UNCG 7, Western Carolina 4
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Western Carolina entered the weekend as the preseason favorite in the Southern Conference, but it was the UNCG baseball team that won the SoCon-opening series between the schools thanks to a 7-4 victory Sunday afternoon at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
The Spartans improved to 9-12 overall and 2-1 in league play, while the Catamounts dropped to 9-11 and 1-2. The series win over WCU was the first for UNCG since the Spartans swept the Catamounts in Greensboro during the 2011 campaign. The Blue and Gold also won its opening SoCon series for the second straight season.
UNCG is now 7-2 at home this season and is hitting .332 with a slugging mark of .586 and 14 home runs.
The bottom three batters in the Spartan lineup went 5-for-10 in the contest with a run scored a two RBIs. Senior outfielder Tyler Long, freshman infielder Tripp Shelton and senior infielder Aaron Wright recorded two hits apiece, while Wright added a run scored and three RBIs. Senior infielder Hunter King chipped in with two runs scored. With a double to lead off the bottom of the first, senior outfielder Zac MacAneney extended his current hitting streak to 11 contests.
Freshman RHP Michael Bates came up big with perhaps his best outing in his young career. He tossed 4 1/3 innings and gave up just one run on four hits with two strikeouts before turning things over the bullpen. Senior LHP Blair Betts was credited with the victory and improved to 1-1 after throwing 2 2/3 effective innings. He allowed two runs on four hits with no walks and four strikeouts. Brendan Nail, a Greensboro native, was saddled with the loss as he dropped to 1-2. He surrendered five runs on five hits in just 2 2/3 innings pitched with three walks and two strikeouts. Junior LHP Bryant Stafford picked up his first save in a UNCG uniform as he threw the final 1 1/3 innings and held Western Carolina scoreless. He struck out three, including the final two batters of the game, and walked just one.
With a runner in scoring position and two away in the top of the first, Bates induced a lineout to short from Danny Bermudez to hold the Catamounts off of the board. The UNCG offense went to work quickly in the bottom of the frame as MacAneney muscled a double to the gap in center. He then stole third and King drew a walk to put runners on the corners. Junior infielder Collin Woody plated MacAneney with a sac fly before Wright clubbed his fourth home run of the season to left-center to extend the Spartan lead to 3-0. After a double by senior outfielder Eric Kalbfleisch, sophomore catcher Jake Kusz drew a walk. Long then poked a ball in the hole between first and second for an infield single that scored Kalbfleisch and left the Blue and Gold with a 4-0 cushion after just an inning.
Kusz added to the Spartan lead in the bottom of the third as he hit a sharp line-drive single to left that plated junior Jake Hall from second after Hall had reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced to second on a groundout. Western responded with its first run in the top of the fourth via a Jason Smith RBI double, but UNCG plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles by King and Wright to give the Spartans a 7-1 advantage heading to the fifth.
Western Carolina scored two runs in the top of the sixth off of three straight doubles to pull within 7-3 before Betts induced a groundout and fanned Spencer Holcomb to limit the damage. Betts would bounce back with a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the seventh to keep the Catamounts at bay.
With UNCG leading the game by a 7-3 count in the top of the eighth, a throwing error allowed leadoff hitter Bermudez to reach second base. He would score on an RBI single by Reece Strong to make it a three-run contest. Stafford came on with two outs and runners at first and second and came up with a huge strikeout to get out of the inning. He would finish the job in the top of the ninth, setting Western down in order to seal the win.
The Spartans return to action Tuesday, taking on crosstown rival North Carolina A&T in downtown Greensboro at NewBridge Bank Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Admission is free of charge but fans will need a ticket for entry.
Western Carolina opens a stretch in which eight of its next nine games will be played at home beginning Tuesday against the Clemson Tigers (11-11). First pitch in Cullowhee is scheduled for 5 p.m.
VMI 2, Wofford 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – In a game that was a pitchers’ duel throughout, an eighth-inning infield single by Jordan Tarsovich broke a 1-1 tie and Taylor Edens struck out three of the four hitters he faced to pick up the save as the VMI Keydets defeated the Wofford Terriers, 2-1, in Southern Conference baseball action Sunday afternoon.
The Keydet (5-10, 1-2 SoCon) rally in the eighth started when Jacob Jaye led off with a single and moved to second when the ball was misplayed by James Plaisted in left field. Will Connerley bunted him to third base, and one out later, David Geary walked. Spencer Kulman relieved Wofford starter Adam Scott and got a ground ball, but Tarsovich legged out an infield hit to give the Keydets a 2-1 lead.
The game was still in doubt, however, as Derek Hirsch led off the Wofford (20-6, 2-1) half of the eighth with a single and one out later, Matt Ramsey singled to put runners at the corners. That knocked VMI starter Brandon Barbery out of the game and brought Edens out of the bullpen. He promptly struck out Plaisted on a nine-pitch at bat and induced a pop-out from Matt Pelt, ending the inning.
The Terriers threatened again in the ninth, when Carson Waln singled and Jaye threw the ball low to first for an error that allowed him to move to second. A sacrifice bunt put Waln at third as the potential tying run, but Edens struck out Conor Clancey and Max McDougald to end the game and preserve VMI's first SoCon win since rejoining the league.
Barbery picked up the victory, moving to 2-1 with 7 1/3 glittering innings. He allowed only an unearned run on five hits, walking two and striking out six. Scott (3-1) took the loss by giving up two runs, one earned, in 7 2/3 frames, and Edens notched his second save.
Wofford took the lead in the second, when Kody Ruedisili reached on a Thomas Stallings error and moved to second on the play. Clancey followed with a single and with runners at the corners, Wofford attempted to execute a double steal. Matt Winn threw through and Tarsovich chased the runner back to first, but no one was covering at the bag and Ruedisili scored without a throw to make it 1-0, Terriers.
Barbery settled in and the Keydets tied it for him in the fourth. Geary reached on an error by shortstop Hirsch and stole second. One out later, Tyler Tharp had an infield hit and Winn followed with a ground ball to short. Hirsch got the force on Tharp at second, but Winn hustled to beat the play at first and plate Geary to tie the game, 1-1.
The two pitchers locked up in quite the duel from that point forward and allowed just two combined hits from the bottom of the fourth until the top of the eighth, when the Keydets took the lead to set the stage for the late-game dramatics.
Offensively, the Keydets saw Tharp pick up their only multi-hit game, going 2-for-4, while Hirsch was 2-for-3 to lead the home team.
VMI will return to action Tuesday, when the Keydets travel to Richmond, Va., to take on the VCU Rams at The Diamond. Action is set for 6:30 p.m.
The Terriers will host UNC Asheville on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Russell C. King Field. Next weekend, Wofford will host N.C. Central for a three game series.