Mercer 11, ETSU 5
Mercer 10, ETSU 9
MACON, Ga. – Sophomore Kyle Lewis provided the perfect ending for the Mercer University baseball team’s introduction to the Southern Conference, hitting a walk-off home run to help the Bears sweep Saturday’s doubleheader and their league-opening series with ETSU.
The Bears’ offense provided the heroics in Saturday’s twin bill, just one day after Eric Nyquist’s complete-game shutout in the series opener.
Mercer (15-11, 3-0 SoCon) put together 29 hits on the afternoon, as 10 players found the hit column. Lewis led the way with six hits, while continuing his power surge with his eighth and ninth home runs of the season. Danny Edgeworth and Nate Moorhouse each had four hits in the doubleheader, combining for five RBIs as well.
GAME 1: Mercer 11, ETSU 5
After the Buccaneers raced out to an early lead with four runs in the top of the first, the Bears rattled off nine-straight runs to grab a 9-4 lead after four innings of play.
Edgeworth started the rally with a two-run double to right center, before scoring on Moorhouse’s triple to straight-away center field that pulled the Bears within one, 4-3.
Mercer kept rolling in the second, using a three-run blast from Devin Bonin and a RBI single from Howard Joe to pull ahead 7-4. Trey Truitt provided another run with a solo shot in the third, before Jackson Ware’s plated a run with a double down the left field line for a five-run advantage.
ETSU (11-10, 0-3 SoCon) stopped the bleeding in the fifth, getting a trio of two-out singles to cut the deficit to four, 9-5. However, the Bears pushed their lead back to five, 10-5, in the home half of the sixth, as Charlie Madden scored on Matt Meeder’s suicide squeeze. Lewis rounded out the scoring for Mercer with a solo shot in the seventh.
Mercer put together 16 hits in the contest, as six Bears had multiple-hit performances. Lewis led the way with a team-high three hits and three runs, while Meeder’s pair of doubles paced five others with two hits.
Mitchell Wade picked up his first win of the season, tossing 2.2 scoreless innings to lead an impressive effort by the Bears’ bullpen. Mercer’s relievers gave up just one run over the final eight innings, including 4.1 scoreless frames from Austin Lord and Ben Lumsden to close out the contest.
GAME 2: Mercer 10, ETSU 9
The Bears rallied from a two-run deficit late in the series finale with runs in each of the final three innings, including Lewis’ ninth-frame heroics for the program’s fourth-straight victory.
Morgan Pittman helped lead the late-game charge, giving up no runs on one hit in three innings of work to pick up his second win of the season.
Mercer jumped out to an early lead in the night cap, scoring three times in the bottom of the first. Lewis kicked off the scoring with a RBI double to left field, before Edgeworth followed with a run-scoring double of his own to plate Lewis. Moorhouse drove in Edgeworth with a single through the left side to wrap up the inning with a quick 3-0 advantage.
ETSU rallied with a run in the second on Daniel Tucker’s sacrifice fly, before RBI hits by Chris Cook and Trey York knotted the game at 3-3. The Buccaneers added two more runs on back-to-back RBIs from Jordan Sanford and Doug McFarland in the fourth for their first lead of the game, 5-3.
However, the Bears fought back to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth, scoring two runs thanks to a RBI single from Lewis and Howard Joe’s bases-loaded walk. Mercer pushed two more runs across in the fifth for a 7-5 lead, behind Truitt’s run-scoring double and a RBI from Meeder.
The lead would be short lived though, as ETSU scored four runs on four hits in the top of the seventh to jump back on top, 9-7.
Jose Hernandez cut the lead in half in the home half, blasting a 3-2 pitch over the right field wall for his second home run of the season. The junior catcher came up big again in the eighth, driving in Moorhouse from first with a double to right center to tie the game and set up the team’s third comeback win of the season.
Mercer finished with 13 hits in the finale, while having seven players with at least one RBI in the contest. Lewis finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs to pace the squad, while Edgeworth, Moorhouse and Hernandez each had a pair of hits.
The Bears will be back in action next Tuesday, March 24, when they travel to Athens, Ga., to wrap up their season series with Georgia. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
The Bucs wrap up their road swing next week as ETSU plays at Radford Tuesday night (6p), before closing things out at Virginia Tech on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Samford 12, Furman 6
Samford 7, Furman 6
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford baseball team swept a doubleheader from Furman, winning the games by scores of 12-6 and 7-6 Saturday afternoon at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
With the wins, Samford takes the Southern Conference series from the Paladins, two games to one. Samford improves to 8-12 overall and 2-1 in SoCon play. Furman drops to 11-11 overall and 1-2 in league games.
