ETSU 3, Western Carolina 2
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Griffin Krieg’s birthday present came a few hours early.
The ETSU junior right-hander, who turns 21 on Saturday, tossed his first collegiate complete game and lifted the Buccaneers to a 3-2 series-opening win over Western Carolina on Friday night at Thomas Stadium.
The complete-game gem was the first by a Buccaneer pitcher this season as Krieg (2-5) tossed 112 pitches and held Western Carolina to the two runs on five hits and struck out five, marking his first win since defeating USC Upstate on Feb. 22 in Spartanburg, S.C. Krieg’s previous longest outing was 8 1/3 innings back on March 22, 2013, against Florida Gulf Coast.
Despite ETSU’s offense being held to a season-low two hits, the Blue and Gold manufactured three runs – two coming in the bottom of the seventh inning without the Bucs recording a hit. Jordan Sanford scored from third on a wild pitch and Andrew Lasure came around to touch the dish on a throwing error by catcher Danny Bermudez.
Sanford and Chris Cook – who was warming up in ETSU’s pen in the bottom of the eighth for a save opportunity – accounted for the two singles, while Western Carolina’s pitchers combined for six walks and hit Trey York. Jeremy Taylor reached via two walks and scored the game’s first run on York’s RBI groundout in the first inning.
With the win, the Bucs snapped their seven-game losing streak and improved to 15-26, 4-9 in SoCon play, while the Catamounts dropped to 17-21, 8-8.
Western Carolina starter B.J. Nobles suffered the loss (4-2) as he was charged with three runs (two earned) on two hits in 6 1/3 innings. The sophomore right-hander entered the game allowing the fewest runs among SoCon starting pitchers with 20 but walked five and struck out four.
ETSU used small ball to plate the first run of the night as Taylor battled off 10 pitches before earning a walk to lead off the bottom of the first, stole second and moved to third on fly out by Cook before sprinting home on York’s RBI grounder to short.
The Bucs, who left runners in scoring position in the second and fourth innings, were held scoreless until a wild seventh inning.
The Catamounts tied the game at 1 when Jason Smith led off the top of the third by belting his second home run of the season, but Krieg battled back and kept Western Carolina off the board before surrendering another solo homer in the eighth.
Krieg worked out of a jam in the sixth as he issued a leadoff double to Brett Pope, but he was left stranded as Sanford made a tough catch in left for the first out of the inning, while Cook made a solid defensive play at short to get Matt Smith for the second out of the frame. With the go-ahead run standing 90 feet away from the plate, Taylor tracked down a deep fly ball in center to get Bermudez for the final out of the inning, keeping it a 1-1 game.
The Blue and Gold finally answered in the bottom of the seventh as Sanford led off with a single to center – and after Danny Carrier failed to lay down a sacrifice bunt – Sanford moved to second on a wild pitch. ETSU eventually loaded the bases when Lasure reached on a fielder’s choice and Taylor earned his second walk of the night to set up the wacky scoring scenario following a Western Carolina pitching change. After Dylan Biumi relieved Taylor Durand, the freshman right-hander got ahead of Cook 0-2, but his third pitch was in the turf, allowing Sanford to score on the wild pitch, while Lasure came home when Bermudez’s throw to the plate went offline, making it a 3-1 score.
Western Carolina pulled within a run on Pierce Suttles’ one-out pinch-hit home run to left, but Krieg retired the final five Catamount hitters to secure the win.
Pope registered two of Western Carolina’s five hits in the losing effort.
The Bucs will go for the series win on Saturday at 2:05 p.m., as senior right-hander Jimmy Nesselt gets the start for ETSU, while the Catamounts counter with sophomore left-hander Bryan Sammons. Nesselt was the last Buccaneer hurler to pitch a complete game as he accomplished the feat last May 15 in a series win over Mercer.
Mercer 12, UNCG 1
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University baseball team scored 10 runs over the final three innings to run away with a 12-1 victory over UNCG in Friday night’s series opener at Claude Smith Field.
Mercer (26-16, 11-4 SoCon) continued its late night dominance, using its 13th double-digit scoring contest to improve to 12-1 in night contests this season.
Despite the offensive fireworks late in the game, it was the play of senior pitcher Eric Nyquist that put the Bears in position for the fifth win in their last six contests. The right-hander outdueled UNCG starter Ryan Clark, the Preseason SoCon Pitcher of the Year, for his fifth win of the season, surrendering just one run over 5 2/3 innings of work.
Mercer recorded 11 hits in the contest, including a game-high three from sophomore Kyle Lewis. The center fielder reached base four times, finishing 3-for-4 with four RBIs on the night. Howard Joe added two hits, including a three-run home run, while Matt Meeder reached three times on the strength of a 2-for-4 night at the plate.
