Mercer 11, Florida A&M 5
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Mercer University baseball team scored the game’s first six runs en route to an 11-5 victory over Florida A&M on Wednesday afternoon at Moore-Kittles Field.
Mercer (10-9) tallied a season-high 15 hits, pushing its record to 7-2 when reaching double figures this year. The Bears had six players record multiple hits in the contest, led by Matt Meeder’s 3-for-5 performance. Nate Moorhouse reached base five times on the day, scoring three times and compiling three free passes (two hit by pitch, one walk).
Morgan Pittman was credited with the win in a relief effort, giving up just four hits in two scoreless innings to move to 1-0 on the year. Dimitri Kourtis fell one out shy of the victory in his first start of the season, surrendering three runs in 4 2/3 innings of work.
Mercer, which improved to 8-0 when scoring first this season, pushed a run across in the top of the opening frame, as Howard Joe came up with a two-out RBI single to score Devin Bonin for a 1-0 advantage.
The Bears blew the game open in the second frame, plating five runs in the inning. Devin Bonin’s sacrifice fly scored Meeder to open the scoring before an error allowed Trey Truitt to cross the plate. Two batters later, Joe cleared the bases with a double to left-center that put Mercer out in front, 6-0.
Florida A&M (7-8) cut the lead in half in the middle innings, scoring a run in the third and adding two more in the bottom of the fifth to pull within three, 6-3.
Mercer answered with a run in the sixth on Danny Edgeworth’s RBI single before Charlie Madden’s two-run double in the gap pushed the Bears’ lead to 9-3 after seven innings of play. Edgeworth added a solo shot in the eighth, while Meeder helped the Bears respond to a pair of FAMU runs in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single in the ninth to round out the scoring.
The Bears return to action this weekend, as they welcome Bradley to Macon, Ga., for a three-game series at Claude Smith Field. Play kicks off on Friday, March 13, at 6 p.m.
VMI 7, James Madison 3
HARRISONBURG, Va. – Jared Silva and two relievers held the James Madison Dukes to five hits, while Will Malbon and Matt Winn powered the offense with solo home runs as the VMI Keydets downed JMU, 7-3, in nonconference baseball action Wednesday afternoon at Eagle Field.
JMU (8-5) took a first-inning 1-0 lead against Silva, but the freshman settled in and the Keydets (4-3) tied it on Malbon's homer in the third. A four-run uprising in the fifth, which included a two-run double by freshman Matt Dunlevy, gave VMI a lead it would not relinquish en route to a win.
Silva (1-0) picked up his first collegiate win by going five innings and allowing two runs on four hits. He walked one and struck out two. The VMI bullpen dominated over the final four frames, as Taylor Edens and Austin Heenan combined to allow one hit and strike out seven.
Trey Jones took the loss for the Dukes, as he fell to 0-1 after being tagged for four runs, three of which were earned, in just 1/3 of an inning.
JMU took the early lead, as Chad Carroll bounced a double over the head of third baseman Thomas Stallings. Carroll then stole third and one out later, scored on a Ky Parrott groundout to put the Dukes up, 1-0.
The Keydets countered in the third, when Malbon blasted a home run to right-center field for the first long ball of his collegiate career to tie the contest, 1-1.
VMI then moved ahead in the fifth. Jordan Tarsovich led off with a walk, stole second and advanced to third on a fly out. Tyler Tharp then singled up the middle, plating Tarsovich to give the Keydets the lead. Ray Lopez was hit by a pitch and Will Connerley walked, loading the bases for Dunlevy, and after a passed ball scored a run, the freshman greeted lefty reliever Tucker McCoy with a two-run double to left-center to put the Keydets up, 5-1.
The Dukes got a run back in the fifth, when Bobby San Martin drove in a run with a bunt, but Silva evaded further damage with a strikeout of Michael Sciorra and a groundout from Carroll that was picked nicely by shortstop Jacob Jaye on the backhand side.
Tharp then drove in a run with a groundout in the sixth, making it 6-2, and thanks to Heenan and Edens, that was the score until Winn led off the ninth with a blast to left field, his second home run of the year.
JMU tallied an unearned run in the ninth to account for the final margin, 7-3.
Dunlevy and Winn had two hits apiece for the Keydets, while Tharp went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and two walks. Kevin Husum had the lone multi-hit game for the home team.
VMI will return to action Friday, when the Keydets play host to Central Connecticut State at Gray-Minor Stadium. Game time is set for 4 p.m.
UNC Asheville 7, Furman 6
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Joe Tietjen belted a two-run home run in a five-run third inning, helping UNC Asheville to a big lead, and the Bulldogs held on to beat Furman, 7-6, in baseball action Wednesday evening at Latham Stadium.
The win evened UNCA’s record at 8-8 on the season, while Furman fell to 7-8 with the loss.
With the Builldogs already up 4-0 following a two-run single by Pete Guy, Tietjen, a sophomore center fielder, rocketed an offering from Furman starting pitcher Billy Greenfield (0-3) over the left-field fence to score Guy ahead of him and stretch UNCA’s advantage to 6-0.
