The Citadel 8, Wofford 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Logan Cribb tossed his second complete game of the season and came within one pitch of a shutout, leading The Citadel to an 8-1 win over Wofford in the opening game of a Southern Conference series Friday at Riley Park.
The Bulldogs have won three of their last four conference games and four of five overall to improve to 19-26 and 5-16 in the SoCon. Wofford dropped back to the .500 mark at 23-23 and 5-13 in the league.
The teams continue the series Saturday at 3 p.m., a change from the originally scheduled 2 p.m. first pitch, and wrap up the three-game set Sunday at 1 p.m.
Cribb needed 118 pitches to go the distance and pick up his third win of the season. The senior left-hander allowed eight hits, struck out six and did not walk a batter and saw his bid for the first shutout of his career end when Conor Clancey hit a solo homer to lead off the fifth.
Cribb's previous complete game came three weeks ago, when he went nine in a win at Appalachian State, throwing a career-high 126 pitches in that victory.
By that time Clancey left the yard, the Bulldogs had already built a 5-0 lead, largely on the strength of a three-run homer by Tyler Griffin in the third. A sacrifice fly by Mason Davis and bases-loaded walk to Hughston Armstrong produced two more runs in the fourth.
The home run for Griffin was his sixth of the season and increased his team-leading RBI total to 43. The senior right-fielder has 23 career home runs to move into a tie for 12th place in school history with Chris Lemonis and Ryan Butler.
The Citadel answered the Clancey home run in the top of the fifth with two runs in the bottom of the frame, including a leadoff home run by Drew DeKerlegand, his third of the season. He was later hit by a pitch for the 50th time in his career to move within one of tying Daryl Byrd for the school record.
DeKerlegand has now reached base via a hit, walk or hit by pitch in a career-long 26 games. He is the active leader among all SoCon players with 214 games played and has started 85 consecutive contests.
A sacrifice fly by Bret Hines in the fifth and a run-scoring wild pitch in the eighth rounded out The Citadel offensive output. Hines and Ryan Kilgallen both had two hits for the Bulldogs.
Samford 16, UNCG 3
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Samford baseball team scored 16 runs and pounded out 18 hits on its way to a convincing 16-3 win at UNCG in the first game of a three-game Southern Conference series Friday night at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
Samford starting pitcher Alex Ledford (8-2), who started his college career at UNCG, pitched seven innings, giving up two runs, both in the first inning, on seven hits to earn the win on the mound for the Bulldogs. The Samford defense was solid behind Ledford, turning four double plays on the night.
The 16 runs and 18 hits are both season highs for Samford. Individually for the Bulldogs, Tripp Martin went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double and five RBIs. T.J. Dixon went 3-for-6 with three RBIs, while Jared Watson went 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Drew McWhorter and Caleb Bryson had two hits and two RBIs each, while Frankie Navarrete went 2-for-3 for the Bulldogs.
For UNCG, Hunter King went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Sean Guite went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple. Ryan Clark (3-5) pitched 6 1/3 innings, giving up eight runs on 10 hits to take the loss on the mound for the Spartans.
UNCG jumped on top early with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Zac MacAneney led off the inning with an infield single. Guite then doubled, moving MacAneney to third base. MacAneney then scored on a wild pitch for the game’s first run. With one out in the inning, King singled to drive in Guite for a 2-0 UNCG lead.
Samford came back with five runs in the top of the second inning to take a 5-2 lead. Watson singled and Damon Waller was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Martin then doubled to right-center field to drive in Watson and Waller to tie the score. Navarrete was then hit by a pitch. Dixon reached base on an infield single, and Martin scored on an error on the play. Tyler Filliben then singled to drive in Navarrete for the fourth run of the inning. Dixon then scored on a sacrifice fly by McWhorter for a three-run Samford lead.
The Bulldogs added three runs in the top of the seventh inning. Dixon singled and Filliben walked to start the inning. With one out, Heath Quinn doubled to drive in Dixon for the inning’s first run. Bryson singled to drive in Filliben to make the score 7-2. Quinn then scored when Watson reached base on a fielder’s choice for an 8-2 Samford lead.
Samford broke the game open with eight runs in the top of the eighth inning to make the score 16-2. The Bulldogs sent 14 batters to the plate in the inning. Martin drove in three runs in two at-bats in the inning, hitting a solo home run and a two-run single. Dixon, McWhorter, Bryson and Watson also drove in a run each for the Bulldogs in the eighth inning.
UNCG plated one final run in the bottom of the ninth inning to make the final score 16-3. Pinch-hitter Nick Chapman reached base on an error to start the inning. Chapman later scored on a single by Nin Marrero for the game’s final run.
With the win, Samford improved to 27-19 overall and 11-8 in Southern Conference play. UNCG fell to 20-20 overall and 7-9 in SoCon play.
The teams will continue their series with a game Saturday at 2 p.m.
Elon 8, Davidson 5
ELON, N.C. – After falling into an early hole, the Elon baseball team pulled out an 8-5 victory over the Southern Conference's first-place Davidson Wildcats on Friday night at Latham Park.
Davidson (25-14, 15-5 SoCon) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after the top of the first as the Wildcats used four hits, including three for extra bases, to claim the early lead.
The Phoenix (26-19, 12-10) came back with two in the bottom of the first on Tyler McVicar's team-leading sixth home run of the season. Elon knotted the game at 4 in the third as Ryan Cooper and Nick Zammarelli both drove in runs.
In the last of the fourth, Elon grabbed its first lead of the game by scoring three times to move on top by a 7-4 margin. Blaine Bower got it started with a single and headed to second on an errant pickoff throw before scoring on Wil Leathers' double that bounced over the bag at third. With runners on second and third, Andy Moore drove home a run with a single to right. The final marker came in when McVicar reached on a fielder's choice.
