Mercer 11, Furman 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Mercer University baseball team made history with Saturday's 11-1 victory over Furman, setting a program record with its fifth straight win to open up conference play.
Mercer (18-11, 5-0 SoCon) raced out to an early lead and never looked back, thanks to Grant Papelian's best outing of the season. The senior left-hander tossed seven shutout innings, giving up just three hits with four strikeouts for his third victory of the year. Carter Varga and Cam Wesolowski recorded the game's final six outs to hand the team its seventh straight win.
The Bears’ lineup continued its onslaught, recording double-figure hits for the sixth straight contest with 10 on the afternoon. The bottom of the lineup came up big for Mercer in the second game of the series, as the seventh, eighth and ninth hitters combined for six of the team's 10 hits, including a career-high three from Trey Truitt.
Mercer, who is 14-1 when scoring first this season, struck the opening salvo with four runs in the top of the second inning. Howard Joe led off the frame with a triple to straight-away center field, before Ware drove him in with a two-run blast over the wall in left-center. The Bears added two more runs later in the inning for a 4-0 advantage after RBI hits from Nate Moorhouse and Kyle Lewis.
Ware started a two-out rally in the third with an infield single before moving into scoring position with his first career stolen base. Truitt plated his fellow freshman moments later, floating a single over the infield into right-center to hand Mercer a 5-0 advantage. The Bears added a run in the top of the sixth for a 6-0 lead after Truitt crossed the dish on Moorhouse's sacrifice fly.
Mercer's lead grew in the seventh thanks to a two-out error that helped the Bears score twice in the frame for an 8-0 advantage. The Bears would tack on three more runs in the eighth on Devin Bonin's three-run blast to right field, reaching double-digit runs for the fifth time in their last seven games.
Furman (11-14, 1-4 SoCon) broke up the Bears' shutout bid in the ninth, as Zach Greenwell scored the team's only run on Matt Towarnicky's sacrifice fly to close out the scoring for the game.
Mercer will go for the series sweep Sunday, as first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Latham Stadium.
Western Carolina 12, The Citadel 5
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Trailing 4-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Western Carolina baseball team exploded for eight runs off of six hits and a pair of errors to take a commanding 10-4 lead over The Citadel on Saturday afternoon. WCU would go one to win 12-5 and clinch a series win over the Bulldogs after Friday night’s 7-2 victory.
The series victory is the eighth straight for the Catamounts over the Bulldogs. WCU will go for the sweep on Sunday starting at 1 p.m.
Redshirt junior Austin Atwell came into the game batting just .153 but turned in a 3-for-4 performance including a home run and four RBIs. Junior Danny Bermudez also picked up three hits as he went 3-for-5 at the dish with a double and an RBI.
Senior Bradley Strong joined Atwell as the only Catamounts with multiple RBIs as he drove in a pair while going 1-for-4 on the day including a sacrifice fly. Juniors Reece Strong and Kramer Ferrell, sophomore Matt Smith and freshman Brett Pope all added one RBI apiece to the effort. Pope also extended his hit streak to seven games as he went 1-for-4 at the plate.
Sophomore Bryan Sammons got the start on the mound for the Catamounts and pitched six solid innings with four strikeouts and a pair of walks. He allowed four runs to cross the plate while giving up eight hits.
The Catamounts would go through four pitchers in the seventh as they tried to hold The Citadel to a one-run lead. Sammons, junior Jonathan Waszak, freshman Corey Sikes and junior Colton Davis all saw action during the inning. Sammons gave up a leadoff infield hit and was pulled for Waszak. Waszak lasted just one pitch as he plunked the next batter and was relieved by Sikes. Sikes induced a fly out to right field, which advanced the runner on second to third base. He struck out the next batter swinging and was pulled for Davis. Davis had a pitch get away from him, which scored the runner on third, but he was able to strike out the batter later in the at bat to end the inning and keep the Bulldogs within reach.
The bottom half of the inning would be WCU’s coming-out party as it took advantage of two Bulldog errors and strung together a number of key hits. The Catamounts sent 13 batters to the plate, including senior All-American Jacob Hoyle, who saw his first action since March 13. Hoyle pinch-hit for Matthew Koehler and laced the first pitch he saw to left-center field for a base hit. Hoyle was immediately pulled for speedster Garrett Brown, who later scored in the inning. Atwell (two), Pope, Ferrell, Bradley Strong, Bermudez, Smith and Reece Strong all picked up RBIs in the inning.
With the turnaround, Davis (1-2) was credited with the win. He ended up pitching the entire eighth inning as well to finish with 1 1/3 innings of work, including three strikeouts and no hits given up. Freshman Brendan Nail pitched the ninth inning while walking one and striking out a pair. He did not allow a hit.
