Mercer 12, Georgia 8

ATHENS, Ga. – The Mercer University baseball team defeated Georgia 12-8 on Tuesday night at Foley Field, sweeping the season series and recording its third straight victory over the Bulldogs.

Mercer (16-11) pushed its winning streak to five games after reaching double figures in the runs column for the fourth time during that stretch. The Bears, who are hitting .352 during the winning streak, tallied 12 hits in the contest while having five players record multiple-hit performances.

Ryan Askew had a strong outing to help the Bears get off to a fast start, giving up four runs, one earned, in 5 1/3 innings for his third victory of the season.

Mercer jumped out to an early lead against the Bulldogs for the second time this season, as the team’s first five batters reached base to start a first-inning rally. Matt Meeder opened the game with a double to left field before scoring the game’s first run on a passed ball.

Kyle Lewis doubled off the wall in right-center to plate Nate Moorhouse and would go on to score one batter later on Danny Edgeworth’s single through the left side. Jackson Ware added to Mercer’s tally with an RBI single to left field for a 4-0 advantage.

The Bears pushed their lead to 7-0 with a trio of runs in the second, as Lewis plated his second run of the game before Charlie Madden drove in two runs with a single to left field.

Georgia took advantage of a passed ball and a balk to score its first run of the game, trimming the deficit to six, 7-1, after two innings of play.

However, Mercer struck again in the fourth, as Lewis hit his nation-leading 10th home run of the season to push the lead back to seven, 8-1. The Bears added two runs in the sixth on RBIs from Moorhouse and Edgeworth.

Georgia took advantage of an error to push three runs across in the bottom of the sixth, pulling within six, 10-4, on Daniel Nichols’ sacrifice fly. The Bears added their 11th run of the game in the seventh, though, thanks to a suicide squeeze that allowed Devin Bonin to score for a seven-run lead.

The Bulldogs continued their surge in the seventh and eighth, scoring four runs in the two frames to trim their deficit to three, 11-8. Mercer would answer in the ninth, though, as Bonin hit a solo shot for a 12-8 advantage. Eric Nyquist sat Georgia down in order in the bottom of the ninth to close out the win.

Mercer returns to Southern Conference play this weekend, as it travels to Greenville, S.C., to take on Furman for a three-game series. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. on March 27.

 

UNCG 10, North Carolina A&T 0

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG baseball team headed to downtown Greensboro on Tuesday evening for its annual contest with crosstown rival North Carolina A&T at NewBridge Bank Park and came away with a 10-0 nonconference victory.

The Spartans improved to 10-12 with the win, while the Aggies dropped to 3-17. The Blue and Gold upped its advantage in the all-time series to 41-6 and won its seventh straight over North Carolina A&T.

The shutout marked the first for the Blue and Gold since April 5, 2013, when Max Povse’s complete-game effort lifted UNCG past College of Charleston by a 12-0 score in a Southern Conference contest in Charleston, S.C.

The Spartans posted double digits in the run column for the sixth time in 2015 and improved to 6-0 in those contests. UNCG also tallied double figures in hits for the 10th time and ran its record to 8-2 when turning the trick.

Senior outfielder Zac MacAneney and senior infielder Hunter King recorded two hits and three RBIs apiece to pace the offensive efforts, while senior outfielder Tyler Long and freshman infielder Tripp Shelton chipped in with two hits and two runs scored each. Shelton also notched two RBIs. Additionally, freshman Devin Ruiz scored two runs to go along with a hit and a walk. With a single in the bottom of the seventh, MacAneney ran his hitting streak to 12 games.

Freshman RHP Andrew Wantz tossed four strong innings to earn his fourth victory of the season against no losses. He did not allow a run while giving up just two hits and striking out four batters. A total of five Spartan pitchers came out of the bullpen and threw an inning each to close out the contest. Evan Miranda suffered the loss for the Aggies, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in six innings of work.

