Wofford 5, Samford 2
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Samford baseball team’s nine-game win streak was snapped by Wofford in a 5-2 setback in the second game of a three-game series Saturday afternoon at Russell C. King Field.
For Samford in the loss, Alex Lee went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Heath Quinn and Jared Watson also had two hits each for the Bulldogs. Hunter Swilling hit his SoCon-leading 13th home run of the season, going 1-for-4 on the day. Swilling’s home run gives Samford 59 homers so far this season, the highest total in the nation.
Samford’s Jared Brasher (3-3) pitched two innings, giving up three runs on two hits to take the loss on the mound for the Bulldogs. Philip Flach, Wyatt Burns and Mikel Belcher also pitched in the game for Samford.
Wofford was led at the plate by Conor Clancey, who went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. James Plaisted went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Matt Ramsay went 2-for-2 for the Terriers.
Luke Leftwich (4-2) pitched six innings, giving up one run on four hits to earn the win on the mound for Wofford. Will Stillman tossed the final 1 2/3 innings, allowing just one hit to pick up his 12th save of the season.
Wofford jumped on top first with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Plaisted singled to drive in Alec Paradowski for the first run of the game. Clancey then singled to center field to drive in Plaisted and Ramsay for a 3-0 Terrier lead.
The Terriers added a run in the bottom of the fifth inning to push their lead to 4-0. Plaisted doubled to left field to drive in Ramsay for Wofford’s fourth run of the game.
Samford plated its first run of the game in the top of the sixth inning to cut the Wofford lead to 4-1. T.J. Dixon walked to lead off the inning. Dixon later scored on a single by Lee for the inning’s lone run.
The Bulldogs added another run in the top of the eighth inning to close to within two runs of Wofford at 4-2. With one out in the inning, Swilling hit a home run to left field for Samford’s second and final run of the game.
Wofford plated one final run in the bottom of the eighth inning to make the final score 5-2. Clancey led the inning off with a home run to center field for the game’s final run.
With the loss, Samford falls to 23-18 overall and 10-4 in Southern Conference play. Wofford improves to 29-15 overall and 7-6 in SoCon games.
The teams will conclude their series with a game Sunday at 1 p.m.
Western Carolina 4, ETSU 3
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Sophomore Matt Smith and junior Danny Bermudez both hit solo home runs in the top of the ninth inning to propel Western Carolina to a series-evening, 4-3, victory over ETSU on Saturday afternoon in Southern Conference baseball action at Thomas Stadium.
The series rubber match is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. first pitch on Sunday.
For a second straight day, Western Carolina (18-21, 9-8 SoCon) scored all of its runs on home runs. In addition to the two shots in the ninth inning, redshirt freshman Pierce Suttles belted his second homer in as many days, giving the Catamounts the early 2-0 lead in the fourth inning.
Four Catamounts finished with multi-hit games with Smith going 2-for-4 with a walk and Bermudez finishing 2-for-5 with an infield bunt single. Redshirt sophomore Jason Smith collected two hits in a 2-for-3 outing, tallying his sixth double of the season, while freshman Matthew Koehler was 2-for-4, also doubling down the first-base line.
Suttles and freshman Brett Pope both added singles as WCU outhit ETSU, 10-6.
Following Suttles’ two-run home run in the fourth, the Bucs evened the game with a two-run shot of their own in the bottom of the sixth inning as catcher Hagen Owenby snuck one over the fence in left center to make it 2-2. ETSU then took a one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth as Jeremy Taylor led off with a triple off the fence in left-center, coming home on a RBI double by Trey York, setting up WCU’s ninth-inning heroics.
Senior closer Tyler Powell (2-1) picked up the victory in relief for the Catamounts, surrendering two hits in two scoreless innings out of the bullpen with a strikeout. Starter Bryan Sammons tossed a strong seven innings with a career-high eight strikeouts against three walks before coming out in the bottom of the eighth inning after Taylor’s leadoff triple.
ETSU reliever Chris Cook (0-1), who started the game at shortstop, suffered the loss after allowing the home run to Bermudez in 2/3 of an inning. Starter Jimmy Nesselt finished just two outs shy of a second consecutive complete game for the Buccaneers, surrendering three runs on nine hits. Nesselt struck out seven with four walks.
