Samford 15, ETSU 4
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Samford baseball team scored nine runs in the second inning and never looked back on its way to a 15-4 win in game one of a three-game Southern Conference series at ETSU on Friday night at Thomas Stadium.
The remainder of the weekend series has been changed due to expected inclement weather. The teams will now play a doubleheader Saturday at 12:05 p.m. (CDT).
Offensively for Samford, Alex Lee went 4-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI. Richard Greene went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs. Jared Watson went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and Austin Edens went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and two RBIs. T.J. Dixon, Heath Quinn and Frankie Navarrete added two hits each for Samford.
Alex Ledford (5-3) pitched eight innings, giving up four runs on seven hits to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Cole Limbaugh pitched the final inning, allowing just one hit to close out the game for Samford.
For ETSU offensively, Aaron Maher went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. Trey York went 2-for-5 for the Bucs. Lee Haeberle (3-6) pitched 1 1/3 innings, allowing eight runs on seven hits to take the loss on the mound for ETSU.
Samford got off to a hot start, plating nine runs on 10 hits in the top of the second inning. In the inning, Samford sent 13 batters to the plate. Edens homered and doubled, driving in two runs in the inning. Lee and Watson also had two hits each in the inning for Samford.
In the second inning, Edens and Quinn drove in two runs each. Lee, Hunter Swilling, Watson and Navarrete drove in a run each as Samford grabbed the early 9-0 lead.
The Bulldogs plated another run in the top of the third inning to push their lead to 10-0. Greene singled to lead off the inning and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Swilling for a 10-run Samford advantage.
ETSU put its first runs of the game on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning, plating two runs to cut the Samford lead to 10-2. After Jordan Sanford drew a leadoff walk, Maher hit a two-run home run for the Bucs’ first two runs of the game.
Samford came back with two more runs in the top of the fourth inning to stretch its lead to 12-2. Watson and Danny Rodriguez drove in a run each to push Samford’s lead back to 10 runs.
The Bulldogs plated two more runs in the top of the sixth inning to make the score 14-2. Greene hit a two-run home run for a 12-run Bulldog advantage.
ETSU plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the Samford lead to 14-4. Maher and Danny Carrier drove in a run each to bring the Bucs to within 10 runs of Samford.
Samford plated one final run in the top of the ninth inning to make the final score 15-4. With two outs in the inning, Navarrete walked. Dixon then tripled to right-center field to drive in Navarrete for the game’s final run.
The game marked the fifth straight game Samford has scored at least 10 runs. Samford improved to 19-17 overall and 7-3 in Southern Conference play. ETSU fell to 14-22 overall and 3-7 in SoCon games.
UNCG 5, The Citadel 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Junior RHP Ryan Clark proved dominant before a national ESPN3 audience in UNCG’s series opener with The Citadel on Friday night, throwing a complete-game shutout to lead the Spartans to a 5-0 victory at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
Clark, who improved to 6-3 on the season, matched his career high of 10 strikeouts set earlier this year against Princeton while also tossing his second career complete game. At one point in the contest he retired 12 straight hitters.
The complete-game shutout was the first for a UNCG pitcher since current minor leaguer Max Povse blanked former Southern Conference rival College of Charleston 12-0 back on April 4, 2013. The Spartans now have three shutouts to their credit this season.
The Blue and Gold (16-17, 7-6) racked up nine hits to give Clark all the run support he would need. Sophomore catcher Jake Kusz was 3-for-3 at the dish with a run scored and two RBIs. Senior outfielder Tyler Long also ended up with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. Jonathan Stokes and Jacob Watcher had the Bulldogs’ two hits.
James Reeves was tagged with the loss for The Citadel (16-19, 2-8) and dropped to 5-3 after surrendering five runs (three earned) on nine hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts. Zach Sherrill came on for the eighth inning and worked a scoreless frame.
Both teams went down in order in the first inning but had opportunities to score in the second. The Bulldogs got runners to first and second with two outs before Clark induced a fly out to center. UNCG had runners on the corners with just one away in the bottom of the frame but a pair of strikeouts stranded them where they stood.
The Spartans finally got to Reeves in the bottom of the fourth as junior infielder Collin Woody notched an infield single to lead things off. With two outs later in the inning, Kusz rapped out an RBI double that plated Woody for the game’s first run. Senior outfielder Eric Kalbfleisch drew a walk before freshman Devin Ruiz sent a single through the left side that allowed Kusz to score from second and leave UNCG with a 2-0 lead.
Thanks to a single by freshman infielder Tripp Shelton and an error by The Citadel’s second baseman, the Blue and Gold had runners at second and third with no outs in the bottom of the fifth. Senior infielder Hunter King made it 3-0 with an RBI groundout before Woody tallied a sacrifice fly and extended the Spartan cushion to four runs.
