Furman 14, Elon 3
Furman 9, Elon 7
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Jordan Simpson homered twice and drove in five runs to power Furman to a 14-3 win over Elon in a suspended game from Friday, and Jacques de Gruy hurled 6 2/3 effective innings to the help the Paladins beat the Phoenix, 9-7, in Saturday’s regularly scheduled contest at Latham Stadium.
Furman (21-28, 9-13 SoCon), which claimed its third straight regular-season series win over Elon (26-24, 12-14 SoCon), will go for the series sweep in Sunday’s 1 p.m. Southern Conference series finale.
The Paladins built a 4-0 lead in Friday’s opener before rain forced a suspension of play in the middle of the fifth inning. Once play was resumed at 10 a.m. Saturday, Elon quickly cut it to 4-3 with a Cody Jones three-run home run in the sixth.
Furman answered with five runs in the bottom of the frame, highlighted by Simpson’s two-run home run to left field off Brandon Kacer, to stretch its advantage to 9-4.
The Paladins tacked on two runs in the seventh and added three more in the eighth on Simpson’s second clout of the contest, a three-run shot to left field that made it 14-3.
Simpson’s two-home-run display punctuated a 4-for-5 performance that featured five RBIs and four runs.
Carter Grote went 3-for-5 and scored twice, and Hunter Burton registered a 2-for-4 effort at the plate with two RBIs and two runs. He also swiped his nation-leading 36th base to establish as new Furman single-season stolen base standard, besting the old mark of 35 held by Eddy Halleman since 1986.
The Paladins finished with 12 hits.
Paladin starter Matt Solter (2-5), who allowed only one hit, a fourth-inning single, in five innings of work before the game’s suspension, faced only one batter over the minimum ad struck out five. He did not return to pitch on Saturday but was credited with the victory.
The loss was charged to Elon starter Lucas Bakker (6-3), who allowed four runs, three of which were earned, on five hits in four innings.
Elon was limited to six hits in the contest.
In Saturday’s regularly scheduled game, de Gruy (3-3), the SoCon’s reigning pitcher of the week, held Elon hitless into the fifth inning and departed with two outs in the seventh with a 5-1 lead in the eventual 9-7 Paladin victory.
The senior right-hander struck out seven and walked two in earning his second win in his last three outings.
The first hit he allowed, a solo home run to Chris King with one out in the fifth, ended a streak of 14 consecutive shutout innings dating back to his last start, when he pitched 9 2/3 inning of shutout ball against Georgia Southern on May 3.
de Gruy’s teammates gave him a 2-0 lead in the first inning on an Alex Abrams sacrifice fly and a Simpson RBI single.
The Paladins made it 3-0 in the third and extended the advantage to 5-0 an inning later on Jake Jones’ single to second base that plated Heath Burton, and a Chris Ohmstede sacrifice fly that drove home Hunter Burton.
Trailing 5-1, Elon made it a two-run game in the seventh on a Tucker Norton two-out, two-run single off de Gruy’s replacement, Elliott Warford.
The Phoenix cut it to 5-4 in the eighth with a Danny Lynch single off Brant Masters that drove home Nick Zammarelli. Abrams took over for Masters and pitched around an error by striking out Andy Moore looking to preserve the one-run lead.
The Paladins responded by scoring four runs in the eighth after the first two batters were retired. Greg Harrison’s single started the rally, and he scored on Ohmstede’s double that split the gap in right-center field. Abrams followed with a base hit that drove home Ohmstede. Two batters later, Grote plated Abrams with a single, and on the play, Simpson was awarded home after an errant throw from center field sailed into Furman’s dugout.
The Paladins’ four-run eighth proved decisive as Elon used two walks by Furman reliever Ryan Morse to start the ninth to score three runs on a Blaine Bower three-run home run off Morse’s replacement, Matthew Quarles. The Phoenix followed Bower’s shot with a pair of singles, but that’s where the comeback attempt stalled, as Quarles got Zammarelli on a foul pop, struck out pinch-hitter Tyler McVicar and retired King on a fly to right to end the game.
Furman banged out 13 hits in the contest, getting two-hit performances from Jake Jones, Cameron Whitehead, Harrison, Ohmstede and Grote. Harrison scored three runs, while Ohmstede, Abrams and Grote all collected two RBIs.
Elon finished with 11 hits, led by Norton (2-for-3, 2 RBIs), Lynch (2-for-4, RBI, run), and Quinn Bower (2-for-5).
Phoenix starter Matt Harris (3-2) was charged with the loss after yielding five runs on nine hits over seven innings. He walked five and fanned two.
Georgia Southern 1, Western Carolina 0
STATESBORO, Ga. – Stryker Brown launched the first pitch he saw in the ninth inning over the fence in right field to give the Georgia Southern Eagles a 1-0 walk-off victory over the Western Carolina Catamounts on Saturday.
Brown's eighth home run of the season evened the series for Georgia Southern (32-20, 14-12).
Sam Howard tossed 8 2/3 stellar innings but left with a no-decision in the ninth inning. Howard allowed five hits, no runs and two walks and struck out 10 batters on 127 pitches.
Howard faced the minimum through four innings. The junior right-hander stranded a pair of base-runners in the fifth inning and left the bases loaded in the seventh after making a hustle play to track down a line drive that hit off his glove and trickled out toward second base.