Nathan Becker's 11th homer of the year started the Wildcats' half of the fifth and pulled Davidson back within two at 7-5.
Elon added an insurance run when Casey Jones singled home Sebastian Gomez in the last of the eighth.
Davidson threatened in the second as the Wildcats loaded the bases with just one out against Elon starter Lucas Bakker. Bakker then got Forrest Brandt to bounce into a 5-3 double play to end the inning. Davidson loaded the bases two more times in the game and failed to score.
Bakker (6-2) picked up the win after giving up five runs on 10 hits in six innings. John Antonelli earned his first save of the season after tossing 2 2/3 scoreless innings out of the Elon bullpen.
The loss went to Matt Saeta (0-1), who surrendered three runs (two earned) on five hits in 3 2/3 innings of relief.
Offensively, all nine Elon starters had at least one hit. Gomez, Moore, Cooper and Zammarelli all had two-hit games for the Phoenix.
Elon and Davidson will meet for game two of this three-game series at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Georgia Southern 6, Furman 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Josh Wirsu tossed 6 2/3 scoreless frames in his first Friday night start of the season to help the Georgia Southern Eagles to a 6-0 series-opening win over the Furman Paladins.
Kody Adams opened the game by drawing a walk from Furman starter Matt Solter and quickly reached third base after a failed pickoff attempt sailed into foul territory down the right-field line. Aaron Mizell drove in Adams with a one-out infield single to give Georgia Southern (29-19, 11-11 Southern Conference) an early lead.
Wirsu went right to work with the lead and retired eight of the first nine batters he faced and allowed only two base-runners and one hit through the first three frames. Wirsu loaded the bases in the fourth inning but coaxed a double play from Jordan Simpson to end the inning. The junior right-hander faced another bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning but got Simpson again, this time on a strikeout to end the threat.
Wirsu held the Paladins (18-26, 7-11) to four hits, walked five and struck out nine batters, including the side in the fifth inning, on 128 pitches. Wirsu (9-3) picked up his ninth win of the season and pitched into the seventh inning before exiting after a strikeout of pinch-hitter Jake Kinsley.
Solter (1-5) allowed four runs – three earned – on six hits and three walks and took the loss. Solter struck out six batters and tossed six innings on 101 pitches.
The shutout for GSU was the second of the season.
The Eagles tallied 10 hits with two each coming from Adams, Mizell and Garrett Chapman. Adams extended GSU's 1-0 lead with a two-RBI double in the fifth inning and also singled in the eighth inning. Hunter Thomas walked twice, scored a run and drove in a run with a single in the eighth.
Chapman put the Eagles up 5-0 in the sixth inning with an RBI single through the right side of the infield.
Ben Morgan laced a ball over the fence in left field for his fourth home run of the season in the seventh inning.
The series continues Saturday at 4 p.m. Sam Howard will take the mound for the Eagles and will face the Paladins' Jacques de Gruy.
Western Carolina 10, Appalachian 9
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally past archrival Appalachian State, 10-9, Friday night in the Southern Conference series opener at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
Western Carolina improved to 30-14 overall, 14-4 in SoCon play to move atop the SoCon standings by percentage points as Davidson dropped its series opener at Elon, 8-5.
Trailing by a run, 8-7, entering the bottom of the seventh inning, WCU junior Jacob Hoyle led off with a double down the right-field line before taking third on a wild pitch. He crossed the plate to score the game-tying run on an infield ground out by Luke Gragg, who reached on the fielder's choice. Then, with the bases loaded, junior Bradley Strong put pressure on the Mountaineer defense with a sharp ground ball to the left side that scooted under the glove of the shortstop and into left-center field, allowing two runs to score, making it 10-8.
Appalachian State (16-27, 9-9 SoCon) managed to scratch the scoreboard in the top of the eighth inning as Dillon Dobson drove a two-out double down the right-field line before Preston Troutman laced a single through the left side to plate the run. However, junior Tyler Powell was called upon to get the final out of the eighth before working a perfect ninth with a strikeout to earn his ninth save of the season.
Freshman reliever Korey Anderson (1-0) earned his first career victory, striking out two in 1 1/3 innings out of the bullpen, while Powell had an appearance of equal length on the mound. Catamount starter Jeremy Null only lasted two innings before leaving with muscle tightness in his back. Senior RHP T.J. Fussell, a native of Asheville, N.C., was again solid in relief, striking out six in 3 1/3 innings of relief.
Four Catamounts posted multi-hit games, including Strong, who doubled twice, with Hoyle, Gragg and senior Cody Jones all collecting two hits apiece. Sophomore infielder J.D. Long keyed a big second inning as the Catamounts pushed across five runs, including a three-run home run over the "Purple Monster" in left field, his first career homer.
With WCU ahead, 7-4, the Mountaineers scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a one-run, 8-7, advantage. Tyler Stroup singled home Brian Bauk for the first run before scoring on the RBI single by Jaylin Davis. A wild pitch allowed Bradley Morton to score the tying run, with the go-ahead marker scoring on a balk to make it 8-7, setting up WCU's seventh-inning rally.
App reliever Dallas DeVrieze (0-3) took the loss after allowing two runs – only one earned – on four hits in 3 1/3 innings. He struck out one while walking two, relieving starter Sean Mason, who allowed seven runs on seven hits in a three-inning start.
Offensively, Stroup and Troutman drove in two runs apiece, with the latter doing so on three hits, including a triple and a solo home run. Dillon Dobson doubled as a part of a 1-for-4 showing at the plate.
Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start on Saturday in Cullowhee.