The Citadel 6, Winthrop 5
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Drew Ellis produced his second game-winning hit in as many nights, doubling home pinch-runner Shy Phillips to cap a two-run uprising in the bottom of the ninth as The Citadel posted a 6-5 win over Winthrop on Wednesday at Riley Park.
The Citadel (12-7) won its seventh in a row by rallying against Eagle closer Joey Strain. Austin Mapes led off with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball. With one out, Stephen Windham singled to center for his third hit and second RBI, plating Mapes with the tying run.
Ellis followed with a liner into the gap in left-center that split the outfielders and rolled all the way to the wall. The speedy Phillips scored easily to give the Bulldogs their eighth straight win over their Upstate rivals.
Winthrop (14-6) lost for only the third time in its last 14 contests. Roger Gonzalez had four hits for the Eagles.
Tuesday night against Georgia Southern, Ellis smashed a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth to break a 3-3 tie and give The Citadel an eventual 4-3 victory. The freshman first baseman had gone hitless in four at bats before his ninth-inning heroics on Wednesday against Winthrop.
The Bulldogs trailed since Winthrop put up four runs in the top of the third against starter Thomas Byelick to take a 5-1 lead. Byelick settled down after that and went 4 2/3 innings, striking out eight before giving way to six relievers.
The last of that group, Brett Tompkins, worked a perfect ninth and was credited with the win.
The Citadel scored twice in the third, aided by two walks and two hit batters, to pull within 5-3. It stayed that way until the eighth, when the Bulldogs got a run closer. Pinch-hitter Mike Deese singled and scored on a throwing error by third baseman Brad Kaczka on a potential inning-ending double-play grounder.
The bullpen came through with several clutch pitches to keep the Bulldogs in the game. Ross White retired John Menken with runners at the corners in the fifth and Jacob Watcher also stranded runners at first and third in the sixth.
Kevin Connell allowed a leadoff single in the seventh but induced Mark Lowrie to ground into a double play, and Zach Lavery got out of a two-on situation an inning later.
Windham's three hits raised his batting average to a team-leading .426, while Mapes also had three hits. Walsh drove in two runs with a sacrifice fly and bases-loaded walk and has a team-best 21 on the year.
The Citadel returns to action Friday at 3 p.m. when it opens a three-game series with UMBC at Riley Park. The time was changed from the original 6 p.m. first pitch due to the possibility of a doubleheader on Saturday.
The games against the Retrievers can be seen free of charge on the SoCon Digital Network.
Western Carolina 5, Kennesaw State 4
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina sophomore Matt Smith drove home the game-winning run with an RBI single through the right side on the first pitch of his at bat, capping a two-run eighth-inning rally as Western Carolina edged Kennesaw State, 5-4, Wednesday evening in nonconference baseball action at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
Trailing by a run entering the bottom of the eighth, WCU (8-9) loaded the bases with nobody out before scoring the tying run on an infield groundout. Smith drove home the winning run with one out as the Catamounts claimed the meeting between preseason favorites from their respective conferences – WCU in the Southern and Kennesaw State in the Atlantic Sun.
Freshman Caleb Robinson opened the frame with a solid single to center field before redshirt junior Austin Atwell coaxed a walk on six pitches, looking to sacrifice Robinson over early in the at bat. Freshman Matthew Koehler, making his first career start in the outfield, was plunked by the second pitch of his at bat to load the bases for WCU. Bradley Strong then beat out a play at first on a fielder’s choice as Kennesaw State tried for the double play in the middle of the infield, allowing Robinson to scamper home with the tying run.
Then, with runners at the corners, Smith smacked the first pitch he saw through the gap on the right side of the infield to plate Atwell with the go-ahead marker.
In the ninth, Western Carolina turned the ball over to its senior closer Tyler Powell, who worked around a two-out walk to secure his fourth save of the season. For Powell, the save was the 19th of his four-year career, moving him into a tie for fifth all-time in the WCU school record books, matching former Catamount reliever and current Kansas City Royals All-Star closer Greg Holland (19, 2005-07).
Four Catamounts finished with two hits apiece in the victory for WCU. Smith finished 2-for-4 with the game-winning RBI, with freshman Brett Pope finishing 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Smith has now reached in nine consecutive games. Bradley Strong stretched his consecutive reached streak to 31 straight games dating back to last season with a 2-for-5 showing. Strong has hits in his last four games and 30 of his past 31 games dating back to last season.
