Mercer 2, ETSU 0
MACON, Ga. – Senior Eric Nyquist tossed a three-hit shutout to lead the Mercer University baseball team to a 2-0 victory over ETSU in the program’s Southern Conference debut.
Nyquist needed just 98 pitches to record the third shutout of his career, outdueling ETSU ace Jimmy Nesselt and shutting down one of the SoCon’s top offenses for his second complete-game effort of the year. The 6-foot-2 right-hander struck out seven while holding the Buccaneers seven hits below their season average.
Mercer (13-11, 1-0 SoCon) provided just enough offense to notch its second straight win, tallying four hits off of Nesselt, who was tagged with a loss for the first time this season. ETSU (11-8, 0-1 SoCon) committed three errors in the contest, all coming in a costly fourth inning.
The Bears took advantage of the mishaps, as Danny Edgeworth plated Kyle Lewis in what turned out to be the game-winning run. Mercer added an insurance run in the fifth, as Matt Meeder’s single up the middle drove in Jose Hernandez to wrap up the scoring for both teams.
Lewis reached based for the 13th straight game, tying Edgeworth for the team’s top mark this season. The victory moved Nyquist to 3-1 on the year, as the Alpharetta, Ga., native saw his ERA dip to an impressive 1.17 following his second quality start of 2015.
The teams will continue their opening series of Southern Conference play Saturday, March 21, as inclement weather expected later in the weekend will result in a doubleheader at Claude Smith Field. The opening game of Saturday’s twin bill is schedule to start at 1 p.m.
Wofford 5, VMI 2
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford Terriers scored twice in the eighth inning to edge away in a close game and went on to defeat the VMI Keydets, 5-2, in Southern Conference baseball action Friday night at King Field. The game was the SoCon opener for both schools.
Kody Ruedisili led off the eighth inning by reaching on a Thomas Stallings error and then stole second off Taylor Edens. Conor Clancey followed with a double off the left-center field wall, but Ruedisili, thinking the ball would be caught by a sprinting Ray Lopez in left field, held at third base. Max McDougald, however, followed with a two-run double over the bag at third base that made it 5-2 and accounted for the final margin.
Starting pitcher Jared Silva (1-1) took the loss for VMI (4-9, 0-1 SoCon) after allowing three runs, all earned, in six innings in his first career weekend start. Matt Milburn (5-0) was the winner, as he held VMI to three hits in allowing two runs and striking out five. Milburn did issue an uncharacteristic four walks, one of which scored in the fourth inning. Will Stillman picked up his seventh save, striking out all four hitters he retired in 1 1/3 innings.
VMI took the lead in the second, when Matt Winn led off the frame by blasting Milburn’s first pitch over the left-center field wall. Winn’s third home run of the year staked Silva to a 1-0 lead, but Wofford rallied in the bottom of the frame. Matt Pelt led off with a walk, and two outs later, stole second. He moved to third on a wild pitch and after a walk to Clancey, Pelt scored on a sacrifice bunt by McDougald to tie the game, 1-1.
The Keydets retook the lead in the fourth, when Lopez led off with a walk. He promptly stole second and third and scored on a wild pitch, making it 2-1, VMI. After two walks sandwiched around a sacrifice bunt, the Keydets had runners at first and second with one out, but Milburn induced a 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Brian Dudeck Jr. to end the inning.
The Terriers took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth. Carson Waln led off with a single and Ruedisili followed with a hit, as well. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners up, and after a walk to McDougald, shortstop Derek Hirsch singled home two runs to give Wofford a 3-2 lead.
Wofford put a runner in scoring position with two out in the sixth and did not score, and then loaded the bases with one out against Edens in the seventh, only to be turned away again. VMI mounted a rally in the eighth, as David Geary led off with a walk. Jordan Tarsovich grounded into a fielder’s choice and was picked off by Milburn, a costly play as Tyler Tharp followed with a double to right center. That brought Stillman out of the bullpen and he walked Ray Lopez on a 3-2 pitch that went to the backstop, putting runners at the corners with two out, but Winn struck out to end the inning and Wofford pulled away in the eighth.