Six Buccaneers (15-27, 4-10 SoCon) combined for ETSU’s six hits on the day. York and Cook both doubled with Taylor legging out a triple and Owenby hitting the home run, his fifth of the season.
The series concludes on Sunday afternoon. Sophomore RHP Korey Anderson is scheduled to start for WCU with the Bucs countering with freshman RHP Ryan Simpler who is making his first weekend start.
No. 20 College of Charleston 10, Furman 8
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – Twentieth-ranked College of Charleston overcame an early five-run deficit by scoring 10 consecutive runs and held on to beat Furman, 10-8, Saturday afternoon in the second game of a weekend baseball series at Patriots Point.
The victory gives the Cougars (31-9) the series win over the Paladins (19-23) heading into Sunday’s 1 p.m. finale.
Furman, which trailed 10-5 in the ninth inning before scoring three runs to get within 10-8, had runners on first and second with two out in the ninth but Cameron Whitehead was retired on a fly ball to end the game.
The Paladins got off to a fast start, getting a leadoff home run by Carter Grote and Griffin Davis sacrifice fly in the first inning for a 2-0 lead.
Furman tacked on three more in the second against College of Charleston starting pitcher Brandon Glazer (8-1), plating two runs via sacrifice flies and the third run on a Griffin Davis double that drove home Sims Griffith for a 5-0 lead.
From that point, however, it was nearly all Cougars, as CofC used two-out hits in the fourth and fifth innings to score three runs. In the fourth, Bradley Jones’ two-out triple to right-center field off Furman starting pitcher Grant Schuermann (3-2) drove home Nick Pappas and Blake Butler, and in the fifth, Carl Wise’s two-out triple scored Ryan Brown to slice Furman’s lead to 5-3.
The Cougars turned the game around in the sixth, scoring five runs on six hits and plating two runs on balks. Morgan Phillis’ triple, the third by CofC in as many innings, chased home Pappas to open the scoring, and Phillips tied it at 5-5 after a Schuermann balk. The College of Charleston added three more runs to go up 8-5 while settling in behind Glazer, who recovered from the shaky start to toss shutout ball and allow just four hits over the his final five innings of work before exiting after seven frames. He ended up yielding 10 hits but did not walk a batter while fanning three in securing the victory.
Schuermann took the loss after getting tagged for six runs on nine hits over five-plus innings. He also avoided walking a batter and struck out four.
The Cougars added two-more two-out runs in the eighth against Paladin reliever Elliott Warford to complete a stretch of 10 unanswered runs and 10-5 lead before the Paladins made it interesting in their last at bat against CofC reliever Carter Love. A Griffith single, Grote double and Chris Ohmstede infield single led to runs on a fielding error, Simpson sacrifice fly and Blake Chisolm RBI single that cut the lead to lead to 10-8. With runners on first and second, Whitehead worked the count full against Love before a fly ball to right field ended the game.
Both teams banged out 14 hits. Furman was paced offensively by Davis, who went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, and Grote, who homered, doubled, drove in a pair of runs and scored twice in a 2-of-4 performance. Four other Paladins also had two hits, including Ohmstede, Chisolm, Griffth and Ryan Morse.
Jones led the College of Charleston, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs, and Pappas also registered three hits and scored three runs.
The Citadel vs. VMI postponed
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Saturday’s game between The Citadel and VMI has been rained out. The teams will wrap up their Southern Conference series with a doubleheader at Riley Park on Sunday beginning at 11 a.m.
Both ends of the twinbill can be seen on the SoCon Digital Network.
Mercer vs. UNCG postponed
MACON, Ga. – Due to thunderstorms in the Macon area, Saturday’s baseball game with UNCG at Claude Smith Field has been postponed until Sunday, April 26. The two teams will now play a doubleheader with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m.
The Bears can clinch the series with one victory after last night’s 12-1 triumph in the opening contest of their three-game stretch against UNCG.
Grant Papelian is scheduled to make his ninth start of the year in the opening game, as he faces off against the Spartans’ freshman right-hander Andrew Wantz. Fellow senior DJ Johson is slated for the start in the nightcap against UNCG freshman Chad Sykes.