The Citadel 3, Georgia Southern 2
STATESBORO, Ga. – JP Sears tossed five innings of three-hit shutout ball in his first collegiate start and was backed by Stephen Windham's first career home run as The Citadel posted a 3-2 win over Georgia Southern on Tuesday.
Skylar Hunter closed out the Eagles (5-3) for his 31st career save to enable the Bulldogs to snap a four-game skid. The former Southern Conference rivals meet again on March 17 at Riley Park.
After four relief appearances to start his Citadel career, Sears earned the start against the 2014 SoCon tournament champions and stymied the Eagles, needing only 69 pitches to complete his five innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out five to improve to 2-1 on the year.
The left-hander retired the first six batters before allowing four base runners in the third. He helped his own cause when he picked off Dalton Busby at first and then struck out Aaron Mizell to leave the bases loaded.
Sears gave up one more single in the fourth and set down Georgia Southern in order in the fifth, ending his day by striking out Kody Adams.
Meanwhile, The Citadel scored three times in the first three innings off Josh Slate, who was also making his first career start for the Eagles. William Kinney doubled for his first collegiate hit and eventually scored on a bases-loaded walk to Jason Smith in the second.
An inning later, Windham followed a walk to Johnathan Stokes with a home run over the fence in left-center to make it 3-0. Windham had two of The Citadel's six hits and scored two runs.
In addition to Kinney, Jacob Watcher also came up with his first hit as a Bulldog on a ninth-inning single.
Zach Sherrill followed Sears on the mound and worked a 1-2-3 sixth before Georgia Southern broke through against Zach Lavery and Ross White in the seventh, scoring its first run on an error and a second on a fielder's-choice grounder that Philip Watcher made a nice play on up the middle but just missed forcing Ryan Cleveland.
Hunter had to escape trouble of his own in the eighth. A one-out error put Chase Griffin on first as the tie run, but the Bulldog closer picked him off to clear the bases. Hunter then walked Hunter Thomas, but a ground ball off the bat of Spencer Duffie hit Thomas as he attempted to advance, ending the threat.
Hunter then worked an easy ninth including his second strikeout to secure The Citadel victory.
The Bulldogs return to Riley Park this weekend for a three-game series against Alabama State, the defending Southwest Athletic Conference regular-season champions. Game one of the series is on Friday at 5 p.m. followed by games at 3 p.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday.
Mercer 10, Florida A&M 2
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University baseball team scored eight of its 10 runs in the first two innings to run away with a 10-2 victory over Florida A&M on Tuesday night at Claude Smith Field.
Mercer (5-4) reached double-figure hits for the fourth straight game, tallying 12 on the night to go along with a season-high eight walks. Four Bears had multi-hit performances in the contest, led by Devin Bonin’s 3-for-4 performance at the plate. Trey Truitt finished 2-for-3 with a team-leading three RBIs, while Danny Edgeworth and Kyle Lewis each had two hits.
The early offense provided more than enough run support for Bears starter Grant Papelian, who gave up just four hits in five scoreless innings on the mound to pick up his first victory of the season.
Mercer was the first to score for the fourth consecutive game, using a pair of RBI hits to plate three runs in the opening frame. Bonin kicked off the scoring for the Bears with a two-run single to left field before Truitt plated Howard Joe, who has reached base in each of his last nine games, with a single of his own to hand Mercer an early 3-0 advantage.
The Bears added to their tally in the bottom of the second with a five-run outburst. Lewis started the fireworks with a solo shot to right field for his second home run of the year. Mercer continued the assault three batters later, as Edgeworth plated Nate Moorhouse with a single to right field. An error by FAMU and a two-run single by Truitt pushed the lead to 8-0 after two frames.
Florida A&M (1-5) took advantage of a Mercer error in the sixth to break up the shutout bid, plating two runs to cut into the deficit, 8-2. However, the Bears pushed their lead back to eight, 10-2, with a pair of runs in the home half of the eighth, as Tyler Homer and Lewis each drove in runs.
Due to inclement weather that is expected in Macon, Wednesday’s series finale against Florida A&M has been rescheduled to April 22 at 4 p.m. The Bears will continue play this weekend, when they host Belmont for a three-game series at Claude Smith Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27.
Troy 6, Samford 0
TROY, Ala. – The Samford baseball team suffered a 6-0 setback at in-state rival Troy on Tuesday evening at Riddle-Pace Field.
The game marked the first time Samford has been shut out since 2013. Samford fell to 3-4 with the loss, while Troy improved to 6-2 with the win.
For Samford at the plate, Richard Greene went 2-for-4. Heath Quinn, Hunter Swilling and Austin Edens added one hit each for the Bulldogs. Eric Wright (0-1) pitched two innings, giving up two runs on five hits to take the loss on the mound for Samford. Wright was one of nine pitchers used by the Bulldogs.
Troy was led at the plate by Trevin Hall, who went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and four RBIs. Matt Sanders went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI for the Trojans. Austin Crook (1-0) tossed five innings, allowing just three hits to earn the win on the mound for Troy.
Troy took an early lead with a run in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, Logan Hill doubled to center field to get things started for the Trojans. David Hall then doubled through the left side of the infield to drive in Hill for a 1-0 Troy lead.
The Trojans added a run in the bottom of the second inning to push the Troy lead to 2-0. Trevin Hall hit a one-out double and later scored on a double by Sanders for a two-run Troy lead.
Troy made the score 5-0 with three runs in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs, Hall hit a three-run home run to left field to give the Trojans a five-run lead.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Troy added another run to make the score 6-0. Reid Long got things started for Troy with a one-out triple. Hall then singled to drive in Long for Troy’s sixth run of the contest.
Samford will return to action this weekend, when the Bulldogs travel to Starkville, Miss., to take part in a tournament at Mississippi State University. In the tournament, Samford will take on national powers Arizona and Mississippi State.
Furman at Charleston Southern postponed
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern's baseball game scheduled for Wednesday against Furman has been rescheduled for April 22 at 6 p.m. at CSU Ballpark.
VMI announces schedule changes
LEXINGTON, Va. – Due to the recent weather plaguing the Commonwealth, VMI baseball has postponed its scheduled game against William & Mary Wednesday in Williamsburg, Va. The teams are currently discussing a reschedule date.
In addition, VMI has added a game against James Madison on May 12 in Harrisonburg, Va. First pitch time will be announced as the season continues.