Furman 5, Wofford 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Jacques de Gruy tossed 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball and Furman claimed its fourth straight victory with a 5-1 win over Wofford in Southern Conference baseball action Friday afternoon at Latham Stadium.
Furman (15-23, 6-8 SoCon), which won Thursday’s series opener 6-5, will go for the series sweep in Saturday’s finale, now scheduled for 4 p.m.
de Gruy (2-3), a senior from Dallas, Texas, recorded the longest outing of his career in beating Wofford (20-19, 3-11 SoCon). He scattered seven hits and notched five strikeouts against three walks while throwing 104 pitches. The Paladin right-hander allowed base-runners in all but one inning but pitched out of trouble each time, getting help from two of three double plays turned by Furman in the contest.
He surrendered a pair of one-out singles in the seventh but recovered to strike out Wofford’s Demetrius Jennings looking for the second out before getting lifted for Elliott Warford, who then retired Eric Brenk on a grounder to end the inning with a 4-0 lead.
Furman added a run in the seventh and led 5-0 after eight innings before Wofford broke up the shutout bid with Jennings’ two-out RBI single off Warford in the ninth.
The Paladins grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first after Hunter Burton drew a leadoff walk, swiped his nation-leading 29th base, and came around to score on Alex Abrams’ bounding single through the right side.
It remained 1-0 until the fourth, when the Paladins combined four consecutive hits, including a Jake Jones RBI double, with a pair of Wofford errors to score two runs for a 3-0 lead.
Furman made it 4-0 in the sixth when Jordan Simpson raced home on a Heath Burton sacrifice fly.
The Paladins stretched the advantage to 5-0 in the seventh on a Simpson single, which drove home Carter Grote, who had earlier doubled.
Led by Abrams’ 3-for-4 performance at the plate, Furman banged out 11 hits, including two each by Grote, Simpson and Cameron Whitehead. Grote’s two hits made him 9-for-16 (.563) over the last four games – all starts.
Matt Ramsay went 3-for-3 to pace Wofford, which finished with 10 hits.
Terrier starter Jesse Morris (6-5) took the loss, yielding four runs on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings. He walked one and fanned four.
Warford earned his first save of the season – and ninth of his career – by working the final 2 1/3 innings.
Elon 6, Appalachian State 2
ELON, N.C. – Sebastian Gomez belted a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie and propel the Elon Phoenix baseball squad to a 6-2 Southern Conference victory over the visiting Appalachian State Mountaineers on Friday night at Latham Park.
With the game even at 2 heading to the last of the eighth, Appalachian starter Jamie Nunn walked Ryan Cooper on five pitches before being lifted for Dallas DeVrieze. The first pitch DeVrieze threw was ripped through the right side by Casey Jones for a single, who took second on the throw to third to try and nail Cooper. Gomez then belted the second pitch he saw deep over the tall wall in left for a three-run home run, his first of the season, to put Elon (24-14, 10-6 SoCon) on top for good. The Phoenix tacked on a fourth marker in the inning when pinch-runner David Lowrey scored on a Danny Lynch double.
Elon was the first to score, plating two in the third on a Cooper ground out and Jones sacrifice fly.
The Mountaineers (13-22, 7-5) got one back when Tyler Zupcic led off the sixth with a homer off the foul pole in left and then tied it up at 2 thanks to a Tyler Stroup double in the seventh.
Appalachian loaded the bases with one out in the fourth inning only to see a dazzling play from Elon's Quinn Bower keep the Mountaineers off the board. The Phoenix was able to escape the jam when Bower dove to grab William Head's sinking liner to right and then doubled off the runner at second to end the inning.
Matt Harris (3-0) earned the victory in relief of starter Lucas Bakker. Harris struck out four of the six hitters he faced in two innings and did not allow a base-runner. Bakker gave up both runs on eight hits in seven innings. He struck out four.
The loss went to Nunn (3-6), who was charged with three runs on seven hits in seven innings of work.
For Elon, Jones extended his hitting streak to 24 games by going 2-for-3. Bower added three hits, including his 10th bunt single of the season. Lynch and Chris King also had two-hit outings for the maroon and gold.
The Phoenix and Mountaineers will play game two of this three-game set at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday evening at Latham Park.
UNCG at Davidson suspended
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Davidson’s Southern Conference baseball game against UNCG on Friday evening was suspended in the middle of the third inning due to inclement weather with the Spartans leading the Wildcats, 3-1. The game is slated to resume Saturday at 1 p.m. to lead off a doubleheader.
Follow @DavidsonWildcat on Twitter for further updates, as the rain is forecasted to continue into Saturday.
Designated hitter Ryan Lowe homered in the bottom of the first inning for Davidson, but UNCG tied the game in the top of the second with two outs, hitting three consecutive singles, the last of which was a hit through the right side by catcher Jake Kusz to drive in a run.
The Spartans went ahead in the top of the third inning, as third baseman Sean Guite hit a two-run home run to right field.
Second baseman Andrew Pope will lead off for Davidson in the bottom of the third inning when the game resumes.
Davidson and UNCG will conclude the three-game series 45 minutes after the conclusion of the resumed game. RHP Nick Neitzel (6-0, 2.58 ERA) is slated to start for the ‘Cats, while RHP Dylan Thompson (1-3, 4.72) is expected for UNCG.
The Citadel at Western Carolina postponed
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Due to rain showers that started falling late Friday afternoon and unfavorable evening forecasts, Friday night's Southern Conference series opener between Western Carolina and The Citadel scheduled at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium has been postponed.
The teams will open the series at the regularly scheduled Saturday start time of 2 p.m. Plans are to look at playing a doubleheader on Saturday, weather permitting, with the option of playing two games on Sunday afternoon still a possibility.
Georgia Southern vs. Samford postponed
STATESBORO, Ga. – The Friday series opener between the Georgia Southern Eagles and the Samford Bulldogs has been postponed due to rain.
The series will now begin with a doubleheader on Saturday at noon.