Offensively, Wofford (19-5, 1-0 SoCon) was led by McDougald’s 2-for-3, three-RBI game. VMI did not have a player with multiple hits on the night.
The teams resume their series Saturday at 3 p.m.
Furman 6, Samford 4
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Jordan Simpson went 3-for-5 with a home run and keyed a two-run eighth inning that helped Furman erase a three-run deficit en route to a 6-4 win over Samford in the Southern Conference baseball season opener for both teams Friday evening at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
Simpson, who led off the second inning with his team-leading sixth home run, singled in the fourth and stroked a one-out double and scored the game tying run in the eighth, helping Furman (11-9) post five unanswered runs after trailing 4-1. Sky Overton’s double to center field in the eighth scored Brandon Elmy and put the Paladins ahead for good.
The win was the third straight for Furman (11-9, 1-0 SoCon), which will play Samford (6-12, 0-1 SoCon) in a Saturday doubleheader beginning at noon CT (1 p.m. ET).
Leading 5-4 after scoring twice in the eighth, the Paladins went up 6-4 in the ninth after Griffin Davis reached on a fielding error and scored on Blake Chisolm’s triple to center field that extended his hitting streak to nine games.
Elliott Warford, who came on in relief in the eighth inning with two outs and with runners at first and third base and the Paladins nursing the 5-4 lead, walked the first batter he faced but recovered by striking out Richard Greene to end the threat.
Warford yielded a leadoff triple to Danny Rodriquez in the ninth but stranded him at third by striking out T.J. Dixon, retiring Jared Watson on a pop fly, and inducing a game-ending groundout off the bat of Hunter Swilling.
The save was Warford’s second of the season and 10th of his career.
Matthew Quarles (2-1) was credited with the win after coming on in relief in the seventh and working 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball. The beneficiary of Furman’s two-run seventh and eighth, he retired the first two batters in the bottom of the eighth before yielding back-to-back singles, which brought on Warford.
The Paladins began their comeback in the seventh, loading the bases with one out to set up a Chris Ohmstede two-run single through the left side off Bulldog reliever Mark Donham (2-1) that pulled the Paladins to within a run at 4-3.
Furman finished with 10 hits, led by Simpson’s 3-for-5 performance. Ohmstede went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two walks, and Overton had two hits and an RBI double.
Samford was charged with four errors, which led to four unearned runs.
Samford also had 10 hits, including two each by Damon Waller, Alex Lee and Danny Rodriquez.
Austin Edens’ two-run double in the fourth inning off Paladin starter Matt Solter gave the Bulldogs a 3-1 advantage.
UNCG 17, Western Carolina 2
GREENSBORO, N.C. – A big offensive outburst propelled the UNCG baseball team to a 17-2 victory over Southern Conference preseason favorite Western Carolina on Friday evening in the league opener for both teams at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
The Spartans improved to 8-11 overall with a 1-0 SoCon mark, while the Catamounts dropped to 8-10 and 0-1. The Blue and Gold also snapped a six-game skid to the Catamounts after Western Carolina had swept the Spartans in two straight trips to Greensboro.
UNCG’s 17 runs marked a season high and its most in a league contest since May 4, 2008, when the Spartans defeated College of Charleston 18-17 in Greensboro. The Blue and Gold racked up 14 hits with four going for extra bases and took advantage of four WCU errors as well as 11 walks issued by the Catamount pitching staff.
Junior RHP Ryan Clark was fantastic in seven scoreless innings of work and picked up the win to improve to 4-1. He struck out six batters against just two walks, retiring seven straight hitters in the second through fourth frames. Clark also struck out the side in the sixth inning. Bryan Sammons took the loss to drop to 2-3, giving up five runs on four hits with seven walks and six strikeouts.
