Wofford 7, UNCG 5
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Wofford built an early lead for the second straight game and had to again hold on late as the Terriers downed UNCG 7-5 to clinch a Southern Conference series Saturday afternoon at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. The Spartans fall to 20-22 overall and 10-10 in SoCon play, while Wofford moves to 32-15 and 10-6.
The Blue and Gold outhit the Terriers 12-9 but left 10 men on base for the second straight outing. A total of four Spartan batters recorded multiple base knocks, while senior Aaron Wright and junior Collin Woody also drove in a pair of runs each. Matt Ramsey was 2-for-3 with three runs scored, an RBI and two walks to pace Wofford.
A trio of UNCG hitting streaks were extended in the contest with senior Tyler Long moving his to 14 games and Wright and senior Eric Kalbfleisch pushing theirs to nine games apiece.
Freshman RHP Andrew Wantz tossed a career-high 6 1/3 innings but was tagged with the loss and dropped to 5-2 after surrendering four runs on seven hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Luke Leftwich improved to 5-2, also throwing 6 1/3 innings and giving up three runs on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts.
Ramsey drew a walk with one out in the top of the first and moved to second on a James Plaisted single. Conor Clancey took a pitch off of his helmet to load the bases, but Wantz fanned Cody Miller for the second out. Wantz then got ahead of Kody Ruedisili but the batter took a 1-2 pitch and hit a weak blooper over third base that went for a double and plated two runs to give the Terriers the early lead.
In the top of the third, Wofford extended its lead to 3-0 after a Miller sacrifice fly, but Woody scored Wright on a double to the gap in left-center to trim the deficit back to two runs.
An RBI single by Alec Paradowski with two away in the top of the fourth made it 4-1 before Wright hammered a two-run home run – his team-leading ninth of the season – just inside the right-field foul pole to pull the Spartans within a run.
In a carbon copy of Friday night’s series opener, the Terriers scored late to establish a late multi-run advantage, but UNCG mounted another rally in the bottom of the ninth after leaving runners stranded at third base in both the seventh and eighth frames. Seniors Nick Chapman, Zac MacAneney and Hunter King all came up with singles to load the bases with no outs. With the Spartans facing a four-run deficit at 7-3, Wright fouled out before a Woody sacrifice fly made it a three-run game. Kalbfleisch ripped a single up the middle to cut the Wofford lead to two runs, but a groundout terminated the threat and ended the game.
The teams will meet again in the series finale Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
The Citadel 13, Samford 6
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Citadel put together four extra-base hits, including two home runs in the second and third innings, to build a 4-0 lead, and JP Sears earned the first Southern Conference win of his freshman season as the Bulldogs clinched the series at Samford with a 13-6 victory on Saturday.
The SoCon series win was the first of the season for The Citadel (20-25, 5-12 SoCon) and first in three trips to Birmingham since Samford (24-21, 10-7) joined the conference in 2009. The teams will wrap up the set on Sunday at 1 p.m., and the game can be seen on the SoCon Digital Network.
Steven Hansen matched his career high with three hits, including his second home run of the season, and Stephen Windham also had three hits as The Citadel knocked out 16 in the contest. Austin Mapes blasted his fourth homer and was joined by Connor Walsh and Drew Ellis with two hits, with Walsh scoring four times.
Mike Deese added three key insurance runs in the eighth when his pinch-hit home run offset a three-run Samford seventh that temporarily cut The Citadel lead to 9-5. The round-tripper was Deese's first as a Bulldog.
Sears had two losses and three no-decisions in his first five SoCon starts but worked out of a couple of jams en route to his fifth win of the year. The southpaw allowed six hits and two runs, walked two and struck out five in 5 1/3 innings.
The Citadel jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second on a double by Windham and RBI groundout by Ryan Kilgallen. After Sears escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the bottom of the second, Hansen and Mapes launched back-to-back home runs to start the third. Connor Walsh followed with a triple and scored on a single by Ellis to make it 4-0.
The visiting Bulldogs blew the game open in the fifth against relievers Cole Limbaugh and Caleb Maggio, scoring four times, including RBI singles by Ellis, Kilgallen and Hansen and a sacrifice fly by Jacob Watcher.
Samford threatened to get back in the game in its half of the fifth, loading the bases with nobody out. But Sears got a pop up and then induced Hunter Swilling to roll into a double play to keep the shutout intact. Samford finally broke through in the sixth on a two-run homer by Alex Lee to end Sears' day.
The host Bulldogs scored three times (two unearned) in the seventh to close within four before the Deese home run once again gave The Citadel a comfortable margin.