UNCG jumped on top in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a sacrifice fly by senior infielder Aaron Wright. A&T put up its first real threat in the top of the third as Brandon Mitchell doubled with one out and advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt. He would be thrown out at home on the next play, however, and Micah Carmony struck out to leave the Aggies still searching for their first run.

A two-out RBI single by King plated Shelton in the bottom of the third to extend the Spartan lead to 2-0 before North Carolina A&T came calling again in the top of the fifth. With freshman RHP Daniel Dulaney on the bump, Milton Rivera drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a Bo McMillan sacrifice bunt. Rivera reached third via a groundout and Mitchell walked, putting runners on the corners with two away, but Dulaney induced a groundout to terminate the threat.

Ruiz drew a leadoff walk to begin the bottom of the fifth and moved to third base on a bunt single by Long. Shelton then laid down a bunt single of his own and reached second on a throwing error. Ruiz would score on the play to make it a 3-0 contest before Long raced home on a MacAneney sac fly – leaving UNCG with a 4-0 cushion after five complete.

The Spartans broke the game open in the bottom of the seventh. Ruiz led off with a single to right field and Long followed with a slash hit-and-run double down the right-field line that allowed Ruiz to advance to third. After Shelton grounded out, MacAneney singled to drive in Ruiz and Long scored on the play after a throwing error from right field. King then stepped up a deposited a ball on Natty’s Hill in left field to give his team an 8-0 advantage. UNCG looked to add more in the frame, but a fly ball out and strikeout ended the inning.

The Blue and Gold added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth thanks to a Shelton RBI double and MacAneney RBI single. Freshman RHP Chad Sykes then came on to pitch the top of the ninth and struck out a pair of batters on his way to closing out the game.

UNCG returns to action this weekend, opening a three-game Southern Conference series at ETSU. The Spartans and Bucs will begin the set Friday at 6:05 p.m. inside Thomas Stadium.

 

Samford 12, Alabama State 6

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Samford baseball team plated 12 runs on 15 hits to earn a 12-6 win at Alabama State on Tuesday night at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex.

For Samford at the plate, Austin Edens went 4-for-5 with a double and two RBIs. Hunter Swilling went 3-for-6, and Alex Lee drove in four runs, going 2-for-4 at the plate.

Mark Donham (3-1) pitched 2 1/3 innings in relief, giving up no runs on two hits to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Tristan Widra, Robert Perteet, Philip Flach, Eric Wright and Wyatt Burns also saw time on the mound for Samford.

Alabama State was led at the plate by Yamil Pagan, who went 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs. Cesar Rivera went 2-for-5 for the Hornets. Charles Taylor (0-2) pitched 2 1/3 innings, giving up six runs on eight hits to take the loss on the mound for the Hornets.

Samford jumped on top with six runs in the top of the third inning. Lee drove in two runs in the inning, while Jared Watson, Heath Quinn, Richard Greene and T.J. Dixon drove in a run each to give Samford a 6-0 lead.

Alabama State came back with two runs in the bottom of the third inning to cut the Samford lead to 6-2. Pagan and Waldyvan Estrada drove in the runs to put the Hornets on the scoreboard.

The Bulldogs added two runs in the top of the sixth inning to push their lead to 8-2. Lee hit a sacrifice fly to left field to drive in Swilling for the first run of the inning. Greene later walked with the bases loaded to score Quinn for a six-run Samford lead.

The Hornets answered with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to make the score 8-6. Manny Rodriguez hit a three-run double to account for most of the damage. Pagan also drove in a run for ASU in the sixth inning.

Samford added to its lead with two runs in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth inning to make the score 12-6. Edens and Dixon drove in the runs in the eighth inning. The runs in the ninth inning were driven in by Lee and Edens.

With the win, Samford improved to 9-12 on the season. Alabama State fell to 13-9 with the loss.

Samford will play again Wednesday night, when the Bulldogs play host to Jacksonville State. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. CDT start from Joe Lee Griffin Field.

