitched 7 2/3 innings, giving up five runs, just three earned, on five hits to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Andres Gracia pitched the final 1 1/3 innings, giving up no runs on three hits to pick up his SoCon-leading eighth save of the season.
For Furman, Jordan Simpson and Chris Ohmstede each went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Hunter Burton went 2-for-5 for the Paladins. Andrew MacLatchie hit a home run and drove in two runs in a 1-for-4 performance.
Brant Masters (0-2) pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief, giving up three runs on three hits to take the loss on the mound for Furman. Matt Solter started the game on the mound for the Paladins, tossing 5 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on six hits.
Furman jumped out to a three-run lead with a run in the third inning and two more runs in the fourth inning. In the third inning, Ohmstede singled to drive in Alex Abrams, who had walked earlier in the inning, for the game’s first run. In the fourth inning, MacLatchie hit a home run with Jake Jones on base for a 3-0 Furman lead.
Samford plated its first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. McWhorter led the inning off with a solo home run to cut the Furman lead to 3-1.
The Paladins added two runs in the top of the sixth inning to push their lead to 5-1. Heath Burton reached base on an infield hit and advanced to second base on an error to lead off the inning. Burton later scored on a wild pitch for the first run of the inning. Simpson later singled to drive in Hunter Burton for a four-run Furman lead.
Samford tied the score with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out, T.J. Dixon reached base on an infield single. Filliben then homered to left field to make the score 5-3. Brandon Powell later singled to drive in Heath Quinn and Tripp Martin to knot the score at 5-5.
The Bulldogs took the lead with a run in the bottom of the seventh inning. With two outs in the inning, Filliben hit a home run to left field, his second of the game and sixth of the season, to give Samford a 6-5 advantage.
Samford added three final runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to make the final score 9-5. McWhorter and Powell had back-to-back one-out singles to get things started. With two outs, Bryson homered to right field for a four-run Samford lead.
With the win, Samford improved to 15-10 overall and 3-1 in Southern Conference play. Furman fell to 10-16 overall and 1-3 in league play.
The teams will continue their series with a game Saturday at 2 p.m. CT at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
Davidson 5, Georgia Southern 2
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Strong pitching made five first-inning, two-out runs last for Davidson, as the Wildcats snapped a 16-game skid against Georgia Southern, 5-2, in Southern Conference baseball action Friday night at Wilson Field.
Three Davidson (15-7) pitchers held Georgia Southern (19-8, 3-4 SoCon), which entered the evening leading the SoCon in batting, to just six hits. LHP Rob Bain (2-1) went 6 1/3 innings, surrendering two runs (one earned) on five hits and no walks with five strikeouts for the win. RHP Ryan Lowe threw 1 2/3 innings and worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh before turning it over to RHP Michael Goldberg, who struck out two and retired the side in the ninth for his fourth save in Davidson’s last six games.
The Wildcats have now won 12 out of their last 13 games for their best start to a season through 22 games since 1992, when they matched a program record of 28 wins. Their 6-1 start in SoCon play is their best since 2000.
It was Davidson’s first win over perennial SoCon power Georgia Southern since April 20, 2008, and the first time the Eagles had dropped two consecutive games this season.
A fielding error with one out in the first proved costly for the Eagles, as it ultimately allowed all of the Wildcats’ scoring for the game. Third baseman David Daniels (1-for-3, BB) was already on base after singling when Lowe (2-for-4) reached on a misplay at third base. LHP Sam Howard (3-3) then induced a fly out for what would have been the inning-ending play, but instead, shortstop Sam Foy (1-for-4) was able to come up to bat with two outs.
Foy wasted no time extending his hitting streak to 16 games with an RBI single to left field, for what was the first of four straight Davidson hits. Right fielder Nathan Becker (1-for-1) singled up the middle to score Lowe, first baseman Ben Arkin (1-for-4) doubled to the left gap to score Foy, and then left fielder Lee Miller (2-for-3) drove in the final two runs with a single to the right gap for a 5-0 lead.
Georgia Southern’s lone runs came on sacrifice flies in the third and seventh innings by right fielder Aaron Mizell (0-for-2) and second baseman Ben Morgan (0-for-3), respectively. Shortstop Aaron Palmer led the Eagles at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a walk.
Howard, who allowed the five unearned runs in the first inning on five hits, allowed just four more hits and a walk before leaving the game after 5 2/3 innings. He struck out five.
Davidson will look to claim its first three-game series over Georgia Southern since 1999 Saturday. RHP Danny Mooney (3-2, 2.18 ERA) slated to throw the first pitch at 2 p.m., while RHP Josh Wirsu (4-2, 3.82 is expected to take the mound for the Eagles.
Western Carolina 11, Wofford 4
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – On Friday night, the Wofford College baseball team was defeated 11-4 by Western Carolina at Hennon Stadium. The Catamounts scored five runs in the second inning on the way to taking the first game of the weekend series.
Wofford is 16-10 on the season and 1-3 in the Southern Conference. Western Carolina is 14-9 overall and 3-1 in the league. The Terriers were led by Alec Paradowski with two hits and two RBIs, while Luke Feisal added two hits. Bradley Strong and Adam Martin each had three RBIs to lead the Catamounts.
In the bottom of the first, the Catamounts led off with a double. A ground out by Adam Martin drove in the runner for a 1-0 lead after one inning.
After Wofford was retired in order in the top of the second, Western Carolina added a double in the bottom half of the inning. A two-out single up the middle from J.D. Long drove in a run to make it a 2-0 game. With the bases loaded, a double to right field by Strong cleared the bases for a 5-0 score. An RBI single by Martin pushed the lead to 6-0 before a fly ball ended the second inning.
The Catamounts had a runner reach on an error to lead off the bottom of the seventh. A double by Adam Martin drove in the runner for a 7-0 lead. A catcher’s interference and walk loaded the bases. A single down the right field line by Cody Jones added two runs for a 9-0 advantage.
Feisal led off the top of the eighth with a single and Josh Hyman walked. Paradowski was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. A walk to Seth Neely plated a run and Conor Clancey had a sacrifice fly for a 9-2 score.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Catamounts added an RBI double by Aaron Attaway for a 10-2 lead. With the bases loaded, a fielder’s choice plated a run for an 11-2 score after eight complete innings.
Matt Ramsay led off with a single in the top of the ninth. A walk to Carson Waln was followed by a double by Paradowski to plate both runners to make it an 11-4 final score.
Wofford pitcher Matthew Milburn (2-3) went the first 6 1/3 innings and allowed eight runs on nine hits with five strikeouts.
Western Carolina starter Jeremy Null (3-1) threw seven innings and did not allow a run on five hits with eight strikeouts.
The Terriers will continue the Southern Conference series at Western Carolina on Saturday at 5 p.m., with the later time due to weather. The third game will be on Sunday at 1 p.m.