Furman 10, ETSU 9 (10 innings)
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Sky Overton stroked a one-out single to center field in bottom of the 10th inning to score Jake Jones from third base and give Furman a 10-9 victory over ETSU in Southern Conference baseball action Saturday afternoon at Latham Stadium.
Furman (22-24, 9-8 SoCon), which clinched its third consecutive league series win, will go for the series sweep against ETSU (17-29, 5-12 SoCon) in Sunday’s 1 p.m. finale.
Overton, a sophomore outfielder who delivered a pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the fifth inning and belted a game-tying home run in the sixth, came to the plate in the 10th after Jones tripled into the right-center field gap with one out. He lined the first pitch he saw from Buccaneer reliever Logan Gentry into center field for the game winner, completing a 2-for-3, three-RBI performance that included his first career home run.
Overton’s heroics highlighted the comeback win for the Furman, which trailed 8-2 in the fifth inning before rallying on the strength of a five-run fifth.
The Paladins trailed 8-7 when Overton’s two-out long ball in the sixth tied it at 8-8.
ETSU blunted Furman’s surge with a run in the eighth on a Trey York RBI triple that scored Chris Cook to give the Bucs a 9-8 lead. ETSU appeared ready to close out the Paladins, but a one-out fielding error in the ninth inning put runners at first and third, leading to a Cameron Whitehead game-tying sacrifice that drove home Kyle Simmons to force extra innings.
Elliott Warford (4-2), who entered the game with one out and a runner on base in the 10th, yielded a single to Kevin Phillips that put runners on first and second, but he bounced back to strike out York and get Taylor Owenby to ground into an inning-ending fielder’s choice. He was credited with the win.
The loss was charged to Gentry (0-2), who came on in relief with one out in the 10th, only to yield Jones’ triple and Overton’s game-winning single in the only two batters he faced.
ETSU grabbed a 2-0 lead in its first at bat, but Chris Ohmstede quickly tied it in the bottom of the first with a two-run home run, his fourth in consecutive games, 12th of the season and 41st of his career.
The Buccaneers then scored six unanswered runs, plating two runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to go up, 8-2.
Furman got off the deck in the fifth, scoring five runs and chasing ETSU starting pitcher Jimmy Nesselt. Jones’ two-run double into the left-field corner and two-run single by Blake Chisolm headlined the big inning that also included Overton’s pinch-hit sacrifice fly, but the Paladins’ bid for an even bigger rally was short-circuited by Bucs reliever Josh Jacques, who struck out Ryan Morse and Sims Griffith with the bases loaded to end the inning.
In the sixth, Overton’s two-out home run off Jacques cleared the fence in left field to draw the Paladins even at 8-8.
Jones, who had three hits and drove in three runs in the Paladins’ series opening 8-4 victory on Friday, went 3-for-6 with two doubles and three RBIs and scored three times to pace Furman’s 13-hit attack. Morse notched a 3-for-5 performance, and Chisolm went 2-for-4 with two RBIs to notch his team-leading 22nd multi-hit game.
ETSU, which banged out 14 hits in the contest, was led offensively by Jordan Sanford’s 4-for-5, two-RBI display. Phillips went 3-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored, and York also had three hits, including a triple, and scored a pair of runs.
Buccaneer reliever Chris Cook pitched effectively, working 3 1/3 innings, but was the victim of the costly error in the bottom of the ninth that led to Furman’s game-tying run.
Furman’s final three relievers of Ryan Griffith, Will Dvorak and Warford combined to surrender just one run on three hits over the game’s final six innings.
Mercer 7, VMI 6
LEXINGTON, Va. – The Mercer University baseball team clinched its series with VMI on Saturday afternoon, recording a 7-6 victory with its second straight win at Gray-Minor Stadium.
Mercer (28-18, 13-6 SoCon) outscored the Keydets (15-25, 8-9 SoCon) 5-1 over the final five innings to increase its Southern Conference lead with the 13th league victory. The Bears reached double-figure hits for the second time this series and fifth straight game overall, finishing with 12 on the afternoon.
Kyle Lewis once again led the way for the Mercer lineup, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs to push his batting average over .400 for the season. Trey Truitt reached base three times and drove in a run, while Matt Meeder added a team-best two runs to go along with a pair of hits.
Carter Varga tossed a scoreless to record his first collegiate victory, while Morgan Pittman surrendered just one run over the final four frames to pick up his third save of the year.
Mercer scored the game’s first run for the second straight contest, as Truitt singled through the right side to plate Danny Edgeworth for a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. VMI responded in the home half of the frame, grabbing the lead, 2-1, on Will Connerley’s two-run home run to left field.
