Mercer 14, Samford 5
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University baseball team clinched at least a share of the Southern Conference regular-season title with a 14-5 victory over Samford on Thursday night at Claude Smith Field.
Mercer (30-20, 15-6 SoCon) also reached the 30-win mark for the sixth straight season with the victory, securing the fifth regular-season crown in program history.
After scoring just two runs over the first four innings, the Bears’ lineup exploded over the final four frames, plating 12 runs to roll to the win. Mercer reached double-figure hits for the eighth time in its last nine contests, finishing with 14 on the night. Devin Bonin led the way with four hits and a team-best three runs, while Charlie Madden was one of four others with multiple-hit performances on his way to a career-best six RBIs.
The late run support was more than enough for Mercer starter Eric Nyquist, who settled in after a rough start to claim his seventh victory of the season. Nyquist (7-2) scattered 12 hits over 7 2/3 innings of work, giving up five runs and striking out seven. Mitchell Wade, Austin Lord and Ben Lumsden combined to shut down the Bulldogs over the final 1 1/3 frames to seal the win.
Samford (28-23, 13-9 SoCon) got off to fast start, collecting four straight singles to jump out to an early 2-0 lead. However, Nyquist struck out three straight batters to escape further damage and the end the inning.
The Bears matched Samford with two runs in the home half of the inning, as their first two batters reached base to set up back-to-back RBIs from Kyle Lewis and Danny Edgeworth to tie the game, 2-2.
Both pitchers buckled down over the next three innings, though, as they combined to strand nine runners during that stretch to maintain a 2-2 tie. However, Mercer broke through in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Bonin and Lewis led off the inning with back-to-back singles before Jackson Ware was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Nate Moorhouse gave the Bears their first lead of the game moments later, drawing a bases-loaded walk for a 3-2 advantage. Howard Joe plated Lewis for the second run of the frame before Madden’s two-run single pushed the lead to 6-2.
Samford cut the lead to three, 6-3, in the top of the sixth, as Frankie Navarrete’s sacrifice fly plated Danny Rodriguez.
The Bears responded in the home half, as Lewis hit his SoCon-leading 15th home run of the season, a two-run shot, to push the lead to 8-3. Mercer’s offense was not done, however, adding three insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh. Madden and Matt Meeder each drove in a run on suicide squeezes before Bonin plated Trey Truitt with his third hit of the night for an 11-3 advantage.
Samford scored two runs in the top of the seventh on Damon Waller’s two-run home run to trim the deficit to six, but Madden outdid him in the bottom of the frame with a three-run home run to straight-away center field to close out the scoring in the 14-5 triumph.
The Bears can claim the outright SoCon regular-season title with a win against Samford on Friday night. Prior to the start of that contest, Mercer recognize its nine-man senior class. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
The Citadel 5, Furman 4 (10 innings)
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Connor Walsh led off the top of the 10th with a solo homer to give The Citadel the lead, and Clay Martin made a running catch in deep right-center in the bottom of the inning to seal a 5-4 victory over Furman in the opening game of the final Southern Conference series of the season.
The Bulldogs (24-27, 9-13 SoCon) need to win the remaining two games against the Paladins (23-30, 10-12) to avoid playing in Tuesday's opening round of the conference tournament at Riley Park. The Citadel has won six of its past seven SoCon games.
Freshman southpaw JP Sears (5-4, 4.23 ERA) will pitch for the Bulldogs on Saturday, and sophomore righty Matthew Quarles (5-2, 5.01) will toe the slab for the Paladins.
Walsh homered for the fourth time in the past five games when he launched a 2-2 pitch from Elliott Warford over the fence in left-center, only the second home run allowed in 44 innings this season by the Furman closer. The homer was Walsh's eighth of the season and seventh in SoCon play.