Furman, which battled back from a 5-0 deficit to take an 8-5 lead in Tuesday’s eventual 9-8, 10-inning loss at UNC Asheville, mounted its second comeback in as many days, scoring once in the fourth, three more in the sixth and two more in the eighth to make a game of it.
Chris Ohmstede’s leadoff home run in the fourth, his fourth of the season and 34th round-tripper of his career, just one shy of the school record, got the Paladins on the board.
In the sixth, Griffin Davis’s bad hop RBI single up the middle drove home Cameron Whitehead, and Jordan Simpson deposited the next pitch by Bulldog starting pitcher Spencer Orr onto the hill behind the left-field fence to slice the Bulldogs’ lead to 6-4.
UNCA scratched across a run in the seventh on a Derek Smith double down the right-field line that scored Tietjen to make it 7-4.
Furman opened the eighth with back-to-back doubles by Whitehead and Davis and a Simpson RBI single to pull within a run, but after Simpson was sacrificed to second, the Paladins’ rally stalled. Bulldog reliever Nick Schavone retired Sims Griffith on an infield pop and ended the threat by getting Sky Overton to bounce into a fielder’s choice.
Schavone retired the Paladins in order in the ninth to preserve the win and earn his fourth save.
Greenfield was charged with the loss after yielding six runs, five of which were earned, on six hits in just 2 1/3 innings of work. He walked two and struck out a pair.
Headed up by sophomore right-hander Matthew Quarles, who tossed 3 2/3 innings of shutout ball, four Paladin relievers combined to surrender just one run while striking out seven over the final 6 2/3 frames.
Bulldog starter Spencer Orr (1-0) picked up the win, working 5 2/3 innings and allowing four runs on seven hits.
Riley Smith and Justin Woods paced UNC Asheville’s 13-hit game with 3-for-5 performances. Joe Zayatz, meanwhile, went 2-for-5 with an RBI and scored two runs.
Furman finished with 11 hits, including two each by Whitehead, who doubled twice, Davis and Simpson. Davis drove in a pair of runs and scored twice.
The Paladins play three games this weekend at Fluor Field in downtown Greenville, facing Connecticut on Friday at 5 p.m., Michigan State on Saturday at 3 p.m., and USC Upstate beginning at 3 p.m. Sunday.
East Carolina 8, UNCG 1
GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina scored seven runs in the seventh inning Wednesday, six with two outs on the board, to record an 8-1 nonconference victory inside Clark-LeClair Stadium. The Spartans dropped to 5-9 overall while the Pirates improved to 10-6.
ECU held a 12-7 advantage in hits, while the Pirates made the only error of the contest. East Carolina also scored six of its runs with two outs on the board.
Senior LHP Blair Betts suffered his first loss of the campaign, throwing 1 2/3 innings and allowing five runs on three hits with five walks and no strikeouts. Kirk Morgan picked up the win for the Pirates as he tossed 2 1/3 innings, giving up just one hit and striking out four batters against no walks.
Senior outfielder Zac MacAneney went 1-for-3 in the game to extend his hitting streak to seven, while junior infielder Collin Woody was held hitless to snap a six-game streak.
Leading the way offensively for UNCG was senior outfielder Nick Chapman, as he went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Sophomore catcher Jake Kusz and senior outfielder Tyler Long also chipped in with two hits apiece.
UNCG recorded two hits in the top of the first but, with two outs and Long standing on first, he tried to move to third on a single by Kusz and was thrown out to terminate the threat. Dulaney hit two batters in the bottom of the first and loaded the bases with two outs. He was able to escape damage though by inducing a groundout.
The Spartans executed some nice small ball to take the lead in the top of the third after Long put down a textbook squeeze bunt to score Chapman from third. The lead was short-lived as ECU received a sac fly from Luke Lowery to knot the score.
Consecutive singles to lead off the bottom of the fourth had East Carolina in business, but Stafford worked around the jam. He induced a foul out, fly out and groundout to strand both runners where they sat. The Pirates had another prime opportunity to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth. However, with one out and the bases loaded, Travis Watkins flied out to center and MacAneney nailed Charlie Yorgen trying to score from third to keep the contest deadlocked at a run apiece.
ECU broke through in the bottom of the seventh, scoring seven runs on four hits. An RBI single by Hunter Allen gave the Pirates a 2-1 lead before a Betts wild pitch made it a 3-1 contest. The Pirates scored five more two-out runs, thanks in large part to a grand slam by Travis Watkins, to forge an 8-1 advantage headed to the seventh frame.
Following a 44-minute weather delay, freshman Austin Embler pinch-hit for Shelton and drew a walk to put runners on first and second with two outs. MacAneney also walked to load the bases for Long but he popped out on the infield to send the game to the stretch.
Neither team produced much in the way of offense the rest of the evening as East Carolina cruised through the final innings.
The Blue and Gold continues its Spring Break road trip Friday with a 4 p.m. game at UNCW.
The Citadel at Winthrop postponed
ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Winthrop baseball team's matchup against The Citadel has been postponed due to inclement weather. It has been rescheduled for Tuesday, March 24. The start time has yet to be determined.