The Bears knotted the game, 2-2, in the third frame, as Lewis continued his onslaught over the past two weeks with a run-scoring single. However, the Keydets once again answered, grabbing a 3-2 advantage with a run in the bottom of the inning. VMI added to its lead in the fourth, as Thomas Stallings hit a two-run shot put the Keydets on top, 5-2.
Mercer’s offense found its groove in the fifth, plating three runs to tie the game. Meeder started off the scoring with an RBI single to left center before Lewis came through with his second home run of the series. The sophomore blasted a two-run shot over the left-field fence to bring the two teams to even terms, 5-5.
The Bears took over the lead in the top of the seventh, as Devin Bonin crossed the plate on a wild pitch. Joe added an insurance run to Mercer’s tally one inning later, smacking a solo shot to left field to hand the team a 7-5 advantage.
VMI cut the deficit in half in the top of the ninth on Collin Fleischner’s solo shot, but Pittman rebounded with three straight outs to help Mercer improve to 23-0 when leading after six innings.
The Bears will go for the sweep Sunday, as they close out the series against VMI with a 1 p.m. contest at Gray-Minor Stadium.
UNC Asheville 13, Western Carolina 8
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – For a second straight night, UNC Asheville scored runs in bunches, jumping out to a 7-0 advantage through the first three frames before holding off the home-standing Catamounts’ latter-inning rally to upend Western Carolina, 13-8, in the back end of a nonconference home-and-home at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
With the loss, WCU drops to 18-24 overall on the season, while UNCA, which swept the Catamounts for the first time since 2011, improved to 20-26 overall.
Junior Kramer Ferrell paced the Catamounts with a career-high four hits in a 4-for-5 outing including a pair of doubles, matching his most in a single game for the Purple & Gold. The Ellensburg, Wash., native scored a team-high three runs and drove in one. Redshirt freshman Pierce Suttles likewise turned in a career-best performance, finishing 3-for-4 with career highs in two doubles and three runs driven in.
Sophomore Matt Smith collected two hits with a single and a double, with junior Reece Strong drawing a game-high three walks. Senior Bradley Strong hit his third home run in the past two games with a two-run bullet over the fence in right field during WCU’s middle-inning rally.
Trailing 11-1 after 5 1/2 innings, Western Carolina mounted a rally to close to within four with six runs between the sixth and seventh innings. Suttles drove home Ferrell for the first run in the sixth, with freshman Caleb Robinson collecting his first career triple in a pinch-hit role to make it 11-3.
In the seventh, Smith opened the rally with a one-out single to right field to be aboard for Strong’s seventh home run of the season, trimming the deficit to 11-5. The Catamounts managed to load the bases with Suttles drawing a run-scoring walk with Robinson collecting his second RBI of the day on an infield groundout to make it 11-6 through seven innings.
However, UNCA produced single runs in both the top of the eighth and ninth innings to keep the Catamounts at arm’s length and prevent the home rally.
Sophomore starter Bryan Sammons (3-4) took the loss after surrendering seven runs – only four of which were earned – on six hits with four strikeouts against two walks. Classmate Korey Anderson also fanned four with five walks in three innings of relief action, giving up three runs on three hits before giving way to freshman Corey Sikes for an inning of one-run, two-hit relief.
Senior closer Tyler Powell tossed two innings out of the bullpen, striking out five while allowing a run on three hits. Junior Taylor Durand and freshman Dylan Biumi combined to toss the ninth inning with the latter tallying his third of an inning on a strikeout.
All told, Catamount pitching recorded a combined 14 strikeouts against nine walks. WCU committed four errors defensively, while the Bulldogs had three. UNCA stranded 16 runners on base with the Catamounts leaving 10 on the base paths.
UNCA starter Jordan Fullbright (5-1) scored the victory for the visitors, limiting the Catamounts to two runs on six hits in five and a third innings. The left-hander struck out two and issued a pair of walks. Tyler Hughes struck out one but was tagged for five runs on five hits, with Adam Spacklin walking the two batters he faced. Closer Nick Schavone just missed the minimum for a three-inning save, tossing 2 2/3 innings of one-run, one-hit relief with a walk and three strikeouts.
Offensively for the Bulldogs, four players collected multi-hit games, including a 4-for-5, four-RBI performance by Tommy Houmard, who had a triple. Justin Wood collected a pair of RBIs on a two-hit day including a solo home run, and Joe Tietjen doubled twice, scoring four runs on the day.
Western Carolina breaks this coming week for final exams, returning to Southern Conference play next weekend with a three-game set in Birmingham, Ala., against the Samford Bulldogs. WCU will also play at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tenn., as a part of the four-game road swing.