In the first game, Samford jumped on top early, leading 9-2 after three innings. Furman, however, came back to cut the lead to 9-6, but Samford plated three runs in the seventh inning to put the game away on the way to the 12-6 win.
Parker Curry (2-3) pitched 5.0 innings, giving up six runs, four earned, on five hits to earn the win on the mound for the Bulldogs in the first game. Andres Gracia pitched the final 2.1 innings to pick up his third save of the season.
Samford was led at the plate in game one by Alex Lee, going 2-for-3 with five RBI. Jared Watson went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Hunter Swilling and Richard Greene had two hits each for Samford in game one, and Heath Quinn drove in two runs, going 1-for-4 at the plate.
For Furman in game one, Jordan Simpson went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Blake Chisolm went 2-for-5 with two RBI for the Paladins. Ryan Morse (2-4) pitched 1.0 inning, giving up four runs on two hits to take the loss on the mound in the first game.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Furman plated three runs in the first inning, two runs in the fourth inning and one run in the fifth to take a 6-0 lead. Samford, however, plated seven runs in the sixth inning to take a 7-6 lead. The Bulldog pitchers and defense held the lead the rest of the way as Samford came away with the one-run victory.
Samford was led in game two by Danny Rodriguez, going 2-for-3 with a home run and one RBI. Swilling also homered for Samford in game two, going 1-for-5 with two RBI. Greene, Lee and Austin Edens had two hits each for Samford in game two.
On the mound in the second game, Eric Wright (1-2) pitched 2.0 innings in relief, giving up one unearned run on two hits to earn the win for the Bulldogs. Gracia picked up his fourth save of the season and his second of the day, pitching the final inning for Samford.
Jake Jones led Furman in game two, going 3-for-5 at the plate. Andrew MacLatchie homered for the Paladins, going 1-for-4 with two RBI. Will Gaddis (2-1) tossed 5.2 innings, giving up seven runs, two earned, on seven hits to take the loss for Furman.
In the seventh inning of game two, Furman held a 6-0 advantage. Rodriguez led the inning off with a home run to right field to start the rally. Watson then walked, followed by a two-run home run by Swilling to cut the Furman lead to 6-3. With one out, Damon Waller struck out, but reached base on a wild pitch. Edens and Lee then had back-to-back singles to load the bases with one out.
Waller then scored on a sacrifice fly by Robert Perteet to make the score 6-4. Greene then singled and advanced to second base on an error, driving in Lee, and Edens scored on the error to tie the game at 6-6. Greene moved to third base on an infield single by Rodriguez. Watson then singled to center field to drive in Greene for a 7-6 Samford lead.
In the top of the seventh inning, Furman loaded the bases with one out. The Samford defense, however, turned a double play to end the threat and maintain the 7-6 lead. The Paladins never seriously threatened in the last two innings as Samford came away with the one-run win.
Samford will return to action on Tuesday, March 24, when the Bulldogs travel to Montgomery, Ala., to take on Alabama State. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. CDT start.
Furman entertains Gardner-Webb on Wednesday at Latham Stadium.
Wofford 8, VMI 4
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford Terriers scored the game's last six runs, including the go-ahead tally on a wild throw that hit a runner attempting to steal, and went on to defeat the VMI Keydets, 8-7, in Southern Conference baseball action Saturday.
VMI (4-10, 0-2 SoCon) jumped out to leads of 5-0 and 7-2 but Wofford (20-5, 2-0) scored once in the fifth, twice in the sixth and twice more in the seventh to tie the game, 7-7. Matt Pelt drew a two-out walk in the eighth against reliever Matt Eagle (0-1). Pelt then stole second and was hit by Matt Winn's throw, which was wide to the first-base side.
Pelt's momentum helped propel the ball into shallow left-center field, and the Wofford outfielder immediately sprinted toward third and was waved home. He would score easily, and although the Keydets got the tying run aboard in the ninth, Tyler Tharp grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.
Eagle took the tough-luck loss despite allowing just one baserunner in his 1 1/3 innings of work, while Jacob Condra-Bogan moved to 1-1 by pitching a hitless top half of the eighth.
VMI jumped ahead resoundingly in the first inning, when David Geary led off with a single and Jordan Tarsovich followed with one of his own. One out later, Matt Dunlevy beat out a slow infield roller to load the bases, and after a strikeout, Thomas Stallings blasted a 3-1 pitch into the trees beyond left-center field for a grand slam to put the Keydets up, 4-0. It was the first grand slam by a VMI player since March 19, 2013, nearly two years ago to the day.
The Keydet lead grew to five in the second, when Will Connerley led off with a double and Jacob Jaye, while attempting to move Connerley to third, reached on a bunt. Geary then walked and Tarsovich lofted a sacrifice fly to center field, making it a 5-0 game, but Wofford starter Luke Leftwich limited the damage by allowing just that single run. That would prove to be pivotal later on.