Morgan Pittman picked up a crucial final out in the sixth to maintain a one-run lead and continued to dominate over the next two frames. The senior lefty finished the contest with 2 1/3 hitless innings, allowing just one baserunner. Ben Lumsden struck out two in a scoreless ninth to close out the victory.
The Bears struck first with a run in the bottom of the second, as Charlie Madden’s two-out double to right-center plated Trey Truitt for an early 1-0 lead. Mercer added another run one inning later, taking a 2-0 advantage in the third on Danny Edgeworth’s RBI single.
UNCG (17-20, 8-8 SoCon) got on the board in the fourth, putting together a pair of hits to lead off the frame before cutting the lead in half, 2-1, with a run on a wild pitch. However, the Bears answered two frames later, pushing their lead back to two, 3-1, on Nate Moorhouse’s solo shot to center field.
Lewis made it a 4-1 game in the seventh with an RBI single in the seventh before the flood gates opened in the eighth inning. Mercer plated eight runs in the inning to push its record to 6-1 in home league contests.
Meeder started the scoring with a run-scoring single before Devin Bonin drew a bases-loaded walk for the second run of the inning. Lewis cleared the bases moments later, belting a double off the left-field wall for a 9-1 lead. Joe wrapped up the scoring with his fifth long ball of the year to help the Bears move to 5-1 in SoCon series openers
The Bears will resume the series with UNCG on Saturday afternoon at Claude Smith Field. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Samford 8, Wofford 3
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Samford baseball team earned its ninth straight win in an 8-3 victory at Wofford in the first game of a three-game Southern Conference series Friday night at Russell C. King Field.
Samford improved to 23-17 overall and 10-3 in Southern Conference play. The Bulldogs’ nine-game streak is the longest since winning nine in a row early in the 2014 season. Wofford fell to 28-15 overall and 6-6 in SoCon games.
The Samford offense hit three home runs in the game, bringing its nation-leading total to 58 so far this season. Individually for Samford, Hunter Swilling went 4-for-5 with a home run, a triple and three RBIs. Alex Lee went 2-for-5 with a home run and an RBI. Austin Edens also homered for Samford, going 1-for-4 with an RBI.
Alex Ledford (6-3) pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on six hits to earn the win on the mound for Samford. Ledford struck out seven batters, while walking just three. Mark Donham pitched the ninth inning, retiring Wofford in order to close out the game.
For Wofford, Matt Ramsay and Mack Nathanson drove in a run each for the Terriers. Matthew Milburn (8-1) pitched five innings, giving up seven runs, six earned, on nine hits to take his first loss of the season for Wofford.
Samford got off to a hot start, plating three runs in the top of the first inning. Swilling, Edens and Lee each hit a solo home run in the inning as Samford grabbed the early 3-0 lead.
Wofford came back with one run in the bottom of the third inning to cut the Samford lead to 3-1. Ramsay singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Derek Hirsch for Wofford’s first run of the game.
The Bulldogs extended their lead with four runs in the top of the fourth inning. Richard Greene singled to drive in Jared Watson for the first run of the inning. Swilling later singled to drive in Greene and Frankie Navarrete. The inning’s final run was scored when Heath Quinn singled to drive in Swilling for a 7-1 Samford lead.
The Terriers scored a run in the sixth inning and another run in the eighth to close to within four runs at 7-3. In the sixth inning, Alec Paradowski singled to lead off the inning and later scored on a Samford error. In the eighth inning, Nathanson singled to drive in James Plaisted.
Samford added a run in the top of the ninth inning to make the final score 8-3. Swilling led the inning off with a triple. He then scored on a sacrifice fly by Quinn for a five-run Samford lead.
The teams will continue their series with a game Saturday at 2 p.m. (CDT).
VMI 8, The Citadel 7
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The VMI Keydets jumped out to an early 6-0 lead and staved off a rally by The Citadel Bulldogs to capture the opener of a three-game series, 8-7, in SoCon baseball action contested Friday at Riley Park.
The Keydets (13-22, 6-7 SoCon) jumped on The Citadel’s ace, James Reeves, for four runs in the first inning and two more in the second, but a five-run fourth inning by the Bulldogs (18-22, 3-10) would tie the game. Four Keydet middle relievers held The Citadel to one hit over a four-inning span, allowing VMI to retake a two-run lead with single runs in the sixth and eighth. The home team managed an unearned run against Taylor Edens in the eighth but could not overcome the Keydet lead as VMI won its fourth straight game in the series between the schools.