With Bulldog closer Skylar Hunter on the mound in the bottom of the 10th, Chris Ohmstede singled with one out and advanced to third on a wild pitch and groundout. Jake Jones then drove a long fly ball that Martin, who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the eighth, ran down on the warning track.
The Bulldogs jumped out to quick 4-0 lead on a first-inning grand slam by Drew Ellis off Matt Solter. The Paladins answered with three in the second off James Reeves and tied it in the fifth on an RBI single by Griffin Davis.
The home run was Ellis' 10th of the year and fourth in the past five games. He became the first Citadel freshman with double-figure home runs since Richard Jones slammed 15 in 2007.
It stayed a 4-4 game over the next four innings despite both teams having solid scoring threats. The Citadel put the first two men on in the sixth, loaded the bases with one out in the eighth and had runners at the corners with one out in the ninth but was unable to break the tie.
Furman had golden opportunities to take the lead in the seventh and eighth. Zach Lavery got two key outs in the seventh to strand a runner at third, and Johnathan Stokes made a diving catch of a line drive by Cameron Whitehead and stepped on second to complete an unassisted double play in the eighth.
Reeves took a no-decision, allowing six hits and all four runs (three earned) with three walks and four strikeouts in six innings. Hunter worked the final 2 2/3 innings and picked up his third win of the season, surrendering one hit while striking out three. Austin Mapes singled in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to 11, tied with Walsh for the longest by a Bulldog this season.
Solter shook off the Ellis home run to go eight strong innings, allowing only four hits over his final seven frames, and struck out seven in the contest.
VMI 18, Western Carolina 4
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The VMI Keydets scored their most runs in more than five years and stole six bases in a game for the third time in less than a week as they routed the Western Carolina Catamounts, 18-4, in the opener of a SoCon baseball series Thursday night. With the win, the Keydets clinched a spot in the main draw of the conference tournament and ensured that their first game will be May 20 in Charleston, S.C.
On this night, the Keydets (19-27, 11-11) led 7-3 going to the sixth and proceeded to break the game open. Brandon Angus led off with a walk and stole second. Ray Lopez then walked and Jordan Tarsovich had a bunt single to load the bases. A fielding error brought home two runs and a RBI single by Collin Fleischer plated another, but VMI was far from done. Tyler Tharp added a two-run single and Thomas Stallings drove in a run with an infield hit to make it 13-3. An RBI double for Angus scored Tharp, and Lopez plated two more with a single to cap the nine-run inning and make it a 16-3 game. The teams traded runs in the seventh and a Stallings solo home run in the eighth capped the scoring.
The 18 runs were the most scored by a VMI team since notching 20 on March 6, 2010, against Maryland-Eastern Shore, and the six stolen bases moved this year's Keydet squad into second in school history on the all-time steals listing. The 2015 squad's 96 thefts are just two shy of 1995's 98 steals.
Andrew Woods (7-1) preserved the large lead by going seven solid innings and allowing four runs on nine hits. He struck out four and walked two, and his seventh win moved him into a four-way tie for fourth on the all-time VMI single-season list. The victory also tied him with former Keydet Michael Bowman for sixth in career victories with 14.
WCU (20-27, 10-12) starter Bryan Sammons was charged with seven of the 18 runs and dropped to 4-5 with the loss.
The Keydets took the early 1-0 lead when Lopez was hit by a 3-2 pitch to open the game. One out later, Geary was plunked, as well, and as Matt Winn struck out, both runners broke for their next base. The double steal resulted in a throwing error by catcher Spencer Holcomb, allowing Lopez to score the game's first run.
That 1-0 margin grew in the fourth, when Winn started the inning with a single. One out later, Will Connerley singled him home for a 2-0 lead and Stallings plated Connerley with a single two batters later, giving the Keydets a 3-0 lead.
Western Carolina tied the game in the fourth. Bermudez led off with a double and Bradley Strong followed with a two-run home run to right field. A two-out, RBI single by Matthew Koehler followed and tied the game, 3-3.