Wofford got on the board in the third, when Conor Clancey walked to force in a run and Max McDougald plated a run via a strange play. With one out in the inning and the bases loaded, McDougald hit a hard ground ball to third base that was speared by Stallings. Stallings threw to Tarsovich at second base, but the throw was to the left-field side and pulled Tarsovich off the bag. The relay to first was in time to beat McDougald, but the poor throw allowed the Terriers to score their second run and pull within 5-2.
The Keydets pushed the lead back to five in the fifth, when Tyler Tharp led off with a walk and, after a fielder's choice, Dunlevy stole second to put a runner in scoring position. Winn followed with a line-drive home run to left field, his second of the series and fourth of the year, to make it a 7-2 contest. Those would be VMI's final runs of the game.
Wofford, meanwhile, got a run back in the fifth on James Plaisted's home run and plated two more in the sixth to pull within 7-5. McDougald then singled with one out in the seventh off Keydet reliever Jack Gomersall. Pinch-hitter Carson Waln then doubled down the left-field line and the ball was misplayed by Dunlevy, allowing Waln to reach third as McDougald scored. One out later, Derek Hirsch singled to score Waln and tie the game, 7-7.
The Keydets threatened in the eighth, as Stallings was hit by a pitch to open the frame. Will Malbon bunted him over, but Condra-Bogan struck out Connerley and retired Jaye on a comebacker to set the stage for Pelt's base-running heroics in the bottom half of the frame.
Neither starter figured in the decision, as Leftwich was charged with seven runs, all earned, in five innings. He walked three and struck out seven. Austin Heenan gave up three runs in five innings for the Keydets, striking out six and walking three.
Offensively, the Keydets saw Dunlevy, Geary and Tarsovich post two hits apiece to lead their offense, while Hirsch was 3-for-4 to pace the home team.
The teams wrap up the series Sunday, as the teams conclude the three-game set at noon. The contest was moved up an hour due to possible rain in the area.
Western Carolina 17, UNCG 6
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Redshirt junior Kramer Ferrell led a strong offensive explosion for Western Carolina with a three-hit outing as the Catamounts evened their best-of-three, Southern Conference-opening series with UNCG with a convincing 17-6 victory Saturday afternoon at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
Five Catamounts recorded two or more hits on the day, with all but one WCU position player recording a base hit in the win. Also, all but one Catamount scored a run as the Catamounts matched their second-highest run production of the season.
The series rubber match is scheduled for Sunday with first pitch at 1 p.m. The game is available on the SoCon Digital Network with live streaming video.
Ferrell finished a double shy of the cycle in the win, collecting three hits including an RBI single, a run-scoring triple and a three-run home run. The Ellensburg, Wash., native reached base five times in the win, drawing a fourth-inning walk and being plunked in the ninth. Senior Bradley Strong drove home two on an RBI double, finishing 2-for-5 with a pair of walks in the leadoff spot, while junior Danny Bermudez plated three in a one-hit performance with a two-base hit down the left-field line in the fifth inning.
Another one of Saturday's many heroes for the Purple and Gold was redshirt sophomore Jason Smith who entered the game with a third inning pinch hit. Playing close to his hometown of Kernersville, N.C., Jason Smith finished a career-best 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI coming on his first hit of the season - a double to right center field that scored two.
Sophomore Matt Smith wasted little time in stretching his consecutive reached bases safely streak to 11 games, doubling to left center in the first inning as a part of a two-hit performance, driving in a run on a fifth-inning single up the middle. Freshman Brett Pope also collected a pair of hits while junior Reece Strong has the most interesting stat line of the day - 1-for-1 with a RBI double while reaching a combined six times including drawing five walks.
While WCU's offense found its rhythm at the plate, the Catamount pitching staff settled in as well behind the solid start of sophomore Korey Anderson (2-2). The Grayson, Ga., native tossed a career-long seven innings, scattering eight base hits while allowing five runs, four of which were earned. Anderson walked just two with a strikeout to score his second victory of the season.
Out of the bullpen, reliever Nate Williams struck out one against three walks in a one-hit, one-run inning of work, giving way to freshman Corey Sikes after a lead-off walk in the ninth. Sikes fanned two in working an otherwise hitless, scoreless inning in the final frame. The Monroe, N.C., product continued his streak of recording at least one K in each of his nine seasonal appearances.
Western Carolina (9-10, 1-1 SoCon) showed signs that had shaken off Friday night's disappointment early, pushing across a run in the top of the first inning. Pope reached on a bloop double into shallow left before Matt Smith chased him around the bases to third with a sharp double to left center to put runners at second and third with one out. Bermudez then bounced a grounder to the right side allowing the game's first run to score.