Junior catcher Danny Bermudez rounded out WCU’s two-hit performances in the win, opening the scoring with his fourth home run of the season. The Cumming, Ga., native lined one over the “Purple Monster” in left field in the first inning to give the Catamounts an early lead, 1-0.
WCU stretched its advantage in the home half of the fourth inning as redshirt junior Garrett Brown was hit by a pitch to start a two-out rally. The speedy Brown swiped second base to move into scoring position ahead of Koehler, who singled deep in the hole at short, registering his first collegiate base hit. Strong then reached on an infield error on the would-be third out of the inning, allowing Brown to cross the dish with the unearned marker giving the home squad a 2-0 lead.
Kennesaw State (9-10) hung three on the board in the fifth inning to erase Western Carolina’s advantage and take a one-run lead. First baseman Colin Bennett singled to open the frame ahead of catcher Griffin Helms, who tripled to the gap in right center, chasing Bennett around the bases and to the plate with the Owls’ first run. Helms came on home to tie the game on an infield ground out to make it 2-2. KSU’s ninth batter in the lineup, Corey Greeson, doubled to left-center and later scored on WCU’s lone error of the night to push the visitors ahead, 3-2.
The lead was short-lived, though, as Bermudez pushed a hot shot past third to reach on his second hit of the day before swiping one of WCU’s eight stolen bases on the night. Bermudez was later able to rumble home as Pope dropped a single down the left-field line to deadlock the game, 3-3.
Bermudez, Strong and Smith each had two stolen bases in the victory, with Pope and Brown adding the final two.
The game remained tied until the decisive eighth inning. Kennesaw State reclaimed its one-run edge in the visitor portion of the frame as shortstop Kal Simmons drew a five-pitch walk before taking second on a wild pitch. The errant toss foreshadowed events to play out in the frame as Simmons, who move to third on an infield bunt single by Chris Erwin, would later plate the go-ahead marker on a second wild pitch to make it 4-3 and ultimately set up WCU’s heroics in the bottom of the frame.
Five pitchers took the mound for Western Carolina, with reliever Korey Anderson (1-2) earning the victory out of the bullpen. The Grayson, Ga., native walked one with a strikeout in an inning of work despite allowing an inherited runner to score on the eighth-inning wild pitch. Anderson has 12 Ks in his last three appearances for WCU over the past week.
Freshman Corey Sikes tossed a career-long 4 2/3 innings in his first collegiate start – and was nearly through the fifth, exiting the game with two strikes on the would-be third out. The Monroe, N.C., product struck out a career-high tying four, surrendering three runs – two earned – on just four hits without issuing a walk. Junior Jonathan Waszak struck out two with one walk in an inning and a third out of the pen, with classmate Taylor Durand tagged for one run in an inning of work with one hit, a walk and a strikeout.
For Kennesaw State, Bennett finished 2-for-2 with a run scored before being lifted with the catcher, Helms, finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Reliever Jordan Versteeg (0-1) was saddled with the loss, allowing two earned runs on one hit with a walk without recording an official out in the appearance.
Wednesday’s game was the fourth one-run game in the 16-game series between WCU and Kennesaw State and the second in the past three meetings, including last year’s 4-3 WCU road loss in 12 innings.
Western Carolina hits the road this weekend to open Southern Conference play, visiting UNCG (7-11) for a third consecutive season. The Catamounts claimed the three-game set a year ago at UNCG’s on-campus baseball facility, earning a pair of one-run victories, including one in extra innings. All told, last season’s three games were decided by four combined runs.
WCU has won six straight over UNCG in the last two seasons, with the Catamounts claiming eight of the last nine head-to-head meetings overall.
Wofford 12, Coppin State 7
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – After a back-and-forth beginning, a dominant performance in the final three innings guided the Wofford College baseball team to a 12-7 win and series sweep of the Coppin State Eagles on Wednesday evening at Russell C. King Field.
The win over the Eagles improved the Terriers to 18-5 this season, marking the best 23-game start in the program’s Division I era.
After six innings, Wofford and Coppin State were all knotted up with seven runs each. With the game on the line, the Terriers stepped up.
Spencer Kulman helped get the job done on the mound. At the top of the seventh, he retired three straight, forcing a foul out before enticing groundouts from the next two batters.