Long singled on the infield to lead off the bottom of the sixth and stole second. Kusz then came through with an RBI single that scooted up the middle and into center field, accounting for the final run of the contest. Clark allowed just one more baserunner the entire night as his 10th strikeout ended the game in a 1-2-3 top of the ninth.
Due to forecasted rain for the area Sunday, the teams will close the series with a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. Both games will be carried live on the SoCon Digital Network.
Gardner-Webb 3, VMI 1
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – The VMI Keydets put the tying runs in scoring position in the ninth inning but came away empty as the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs held on for a 3-1 win in nonconference baseball action Friday at John Henry Moss Stadium.
David Geary had a one-out single in the ninth for the Keydets (10-21), and Tyler Tharp followed with one of his own after Will Malbon ran for Geary. Drew Bryan ran for Tharp and advanced on a wild pitch by GWU reliever Brad Haymes. Haymes, however, recovered and struck out Matt Winn and Will Connerley to end the ballgame.
Erik Heiligenstad (4-3) picked up the win for Gardner-Webb (18-20), as he pitched 8 1/3 innings and allowed just one run on six hits. Austin Heenan (0-5) took the loss after an outing that included three runs on five hits, four walks and six strikeouts. Haymes recorded his third save.
Offensively, the teams managed just six hits apiece and only Geary had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3.
The teams matched zeros until the bottom of the fifth, when Evan Hyett singled and advanced to second on an infield out. Collin Thacker then singled up the middle to put GWU up, 1-0.
The Keydets tied it in the seventh, when Jordan Tarsovich led off with a single off the leg of Heiligenstadt. Geary bunted him to second, and one out later, Winn doubled to straightaway center field to tie the game, 1-1.
VMI was unable to execute the shutdown inning in the bottom half, however. Paul Trick led off with a single and Hyett walked. A sacrifice bunt moved up both runners, and Jack Gomersall relieved Heenan. He walked Thacker intentionally and struck out Jacob Walker, but after each manager went to his bench, pinch-hitter Matt Simmons grounded a two-run single up the middle off reliever Kyle Staats to make it a 3-1 game.
The Keydets threatened in the eighth, putting runners at the corners with two outs, but Ray Lopez was caught stealing to end the inning and set the stage for the ninth.
VMI will return to action Saturday, as the series between the Keydets and Gardner-Webb wraps up with a doubleheader. Game one begins at 2 p.m.
Western Carolina 14, Furman 4
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – B.J. Nobles hurled seven strong innings and got solid run support from the middle of his lineup as Western Carolina cruised past Furman, 14-4, in the opener of a three-game Southern Conference baseball series Friday evening at Hennon Stadium.
The two teams will play a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.
Nobles (4-1), a sophomore right-hander, surrendered only four hits and worked around six walks with the help of seven strikeouts in helping the Catamounts (16-17, 8-5 SoCon) snap a three-game losing skid and three-game series streak to the Paladins (16-20, 5-8 SoCon).
Western Carolina's 3-through-6 hitters registered nine of the Catamounts’ 14 hits and seven of the 14 runs. Matt Smith led the way, going 3-for-5, while Brett Pope drove in three runs. Danny Bermudez had two hits and scored three runs, and Ferrell Kramer also collected a pair of hits and tallied two runs. Jason Smith belted a three-run home run, and Bradley Strong rounded out the balanced attack, doubling twice while crossing the plate three times.
Furman finished with eight hits, led by Sims Griffith's 2-for-4 performance. Ryan Morse hit his fourth home of the season, a two-run shot, in the eighth.
Western Carolina took advantage of Furman error to push across a pair of unearned runs in the first inning. RBI singles by Pope and Burmudez off Paladin starting pitching Matt Solter staked the Catamounts to a 2-0 lead.
WCU made it 3-0 in the second after Strong doubled with one out and came around to score on a Matt Smith single.
It remained 3-0 until the sixth, when Western Carolina combined six hits with two walks and a wild pitch to score nine runs and blow the game open. The frame's big blow came on Jason Smith's three-run home run to center field off Paladin relief pitcher Harry Norman.
Furman got on the board with a bases-loaded walk in the seventh and added three more in the eighth on an Andrew MacLatchie RBI double and Ryan Morse two-run home run.
Solter (2-3) was charged with the loss after yielding seven runs on nine hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out five.
Mercer at Wofford suspended
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Friday night's baseball game between Mercer and Wofford was postponed in the fifth inning due to rain. The contest will resume Saturday at 1 p.m. with the Terriers holding on to a 6-5 lead.
The postponed game will now kick off a doubleheader at Russell C. King Field with the second game to start 30 minutes following the conclusion of the series opener.