 

Radford 7, ETSU 4 (10 innings)

RADFORD, Va. – The ETSU baseball team suffered its consecutive walk-off loss as Radford outfielder Brad Keen’s two-out, three-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted the Highlanders to a 7-4 victory Tuesday night at the RU Baseball Stadium.

Despite ETSU’s bullpen holding Radford scoreless between the seventh and ninth innings, the Blue and Gold again couldn’t muster a final out to prolong the game. With one out and runners on the corners, Peyton Taylor induced Josh Reavis into a pop out to third; however, Keen took a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left for his second home run of the season.

The Bucs, who led 4-3 in the top of the sixth, had their chances, but ETSU went 2-for-17 with runners on base, 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left a total of nine base runners stranded.

Radford out-hit the Blue and Gold, 14-5, while Ryan Meisinger (2-0) struck out six of the seven ETSU hitters he faced to earn the win. Following scoreless relief appearances from Connor Bartow, Dalton Long and Dillon Cate, Taylor (0-1) issued the three runs on two hits in 2/3 of an inning to take the loss.

Coming off a weekend in which ETSU dropped three in the Southern Conference opener at Mercer – including the final on a two-out, walk-off home run to Kyle Lewis in the series finale – the Bucs dipped to 11-11, while Radford won for the third time in four tries and improved to 12-11.

Sophomore Chris Cook had two of the five hits for the Bucs and scored two runs.

The Bucs wrap up their six-game road swing Wednesday night when ETSU plays at Virginia Tech. First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m. at English Field.

 

Winthrop 11, The Citadel 4

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Winthrop scored five times in the first and went on to snap an eight-game losing streak to The Citadel, defeating the Bulldogs 11-4 on Tuesday.

The Eagles (16-8) earned a season split with The Citadel (14-9) after losing 6-5 at Riley Park last Wednesday. The last Winthrop win over the Bulldogs came on April 6, 2011.

Brad Kaczka tripled three times and drove in five runs to pace Winthrop. He launched a three-base hit to right-center to highlight a five-hit first that staked the Eagles to their early lead and added three more RBIs on a triple in the fourth that built Winthrop's advantage to 9-1.

The Citadel attempted to rally beginning in the fifth, loading the bases on consecutive singles by Jason Smith, Jacob Watcher and Austin Mapes. The Bulldogs capitalized on a run-scoring groundout by Connor Walsh and two more crossed on a wild pitch and error to pull within 9-4.

Thomas Byelick worked 1-2-3 innings in the fifth and sixth, and The Citadel appeared poised to continued its comeback in the sixth. Bret Hines walked and pinch-hitter Mike Deese singled to put runners on the corners with nobody out.

But Deese was retired when pitcher Austin Lawrence spied him trying to advance to second, and Lawrence set down Smith and Watcher to escape the jam with his team still up by five runs. Winthrop added two more runs in the seventh, including Kaczka's third triple of the game.

Six of Winthrop's runs were unearned as a result of four Bulldog errors. Smith and Watcher both had two of The Citadel's seven hits.

The Bulldogs are back in action this weekend when they travel to Cullowhee, N.C., for their Southern Conference-opening series against Western Carolina. Friday's game is at 5 p.m., followed by contests on Saturday at 2 and Sunday at 1.

All three games can be seen on the SoCon Digital Network and heard on SportsRadio 1450 with Bulldog play-by-play announcer Mike Legg calling the action.

 

VCU 18, VMI 0

RICHMOND, Va. – An 11-run seventh inning broke open a close game and sent the VCU Rams over the VMI Keydets, 18-0, in nonconference baseball action Tuesday at The Diamond.

The first 11 hitters reached in the breakthrough inning, thanks to nine hits, a walk and two errors. The Rams (12-10) managed only one extra-base hit in the inning, but it was a three-run double by James Bunn that nearly capped the scoring.