Senior infielder Hunter King racked up a season-high three hits in five at-bats and drove in a career-high five runs to lead the potent UNCG offense. Junior infielder Collin Woody also picked up three hits to go along with a run scored and a personal-best four RBIs. With two hits, senior outfielder Zac MacAneney extended his hitting streak to nine games and chipped in with three runs scored and an RBI. The trio combined for eight hits, four runs scored and 10 RBIs in the game. Sophomore catcher Jake Kusz, senior outfielder Eric Kalbfleisch and senior outfielder Tyler Long each notched multiple-hit efforts, with Kalbfleisch and Long crossing the plate three times apiece and Kusz twice.
UNCG took the lead quickly in the bottom of the first, using an RBI double and run-scoring single from Woody and Kusz, respectively, to stake itself to a 2-0 advantage. Woody added another RBI in the bottom of the second, lacing a single to left field that plated freshman infielder Austin Embler.
Western Carolina put up its first threat in the top of the fourth, getting runners to second and third after a wild pitch. However, Clark induced a groundout to keep the Catamounts scoreless.
The Blue and Gold began to pull away in the middle innings, scoring eight runs in the fifth and sixth frames. In the bottom of the fifth, Kalbfleisch and freshman Devin Ruiz walked before Long laid down a bunt single to load the bases. With one away, MacAneney produced an RBI single to make it 4-0, and King roped a two-run double down the right-field line that scored Long and Ruiz to leave UNCG with a 7-0 cushion. The Spartans would put up another 4-spot in the bottom of the sixth thanks to three hits and a pair of WCU errors. RBI singles by King and Woody and an Embler RBI groundout accounted for three of the runs, while UNCG plated the fourth on a throwing error by Western Carolina catcher Danny Bermudez.
Kusz led off the seventh inning with his first home run of the season, pushing the Spartan lead to 12-0, before a two-run single by King gave UNCG a 14-0 advantage. The Catamounts finally broke onto the scoreboard in the top of the eighth via a Spencer Holcomb RBI double. However, the Spartans came up with three more runs in the bottom of the inning thanks to a Kalbfleisch RBI double, Ruiz sac fly and Long RBI groundout. Western Carolina scored a run in the top of the ninth to account for the final margin before Woody closed the game out on the mound.
UNCG and Western Carolina will continue their series Saturday at 2 p.m. inside the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
The Citadel 13, UMBC 6
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel scored 12 times over the first three innings and coasted to a 13-6 victory over UMBC in the opener of a three-game series Friday at Riley Park.
The Bulldogs (13-7) extended their winning streak to eight in the first-ever meeting with the Retrievers (4-8) on the diamond. The series concludes Saturday with a 2 p.m. doubleheader which can be seen free of charge on the SoCon Digital Network.
The winning streak is the longest since The Citadel ran off 10 in a row from April 12-27, 2013.
The early offensive explosion made the day relatively easy for Citadel starter James Reeves, who earned his fourth win without a loss. The southpaw went seven innings, allowing five hits and one run with two walks and eight strikeouts.
The two walks he gave up in the seventh were just the third and fourth Reeves has issued in 32 innings this year as opposed to 44 punch-outs. The redshirt junior lowered his ERA to 2.81 while picking up his 15th career win, the most by any active Southern Conference pitcher.
Jason Smith had four of The Citadel's 14 hits, while Johnathan Stokes, Austin Mapes and Connor Walsh each had a pair. Mapes launched his first career home run, a three-run shot to dead center in a four-run second that gave the Bulldogs a 5-0 lead.
The Citadel then broke it wide open with seven runs on six hits in the third. Stokes singled in a run for his second RBI of the game, Walsh and William Kinney both drove in two runs with doubles, and Philip Watcher added a two-run single to cap the inning.
The two RBIs increased Walsh's total to a team-leading 23. Drew Ellis continued his hot hitting with a double in the seventh that plated Mike Deese for The Citadel's final run of the afternoon.