The story of the game was the Keydet middle relievers, as Jack Gomersall, Kyle Staats and TJ Lighton combined to allow just one hit and one walk over four innings. Gomersall entered in the fourth and worked two innings for the win, moving to 2-1, while Lighton’s shutout inning in the seventh was his first appearance since May 17, 2013.
Zach Lavery (0-3) allowed one run on three hits over 1 1/3 innings to take the loss for The Citadel, while Edens became just the second Keydet to ever record double-digit saves in a single season by posting his 10th of the year.
Offensively, the Keydets pounded out 14 hits and were led by a three-hit, three-RBI game from Tyler Tharp, while Matt Winn extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Jacob Watcher had three hits for The Citadel.
A four-run first inning for the Keydets included three hit batters and a walk. Tharp, Collin Fleischer and Jordan Tarsovich drove in the runs for the visitors, who then scored twice more in the third. A two-run single for Brandon Angus made it a 6-0 game, but Reeves was able to complete the inning and worked a 1-2-3 fourth, helping his Bulldogs get back in the game.
A single run in the third made it 6-1, and the Bulldogs tied the game in the fourth. The first five hitters reached against Austin Heenan, including an RBI walk by Johnathan Stokes and a wild pitch that scored another run. The five-hitter stretch was capped by Connor Walsh’s two-run single that knocked the Keydet starter out of the game with the lead cut to one, 6-5. Gomersall relieved and after an error, a pop out and a hit batter loaded the bases again, he walked in a run to tie the score, 6-6. Tarsovich then made a spectacular play on a ground ball behind the bag at second base, making a backhand flip to Thomas Stallings to start a 6-4-3 double play that ended the threat.
The Keydet middle relief settled down after that, and VMI retook the lead in the sixth. David Geary had a ground-rule double with one out and Winn followed with an RBI single, making it a 7-6 contest. That was the score until the eighth, when the Keydets put together a two-out rally. Geary singled and Winn followed with one as well. Tharp then singled to left, scoring Geary to make it an 8-6 contest, and that run proved critical.
Edens relieved to start the eighth and induced a ground ball to third from Watcher, but Geary overthrew first for a two-base error. Stokes capitalized with an RBI single later in the inning, cutting the lead to one, but Edens set down the final five hitters he faced to join Kevin Crum (2007) as the only Keydets with double-digit saves in a single season.
Neither starting pitcher figured in the decision, as Reeves gave up six runs on seven hits over four innings, while Heenan was knocked out after three frames after giving up six runs and eight hits.
VMI will return to action Saturday, when the Keydets take on The Citadel in a game that is now scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
No. 20 College of Charleston 9, Furman 2
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – Taylor Clarke pitched seven strong innings and 20th-ranked College of Charleston took advantage of some poor glove work by Furman to score five third-inning runs en route to a 9-2 victory in the opening game of a three-game baseball series at Patriots Point on Friday evening.
Game two of the series betwen the Cougars (30-9) and Paladins (19-22) has been moved up to 11 a.m. due to the threat of inclement weather.
Clarke (9-1) surrendered only three hits and a run and did not walk a batter while recording nine strikeouts in suffocating Furman at the plate. The Paladins didn’t collect their first hit until Jordan Simpson doubled with one out in the fifth. He scored on a single by Sky Overton, who was thrown out at second base trying to take an extra base.
The College of Charleston grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Morgan Phillips’ solo home run to center field off Furman starting pitcher Matt Solter (2-4).
The Cougars took advantage of weak defensive play by Furman in the third inning to put up five runs, four of which were unearned. After Ryan Brown drew a leadoff walk, Paladin shortstop Sims Griffith misplayed a ground ball off the bat of Alex Pistorius into an error, and Alex Wise followed with a bounding ball that deflected off the glove of Paladin third baseman Chris Ohmstede into left field for a base hit, allowing Brown to score. Blake Butler then hit a slow roller to the left of the pitching mound that Solter misplayed, loading the bases. Solter battled back by recording a pair of strikeouts before walking Bradley Jones on a full-count pitch to force in a run and then yielding a bases-clearing double to Erven Roper that gave the Cougars a 6-0 lead.
The Cougars tacked on single runs in the seventh and eighth innings.
Solter took the loss, charged with five hits and six runs, only two of which were earned. He walked four and struck out seven.
Roper led the Cougars at the plate, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs, highlighted by his two-out, three-run double in the decisive third inning.
A postgame scoring change on Butler’s top roller in the third inning, originally scored an error but later deemed to be a hit, got the Cougars to the impressive 10-hit plateau for an eighth consecutive game and 14th time in the last 15 contests.
Furman managed just four hits, tying a season low.