The Spartans responded in the bottom of the frame, though, tallying an unearned run scored on a WCU throwing error on the would-be third out.
WCU lit the scoreboard twice in the second inning to reclaim a lead it would never relinquish. With his younger brother, Reece, and freshman Caleb Robinson aboard, Bradley Strong broke a string of back-to-back strikeouts with the two-run scoring double to left field to make it 3-1.
The Catamounts doubled their score in the third inning, again matching the inning number with the runs produced in the frame. Ferrell punched one up the middle to plate Bermudez with Jason Smith's two-RBI double heroics score the next two to make it 6-1.
UNCG got one run back in the bottom of the third on a solo homerun by Collin Woody to trim the margin to four, 6-2, only to see WCU answer with one in the top of the fourth as Bermudez scored the elder Strong on a sacrifice fly.
Western Carolina went a long way to put the game out of reach in the top of the fifth, scoring four runs on four hits and capitalizing on a UNCG error. Matt Smith had the first of three-straight, run-producing base hits with a single up the middle with a second run allowed to score on an outfield error. Smith's hit was followed by Bermudez with a RBI double. Ferrell then got in on the act, plating a run on his first triple in the Purple & Gold uniform to make it 11-2.
After the Spartans scored twice in the sixth inning on a two-run home run, the Catamounts seemingly put the game away with a five-run top of the seventh to pull in front, 16-4. The big swing of the seventh was Ferrell's three-run home run with freshman Matthew Koehler added a RBI single to right field.
UNCG scored twice in the eighth inning as Jake Hall hit his second home of the day and pinch hitter Ryne Sigmon scored on a wild pitch. WCU later capped scoring in the ninth as Reece Strong doubled to right center to score Ferrell who reached on a HBP, providing the final tally at 17-6.
For UNCG (8-12, 1-1 SoCon), starter Brennen James (0-4) took the loss after allowing eight runs - only five of which were earned - on seven hits, striking out three against six walks. James was one of four pitchers used by the Spartans.
Three Spartans finished 2-for-4 with two hitting home runs in the loss. Woody hit a solo shot, while catcher Jake Hall (2-for-4) homered twice with solo and two-run shots for his three RBIs. Zac MacAneney doubled for UNCG's only other extra base hit.
The Citadel 5, UMBC 3
UMBC 8, The Citadel 5
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Skylar Hunter tied the all-time Southern Conference saves record in a 5-3 Citadel win over UMBC in the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader at Riley Park before the Retrievers salvaged the final game of the series with an 8-5 victory in the nightcap.
The loss in the second game snapped The Citadel's nine-game winning streak and brought a 14-game homestand to an end. The Bulldogs (14-8) play at Winthrop on Tuesday in the makeup of an earlier rainout before opening SoCon play at Western Carolina next weekend.
Hunter recorded his ninth save of the season and 37th of his career to match Elon's Thomas Girdwood for the top spot in conference history. He stranded a runner at second in the eighth and allowed a run on two hits in the ninth before striking out Tim Kelly and getting Jake Barnes to fly out to right to secure the victory for starter JP Sears.
Sears won his fourth game of his freshman season by going a season-long 7 1/3 innings, allowing six hits and two runs with no walks and five strikeouts. He was backed by a 10-hit attack that included two doubles and three runs scored by fellow first-year player William Kinney.
Connor Walsh got The Citadel offense started with a sacrifice fly in the first, and Jason Smith singled in two runs in the second to stake the Bulldogs to a 3-0 lead. Smith had singles in his first two at bats, giving him six hits in a two-span game including four in the series opener on Friday.
Philip Watcher doubled in a run in the fourth and had an RBI single in the sixth to provide the Bulldogs a 5-1 cushion and enabled them to survive a late UMBC rally.
The second game was tied 3-3 in the ninth when Hunter walked consecutive batters to load the bases with two outs. Nick Naumann lined a 1-2 pitch into left center for a tiebreaking two-run single, and two errors helped UMBC tack on three more runs to build an 8-3 lead.
The Citadel scored twice in the bottom of the ninth before Patrick Phillips closed the door. The Bulldogs had battled back from an early 3-0 deficit, scoring two in the sixth when Walsh doubled in Johnathan Stokes and Austin Mapes, but Kinney grounded into a double play to help the Retrievers maintain the lead.
The Citadel finally tied it in the eighth when Mapes singled and eventually scored with the help of two wild pitches. But the Bulldogs again wasted an opportunity for more runs when pinch runner Shy Phillips was left at third after two stolen bases.
Austin Livingston went 5 2/3 innings for The Citadel, allowing six hits and three runs with four strikeouts. Conrad Wozniak was effective on the mound for UMBC, giving up six hits and two runs in five innings.