Matt McCall picked up the win in relief after recording the final out in the top of the ninth on a strike out. McCall (4-2) walked one batter but gave up no hits over the third of an inning.
Jordan Smith pitched eight shutout innings for Western Carolina (33-15, 17-5) but gave up a run on his first pitch in the ninth inning. Smith (8-4) held the Eagles to six hits, allowed no free passes and struck out five batters on 99 pitches.
Brown was the only Eagle to tally more than one hit on the day. He also singled in the seventh inning but was left stranded along with a base hit by Chase Griffin after Smith struck out Garrett Chapman and coaxed a fly out from Dalton Busby.
The Eagles got a leadoff single in the eighth inning but failed to score a run after Smith struck out Ben Morgan, and Aaron Mizell grounded out to second base.
The Catamounts tallied five hits on the day, all singles, and no batter recorded more than one hit.
The series concludes Sunday with Senior Day. The Eagles will honor their four seniors before the start of the 1:30 p.m. contest as well as all mothers in attendance.
Wofford 2, UNCG 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – James Plaisted knocked in the tying and winning runs on a two-run triple in the bottom of the eighth and Eric Eck closed out the game for his 11th save of the season as the Wofford baseball team defeated UNCG, 2-1, on Saturday evening at Russell C. King Field.
Wofford rode a solid outing from starting pitcher Matthew Milburn. He posted one of his best performances of the season, pitching eight innings, giving up one run, one earned, one walk and five strikeouts to earn his fourth win of the season (4-4).
The Terriers will go for the sweep in the Southern Conference series Sunday afternoon. Due to Saturday's late start time, Sunday's game has been moved to 2 p.m.
The win improved Wofford to 27-25 overall and 9-13 in the Southern Conference. The 27 regular-season victories sets a new Division I program record. UNCG fell to 21-23 overall and 8-12 overall with the loss.
Seth Neely and Plaisted led the way for the Terriers offensively. Neely had two hits and scored a run, while Plaisted had the two-run triple in eighth to seal the win. Four others added a hit each for Wofford.
UNCG was led by Zac MacAneney, who had three hits, including an RBI single in the second to give the Spartans their only run of the contest.
Wofford had the first opportunity to score in the game in the bottom of the second after Connor Clancey was hit by a pitch and singles from Matt Ramsay and Derek Hirsch loaded the bases with two outs. The Terriers were unable to capitalize, striking out to end the inning and stranding all three runners.
After two scoreless innings, Jake Kusz hit a one-out double down the left-field line for UNCG to put himself into scoring position. MacAneney gave the Spartans the lead as his RBI single to right scored Kusz from second. Wofford would avoid further damage as Sean Guite grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning with UNCG leading 1-0.
UNCG had another opportunity in the top half of the fourth as L.J. Kalawaia and Jordan McDonald hit back-to-back singles with two outs, but Tyler Long grounded out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, Clancey was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Hirsch grounded into a fielder's choice to put a runner on first with one out. Hirsch advanced to second on a ground out to get into scoring position, but the Terriers again stranded a runner still trailing 1-0.
Neely put himself in scoring position in the sixth leading off with a double down the right-field line, but after a strikeout, back-to-back ground outs ended the inning with him stranded on third in a one-run ball game.
After Alec Paradowski and Neely hit back-to-back singles with one out in the bottom of the eighth, Plaisted tripled down the right-field line to bring them home and give the Terriers a 2-1. Wofford was unable to bring Plaisted home, but leading 2-1, it set up Eck in the ninth for a save situation.
Eck finished off the Spartans as he retired the side with two strikeouts and a fly out to right to give Wofford its ninth Southern Conference victory of the season.
Max Povse (6-4) went the distance for UNCG, pitching eighth innings and giving up two runs, both earned, one walk and seven strikeouts.
Appalachian State 6, Samford 3
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Tyler Moore improved to 9-4 on the season and pitched his fifth complete game of the season to help Appalachian State University baseball win 6-3 win at Samford on Saturday at J.L. Griffin Field.
Moore pitched seven scoreless innings, not giving up his first hit until the fifth inning. Samford (30-22, 13-10 SoCon) made things interesting in the seventh inning, scoring three runs to pull within two, but a score by the Mountaineers in the ninth proved to be enough for the win.
Appalachian (17-30, 10-12 SoCon) scored in the first inning when Alex Leach hit a two-out single up the middle to score Michael Pierson, who was at second base. Brian Bauk brought the second run home in the fourth inning after singling to left field.
Tyler Zupcic was responsible for the Apps’ next three runs by hitting a two-run home run in the fifth inning and a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning.
In the eighth inning, a walk and a single put two Bulldogs on base and T.J. Dixon singled to bring both runs home. Preston Troutman mishandled the throw to second base on what would have been Appalachian’s third double play of the game, and the error allowed Drew McWhorter to drive in the third run of the inning.
Moore retired the last five batters to secure the win for Appalachian that evened the series against Samford. Zupcic led the Mountaineers at the plate with three RBIs on two hits and two runs. Leach went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a walk for the day. Pierson walked three times and scored three runs.
Although the Bulldogs used four pitchers on the day, starting pitcher Jared Brasher was credited with the loss, giving up four runs in six innings of work. Heath Quinn led the Bulldogs with two hits but Dixon had RBIs on one hit and a run.
The Mountaineers will look to win the series on Sunday as they take on Samford in game three in Birmingham, Ala., at 2 p.m. CT.