The Citadel’s Zach Sherrill took the loss despite giving up just one run. He did not record an out and allowed just one hit. Freshman JP Sears started the game for The Citadel and pitched 6 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts. He scattered six hits and allowed five runs, including four earned.
UNCG 7, ETSU 5
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – UNCG built a three-run lead through three innings of play Saturday and held on to defeat ETSU 7-5 to clinch a Southern Conference series inside Thomas Stadium.
The Spartans won their fourth straight game and third consecutive in league play to improved to 12-12 overall and 4-1 in SoCon play. With the loss, the Bucs fell to 11-14 and 0-5. The 4-1 start to its Southern Conference schedule is the first for UNCG since the 2011 season and best in the Link Jarrett era. In 2011, the Blue and Gold finished second in the league standings.
The Spartan bullpen was lights out in the game, limiting ETSU to just one run on five hits over the final five innings. Senior RHP Tyler Frazier was credited with the win as he tossed 2 1/3 scoreless, hitless innings while striking out four batters. Junior LHP Bryant Stafford notched his second save of the weekend as he allowed one run on three hits with a walk and two strikeouts in the final inning.
Offensively, senior infielder Hunter King continued his monster weekend with a 2-for-4 performance. He scored two runs and drove in four via a pair of two-run home runs. King now has the team lead with five long balls – three of which he has recorded this weekend. Senior outfielder Zac MacAneney tallied a single in the third inning to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, while he also scored three runs.
MacAneney worked a walk to lead off the game. Then, with two outs and MacAneney on second, senior infielder Aaron Wright hit a sharp single to left that allowed MacAneney to score and give the Spartans an early 1-0 advantage. ETSU mounted a two-out rally in the bottom of the first as Kevin Phillips drew a walk and Hagen Owenby singled. However, UNCG starter Brennen James got Andrew Lasure to fly out to left to end the frame.
With one out in the top of the second, freshman Devin Ruiz doubled to right field and moved to third on a groundout. Freshman infielder Tripp Shelton then sent a ball to deep right field but Zach Thompson made a catch on the run to retire the side.
The Blue and Gold added to the lead in the top of the third as MacAneney singled up the middle to lead things off. King followed with a home run to extend the Spartan lead to 3-0. UNCG was not done, however. Junior infielder Collin Woody drew a walk and Wright pounded out a ground- rule double to put runners at second and third, still with no outs on the board. Junior catcher Jake Hall followed with an RBI single to center and Wright came home on a double play to leave the Spartans with a 5-0 lead.
The Bucs responded in the bottom of the third with consecutive home runs from Chris Cook and Trey York to trim UNCG’s lead to three runs. James recovered nicely, though, and induced two groundouts to escape further damage.
Consecutive base hits, a single and a double to lead off the bottom of the fourth had ETSU threatening again. The Bucs cashed in with a sacrifice fly and an RBI single that sliced the Spartan advantage to a single run at 5-4. James picked off York at first to end the frame, leaving UNCG in the lead heading to the fifth. ETSU menaced once more in the bottom of the sixth, getting runners to the corners with two outs. Frazier came on to face York and produced a huge strikeout to get the Spartans out of the inning unscathed.
King continued his monster weekend in the top of the seventh with two outs, lining his second home run of the day over the wall in dead center – a two-run shot that plated MacAneney and afforded the Blue and Gold a 7-4 lead.
The Bucs made one last charge in the bottom of the ninth as with one out and no runners on, three straight singles plated a run and sliced the UNCG advantage to 7-5. Owenby drew a walk to load the bases, but Stafford slammed the door shut with a strikeout and fly out to seal the win.
The teams will play the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m.
VMI 6, Samford 2
LEXINGTON, Va. – Brandon Barbery struck out 10 batters and allowed just two hits over 6 2/3 innings, leading the VMI Keydets to a 6-2 win over the Samford Bulldogs in SoCon baseball action Saturday at Gray-Minor Stadium. It was the first SoCon home win for the Keydets in stadium history, as VMI had lost this season's conference home opener Friday night.
Barbery (3-1) gave up an unearned run in the fourth to tie the game, but the Keydets (6-13, 2-3 SoCon) got the lead for good in the fifth. Thomas Stallings led off with a walk and Will Malbon attempted to bunt him to second. Samford's defense appeared to have a force play on Stallings at second, but pitcher Jared Brasher threw the ball into center field for an error. David Geary was then hit by a pitch, and one out later, Tyler Tharp singled home two runs to make it a 3-1 game. Matt Winn had an RBI single later in the inning to make it 4-1, and Samford (10-14, 3-2) got no closer the rest of the way.
Barbery picked up the win with his strong outing, as he walked three and allowed just one earned run. Since giving up five earned runs against Binghamton on March 9, Barbery has given up two earned runs on 13 hits in his past three starts (20 innings) for an 0.90 ERA during that time.