In the bottom of the inning, the Terriers made their move. Following a pop up from Conor Clancey, freshman Max McDougald remained patient at the plate and was walked by Jhar Devilme. Junior Derek Hirsch then set up the winning runs, sending the ball down the right-field line for a double. Devilme managed to strike out Alec Paradowski before walking Matt Ramsay to load the bases.
With just one out left to go, Coppin State head coach Sherman Reed called for a pitching change, bringing in Anderson Burgess to end the inning.
James Plaisted had other plans.
A clutch single from the senior sent both Hirsch and McDougald home, as Ramsay advanced to second. With two outs still on the scoreboard, both Ramsay and Plaisted stole bases. An error by Coppin State’s Bryant Miranda then brought Ramsay in to score. Matt Pelt reached second base on a steal before a ground ball from Carson Waln ended the inning.
Kulman continued to impress in the eighth. Despite walking two Eagles, the sophomore struck out three batters swinging to leave the penultimate inning unscathed.
Wofford used the bottom of the eighth to secure the game. Kody Ruedisili began the inning with a bang, doubling to left field. Clancey struck out swinging, but a bunt from McDougald put the freshman on base while safely pushing Ruedisili to third. Hirsch popped out on an attempted bunt, but McDougald didn’t need the attempted sacrifice, stealing second on the next pitch. Paradowski stepped up to the plate and lobbed a two-bagger to left field to secure two more runs for the Terriers.
The five-run cushion proved to be enough as junior Will Stillman relieved Kulman in the final frame. After a single from George Dragon, Stillman struck out Lance Montano. A grounder to third forced out Dragon, as Miranda reached first. Stillman ended the game in style, as William Brown struck out looking.
The first six innings were neck-and-neck, with both sides scoring seven runs. Pelt had an RBI single to start things off before a sac fly by Ruedisili sent Ramsay home. Clancey hit one of his two doubles of the game for two RBIs to round out the first inning.
A big single by Jacquez Hunn led to the only scoring in the second, bringing in Miranda. Coppin State made their biggest push in the third, scoring four runs on grounders by Mendez and Dragon with help from a Terrier error.
Wofford responded with three runs of its own. Waln turned a walk into two bases, stealing second. The sophomore then capitalized on Coppin State’s miscues, advancing to third on an error before scoring on a wild pitch. Another Clancey double led to a Ruedisili run. Clancey would score on a grounder from Hirsch before the end of the inning.
Coppin State scored twice more before the Terriers put away the game in the final innings.
Kulman earned the win for Wofford, improving to a 5-1 record on the year. Coppin State’s Yayha Muhammad moved to 0-5 this season.
The Terriers take back to the field on Friday for a weekend series against VMI to open Southern Conference play. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
NC State 8, UNCG 3
RALEIGH, N.C. – NC State took the lead in the middle innings Wednesday evening and held off UNCG by an 8-3 score to earn a midweek split with the Blue and Gold in nonconference baseball action at Doak Field. The Wolfpack improved to 11-8 overall while the Spartans dipped to 7-11 heading into Southern Conference play this weekend.
NCSU out-hit UNCG 9-5 while making the only error. The teams left a collective 19 men on base and combined to walk 16 batters in a game that lasted just over three hours.
Freshman outfielder Devin Ruiz led the Spartan offense with two hits, a run scored and an RBI. Senior outfielder Zac MacAneney returned after a three-game absence and extended his hitting streak to eight games with a double in the seventh inning. Jake Fincher turned in a 3-for-5 performance to pace NC State.
Freshman RHP Daniel Dulaney was saddled with the loss to drop to 0-2. He allowed three runs on one hit while walking three in one inning of work. Joe O’Donell was credited with the win and improved to 1-0 after tossing 2 2/3 innings and giving up one run on two hits with a strikeout.
NC State broke onto the scoreboard first in the bottom of the second. Two walks and a single loaded the bases for Joel McKeithan, who poked an RBI single up the middle for the Wolfpack’s first run. Brock Deatherage added another tally via a fielder’s choice that plated Jake Fincher and left NCSU with a 2-0 advantage after two complete. NC State threatened to add the lead with the bases loaded, but junior catcher Jake Hall caught Chance Shepard napping at third and picked him off to end the frame.