Starter Matt Eagle (0-2) took the loss as he was charged with two runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out one. Sean Thompson (2-2) carried a no-hitter into the seventh and allowed only two baserunners in 6 2/3 innings.

VCU drew first blood in the second inning, when Cody Acker led off with a walk. Brett Hileman walked as well, and a sacrifice bunt moved up both runners. Daane Berezo singled home Acker and a Logan Farrar sacrifice fly plated Hileman, giving the Rams a 2-0 advantage.

The Rams knocked starter Eagle out of the game in the fourth, but reliever Micah Gorman induced a 4-6-3 double play with the bases loaded to prevent any runs from scoring.

An RBI double by Acker made it 3-0 in the fifth and was the last score before the 11-run explosion. The home team scored four runs in the eighth to account for the final margin.

Brandon Angus singled as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning and played in the field in the bottom of the inning. It was Angus' first appearance since breaking his hand in the third game of the season.

VMI will return to action Wednesday, when the Keydets play host to Old Dominion at Gray-Minor Stadium. Game time is set for 3 p.m.

 

Clemson 19, Western Carolina 2

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Clemson broke open a close game with an eight-run fifth inning on Tuesday night in handing Western Carolina a 19-2 loss in the front end of a midweek, nonconference home-and-home series at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.

The Tigers (12-11) rode big innings in collecting their second straight victory over the Catamounts dating back to last season. Clemson erased WCU’s early 2-1 lead with a 4-spot in the second inning to take a 5-2 advantage it would carry through four innings. The visitors then batted around, plating eight runs on six hits and capitalizing on three walks to grab a commanding 13-2 lead.

Clemson added four runs in the sixth and a pair of markers in the top of the ninth to round out the game’s scoring and provide the final tally.

Junior Reece Strong stayed hot at the plate for Western Carolina, recording the lone multi-hit game for the Catamounts with a 2-for-4 showing while also reaching on a HBP. Strong collected one of WCU’s two RBIs with a run-scoring single in the two-run first inning. His classmate Kramer Ferrell reached twice with a pair of walks, with Jason Smith driving in a run with a bases-loaded walk, also in the opening frame.

In addition to Strong, three other Catamounts reached base safely twice in the loss. Sophomore Matt Smith singled and drew a walk, while freshman Brett Pope and junior Danny Bermudez also both reached first on a free pass and a single in the game.

Catamount freshman Corey Sikes (1-1) took the loss after allowing five runs – four earned – on four hits through two innings with a walk. Sikes was one of six WCU pitchers to toe the rubber on the night. Reliever Jonathan Waszak struck out three against two walks in two innings out of the bullpen with freshman Drew Bolick tossing a third of a frame.

Tuesday night saw the return to the diamond for redshirt junior RHP Danny Schneider, who missed the majority of the 2013 season due to injury. The Roswell, Ga., native tossed a career-long three innings with two strikeouts and a pair of walks, allowing one unearned run on just one hit. Junior Colton Davis tossed the ninth for WCU with a strikeout.

Clemson reliever Alex Schnell (2-0) picked up the victory after coming on in the second inning to relieve starter Taylor Vetzel. Schnell pitched two innings of hitless, scoreless relief, working around four walks with four strikeouts. He twice worked out of jams, stranding two in the second and leaving the bases loaded in the third with inning-ending strikeouts.

Tiger pitching limited the potent Catamount lineup to seven singles on the night.

Offensively for Clemson, every Tiger starter scored at least one run, with four players tallying multi-hit games, led by catcher Chris Okey with three hits and shortstop Eli White finishing 3-for-3 before being lifted. Tyler Krieger extended his current hitting streak to 11 straight games.

Western Carolina (9-12) remains at home to host The Citadel Bulldogs in Southern Conference play with a three-game series getting underway on Friday and continuing through Sunday in Cullowhee. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 5 p.m. with Saturday’s game slated for a 2 p.m. start and Sunday’s finale at 1 p.m. All three games will be streamed live with on the SoCon Digital Network.