Brasher (0-2) gave up four runs, three earned, on four hits over 4 1/3 innings to take the loss. Taylor Edens pitched 2 1/3 innings and gave up just one hit for his third save of the year.
The Keydets took the early lead, when Jacob Jaye singled to left field to lead off the third inning. One out later, he stole second and Malbon followed with a walk. Geary fouled out, but Jordan Tarsovich legged out an infield hit to load the bases and Tharp was hit by a pitch to score a run and give VMI a 1-0 lead.
Samford tied it in the fourth, when Heath Quinn singled off Barbery with one out. He moved to second on a wild pitch and Austin Edens followed with a ground ball to third that Thomas Stallings fielded but threw wildly to first to put runners at the corners. Alex Lee then lofted a sacrifice fly to right center to tie the game, 1-1.
After VMI's three-run uprising in the fifth, the home team added on in the sixth. Jaye had an infield single to lead off the frame, and after a fielder's choice for the first out, Malbon bunted Stallings to second. Geary followed with a ground ball deep in the shortstop hole that Samford's Danny Rodriguez made a sliding attempt to stop going to his right, but the ball hit off his knee and rolled away, allowing Stallings to score from second base on the hit and give the Keydets a 5-1 lead.
The Bulldogs got a run in the seventh and knocked Barbery out of the game, but Edens struck out Jared Watson, representing the tying run, to end the inning. VMI tacked on an insurance run on a Will Connerley home run in the eighth, and Samford managed only single base-runners in the eighth and ninth as Edens closed out the Keydet win.
Offensively, Jaye led the Keydets with a two-hit day and the freshman is now 4-for-7 in the series. No Samford player had a multi-hit game.
VMI will return to action Sunday, as the Keydets and Bulldogs close out their three-game series at Gray-Minor Stadium. Action gets underway at noon.
Wofford 9, North Carolina Central 6
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College baseball team needed some late scoring to take a 9-6 win over North Carolina Central on Saturday afternoon at Russell C. King Field. The Terriers were down 6-5 after the sixth inning but rallied with two runs each in the seventh and eighth innings to claim the victory.
Wofford is 22-7 on the season, while N.C. Central is 11-14 overall. The Terriers had two hits each from Alec Paradowski and Conor Clancey, with Clancey driving in three runs. The Eagles had nine hits in the game, including a pair of home runs in the fifth inning to claim a lead.
Matt Ramsay singled and James Plaisted doubled in the bottom of the first. A sacrifice fly by Matt Pelt made it a 1-0 game after the first inning.
Kody Ruedisili was hit by a pitch with two out in the bottom of the second. Derek Hirsch was safe at first on a bunt and went to second on a throwing error that allowed Ruedisili to score to give Wofford a 2-0 lead.
With two outs in the bottom of the third, Plaisted reached on an error. Clancey then belted a ball over the fence in left-center for a 4-0 advantage.
In the top of the fourth, the Eagles had one runner on base with two outs when back-to-back singles plated a run. A triple by Eric Kimber drove in two more runs to make it a 4-3 game in the middle of the fourth inning.
Cody Miller led off the bottom of the fourth with a triple and Ruedisili reached on an error. A sacrifice bunt by Hirsch scored Miller for a 5-3 score. Paradowski added a single, and a walk to Ramsay loaded the bases with one out. A strikeout and fly ball ended the fourth inning with three runners stranded.
The Eagles started the fifth inning with a solo home run to center field by Carlos Ortiz. With one runner on base and two outs, Mitchell McCrary cleared the fence in center field and gave the Eagles a 6-5 lead.
Wofford had a double by Pelt in the bottom of the seventh with one out. Clancey followed with a double to center field to drive in Pelt and tie the game at 6-6. Carson Waln hit a pinch-hit single that scored Clancey as Wofford regained the lead, 7-6.
Wofford opened the bottom of the eighth with a walk by Hirsch. Paradowski hit a fielder’s choice and Hirsch was safe on the play due to an error. The runners advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt and a fielder’s choice by Plaisted drove in one run. Pelt added a sacrifice bunt to plate a run and Wofford had a 9-6 lead. Two runners were left on base at the end of the eighth inning.
Back-to-back walks started the top of the ninth for the Eagles. Will Stillman struck out three straight batters to end the game and earn his ninth save of the season.
Wofford starting pitcher Luke Leftwich went five innings and gave up six runs on seven hits. He struck out six batters and walked four. Elliot Lance (2-0) worked 2 2/3 innings with two hits allowed and three strikeouts.
Alex Dandridge started for N.C. Central and threw six innings with five runs allowed on seven hits. Kyle Shields (1-3) went an inning with two runs allowed on three hits.
Wofford will conclude the three-game weekend series with N.C. Central at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Russell C. King Field. The Terriers will travel to defending national champion Vanderbilt on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.