The Spartans struck back in the top of the third as Ruiz drew a leadoff walk. Following a pair of strikeouts, MacAneney and senior infielder Hunter King walked to load the bases for junior infielder Collin Woody, who lined a two-run single to center and knotted the score at 2.
NCSU took the lead back quickly in the bottom of the third, using a two-out bases-loaded walk to edge ahead 3-2. The Wolfpack added to its advantage with more two-out runs in the bottom of the fourth as Fincher sent a two-run single just past the diving glove of Woody between second and third. Senior infielder Aaron Wright helped UNCG trim its deficit to 5-3 in the top of the sixth, leading off with a triple to right-center and scoring on an RBI infield single by Ruiz.
After redshirt junior RHP Lee Gilliam made his first appearance in over a year in the bottom of the seventh and worked a scoreless inning, Woody led off the top of the eighth with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. He would stay at second, however, as a pair of strikeouts and a fly out kept the Spartans off of the scoreboard.
The Wolfpack closed out the scoring in the bottom of the eighth, plating three runs on two hits, a pair of walks and two sacrifice flies.
UNCG opens up its Southern Conference schedule Friday, welcoming two-time defending regular-season champion Western Carolina to the UNCG Baseball Stadium. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
Old Dominion 7, VMI 6
NORFOLK, Va. – A bad-hop RBI double with two outs in the eighth inning broke a 6-6 tie and sent the Old Dominion Monarchs over the VMI Keydets, 7-6, in nonconference baseball action Wednesday.
The Keydets (4-8) had taken a 6-5 lead in the top of the inning, but singles by Connor Myers and Mike Perez off Micah Gorman started the bottom half of the frame for ODU (10-7). After a sacrifice bunt, Taylor Edens relieved and Kurt Sinnen plated the tying run with an infield out. P.J. Higgins followed with a hard ground ball down the third-base line that took a bad hop past third baseman Thomas Stallings, allowing Perez to score to give the Monarchs the lead.
VMI moved the tying run into scoring position with two outs in the ninth, but Stallings flew out to right field to end the game.
On the mound, Gorman (0-1) took the loss due to the eighth-inning runs, while reliever Zach Rutherford pitched 1 1/3 innings and allowed just one baserunner to earn the victory.
The Keydets drew first blood, scoring in the first inning for the second straight game. Jordan Tarsovich singled with one out, and Tyler Tharp grounded into a fielder's choice. Matt Winn legged out an infield hit and Ray Lopez walked, loading the bases for Stallings, who drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch to plate the game's first run.
ODU responded with four runs in the second, helped by three walks. Rutherford had a two-run double and Higgins drove in two with a single.
Tarsovich then led off the third with a line-drive single to right that snuck under the glove of right fielder Connor Myers. The ball went to the wall for a two-base error, allowing Tarsovich to go to third. He would then score on a misplayed grounder off the bat of Tyler Tharp, making it 4-2.
ODU scored once in the fourth, but the Keydets tallied twice in the fifth, and again, Tarsovich was the instigator. He led off with a walk and stole second. Tharp then drilled a double to left center, scoring a run and cutting the lead to one. One out later, Lopez drove in a run with an infield hit, making it 5-4.
VMI finally tied it in the seventh. Tarsovich led off with a single and one out later, stole second. He moved to third on a wild pitch, and with the infield in, Winn struck out. Lopez, however, delivered with an RBI triple down the right-field line, tying the score at 5.
The Keydets took the lead in the eighth, helped by the home team's defense. Will Connerley led off the inning with a fly ball to center that clanged off the glove of outfielder Justin Hayes, allowing the Keydet to reach second. Josh Worthley pinch-hit and bunted Connerley to third. One out later, David Geary singled to plate Connerley for a 6-5 Keydet lead and set the stage for the ODU rally.
Offensively, VMI was led by Tarsovich, who went 3-for-4 with a walk, two stolen bases and three runs scored. Lopez reached base in all five of his plate appearances.
Higgins and Perez had two hits apiece for the home team.
Neither starter figured in the decision, after Eric Byrd gave up five runs in 3 2/3 innings for the Keydets. He walked six and allowed three hits. Nate Matheson pitched into the fifth inning for ODU, giving up four runs (three earned) on four walks and four hits.
VMI will return to action Friday, when the Keydets open SoCon play against the Wofford Terriers. First pitch in Spartanburg, S.C., is set for 6 p.m.