The tie did not last long, however, as Tarsovich drew a walk in an 11-pitch at-bat with one out in the fifth. Geary and Winn then followed with walks of their own and Fleischer gave the Keydets the lead once again with an RBI single. Connerley then forced in a run with a hit-by-pitch and Tharp followed with a possible double-play ground ball to short. Fleischer, going from second to third, slowed just enough to obscure the vision of shortstop Brett Pope. Pope was not able to turn the double play and a run scored. Fleischer then capped the inning by scoring on a passed ball and gave VMI a 7-3 lead headed into its nine-run explosion.
Connerley added an RBI single in the seventh, which Bermudez countered for the home team with an RBI double in the bottom half. Stallings then capped the scoring with his 10th home run of the year, a solo shot to right-center, to lead off the eighth and account for the final margin of 18-4.
The offensive onslaught included three hits by Stallings and two apiece for Tarsovich, Winn, Fleischer, Connerley and Angus. Winn scored four runs, while Connerley, Tharp and Stallings chipped in with three RBIs apiece. With Stallings' home run, the Keydets have gone deep in seven straight games, equaling their longest streak of the season.
Bermudez led WCU with a 3-for-4 night.
VMI returns to action and wraps up the regular season Friday with a doubleheader at Western Carolina. Game one gets underway at 2 p.m.
UNCG 6, Gardner-Webb 2
GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG put 10 hits on the board Thursday evening on the way to a 6-2 win over Big South member Gardner-Webb in nonconference action at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. The Spartans end the 2015 campaign with 13-8 record at home.
UNCG (23-24) limited the Runnin’ Bulldogs (21-31) to just two runs on three hits. The Spartans reached double figures in the hit column for the 25th time this season and improved to 18-7 in those contests. The Blue and Gold also upped its home run total to 56 – just 10 shy of the program single-season record set back in 2008.
A quartet of Spartans notched two-hit efforts in the game as senior Tyler Long led the way going 2-for-4 with three runs scored and a run driven in. Senior Eric Kalbfleisch and freshman Tripp Shelton chipped in with two RBIs apiece. Kalbfleisch and senior Aaron Wright stretched their respective hitting streaks to 14 games each as Kalbfleisch recorded two base knocks and Wright was 1-for-3 with a walk.
Junior RHP Ryan Clark improved to 7-6 on the season after tossing 5 1/3 strong innings, allowing just two runs on two hits with five strikeouts against one walk. Jeremy Walked dipped to 2-5 following a four-inning outing during which he surrendered five runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Senior RHP Tyler Frazier picked up his third save of the season as he threw a perfect final two innings and struck out five batters.
Gardner-Webb went quietly in the top of the first before seniors Zac MacAneney and Hunter King led off the home half with a pair of singles. A groundout moved both runners into scoring position and junior Collin Woody worked a walk to load the bases. The Runnin’ Bulldogs were able to escape the inning, however, as Kalbfleisch hit into a 4-6-3 double play.
Patrick Graham put GWU on top in the second with a two-run home run that just cleared the left-field fence, but Long notched his second long ball of the season in the bottom half to leave the score at 2-1 entering the third inning.
Following a scoreless third frame, Kalbfleisch and Long both singled in the fourth and stood at second and third with no outs. A Ryne Sigmon sacrifice fly knotted the score at 2 before Shelton produced an RBI groundout to give UNCG a 3-2 advantage.
The Spartans upped their lead in the bottom of the fifth. MacAneney and King singled and landed at the corners. King then stole second before Wright worked a walk to load the bases with no outs on the board. After a strikeout, Kalbfleisch belted a 2-1 offering off of the wall in left-center for a two-run single that made it 5-2.
UNCG’s bullpen held Gardner-Webb to just one hit over the final four innings and the Blue and Gold added an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth to account for the final score.
The teams will conclude their home-and-home series Friday evening up in Boiling Springs, N.C. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.