Furman 6, Wofford 4
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Matt Solter battled for seven innings and Jake Jones doubled twice in a three-hit performance and scored three runs to lift Furman past Wofford, 6-4, in the opening game of a Southern Conference weekend series Friday afternoon at Russell C. King Field.
The win improves Furman (23-26, 10-9 SoCon) to 7-3 in its last 10 league games and puts the Paladins in position to claim their fourth consecutive SoCon series with a victory in the either of the remaining series games, scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Solter yielded a run in both the first and second innings and worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the third before settling down to keep Wofford (33-18, 10-8 SoCon) in check through seven frames. He allowed eight hits, four runs, three of which were earned, walked three and struck out three in notching his second straight win and evening his record at 4-4 on the season.
The Paladin senior right-hander received early run support in the form of a Cameron Whitehead two-run home run in the second and two more runs in the second on an RBI double by Jones and two-out run-scoring single by Jordan Simpson for a 4-2 lead.
Furman made it 5-2 in the fifth after Jones cranked his second double of the contest into the right-field corner and moved to third on a sacrifice before scoring on Chris Ohmstede’s sacrifice fly.
Wofford manufactured a run in the fifth, getting a leadoff single from James Plaisted, who advanced to second on a balk and on to third on a wild pitch before coming home on a Connor Clancy groundout.
The Paladins upped their advantage to 6-3 in the seventh on a Griffin Davis double into the right-field corner that scored Jones from first base.
Elliott Warford, who worked a perfect eighth in relief of Solter, surrendered an infield single to start the ninth before striking out Plaisted and Clancy, the Terrier’s No. 3 and No. 4 hitters. He yielded a two-out single to Carson Waln but rebounded to strike out Kody Ruedisilli to end the game and notch his fifth save of the season.
Jones’ 3-for-5, three-run performance headlined Furman offensively as the Paladins finished with nine hits. Davis went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Whitehead’s two-run home run, his sixth of the season, cleared the fence in right field and extended Furman’s home run streak to eight games and gave the Paladins 57 round-trippers on the season.
Waln went 3-for-5 to pace Wofford’s 10-hit attack.
The Citadel 9, ETSU 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Connor Walsh and Drew Ellis both homered twice in the opening three innings to back seven innings of shutout pitching from James Reeves, giving The Citadel a 9-1 win over ETSU in the opening game of a Southern Conference series on Friday at Riley Park.
The series continues Saturday at 2 p.m. with the possibility of a doubleheader depending on the weather forecast for Sunday. Check citadelsports.com or social media sites for schedule updates.
The Citadel improved to 21-26 overall, while ETSU dropped to 19-30 in the first game as SoCon rivals since the Buccaneers left the conference following the 2005 season. The teams are both 6-13 in the league.
The Bulldogs jumped on ETSU starter Griffin Krieg in the bottom of the first on a two-run homer by Walsh to straightaway center and a solo shot over the video board in right-center by Ellis.
The duo struck again in the third with Walsh following a Johnathan Stokes single with a long homer to right-center, and Ellis went to nearly the same spot for his second solo round-tripper to build The Citadel lead to 6-0.
It marked the first time that two Bulldogs homered twice in the same game since Curt Beerman and Rodney Hancock turned the trick against Marshall on March 22, 1997. Ellis increased his team-leading total to eight homers, the most by a Citadel freshman since Richard Jones had 15 in 2007, while Walsh has gone deep six times and has a team-best 47 RBIs.
While the Bulldogs were playing long ball, Reeves (7-3) coasted through his seven innings, scattering five hits and striking out 12, two shy of his season high and three short of his career best. The redshirt junior southpaw recorded his fourth double-digit strikeout game of the year and raised his season total to 99.
Reeves fanned two in each of the first three innings and struck out the side in the fourth. He finished his day in the seventh, stranding a runner at second and completing the frame by striking out Kevin Phillips.
The Citadel tacked on a run in the fifth when Walsh walked and scored his third run of the game on a double by Stephen Windham. A two-base hit by Ryan Kilgallen and RBI single by Austin Mapes rounded out the Bulldog offensive output in the seventh.
ETSU avoided the shutout in the eighth against Austin Mason on a double by Trey York, a wild pitch and sacrifice fly by Hagen Owenby. Mason fanned three in his two innings of relief.
Krieg (2-7) allowed six hits and seven runs with four strikeouts in five innings and took the loss for the Bucs.
VMI 11, UNCG 3
LEXINGTON, Va. – Will Connerley, Matt Winn and Jordan Tarsovich all homered to back Austin Heenan's best start of his career as the VMI Keydets defeated the UNCG Spartans, 11-3, in the opener of a three-game SoCon series contested Friday.
UNCG (21-23, 11-11 SoCon) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but that advantage did not last long. Ray Lopez and Tarsovich walked to start the Keydet first, and David Geary followed with a ground ball to first base that UNCG's Aaron Wright threw into left field to allow a run to score. One out later, Tarsovich scored on a sacrifice fly foul out off the bat of Collin Fleischer, and Connerley followed with a two-run shot to give the Keydets the lead for good. VMI (16-26, 9-10 SoCon) would score 10 unanswered runs before the teams traded eighth-inning runs to account for the final margin.
The other story of the day was Heenan (1-6), who went a career-long 7 1/3 innings and scattered eight hits. He allowed three earned runs, two of which came in the first inning, and walked and struck out two apiece. Ryan Clark (6-6) took the loss after allowing nine runs, only four of which were earned, in six innings. The Keydets took full advantage of five UNCG errors, including two by first baseman Wright, to score six unearned runs.
After VMI took a two-run lead in the first, the Keydets added on in the third. An infield hit by Matt Winn extended the inning, and Fleischer and Connerley had RBI hits to make it a 6-2 contest.
The Keydets broke it open in the fifth, when Geary led off with a walk and Winn launched the first pitch from Clark over the right-center field wall for his 12th home run of the year and an 8-2 Keydet lead. A dropped throw by Wright then allowed another Keydet run to score as the margin ballooned to 9-2.
An RBI bunt hit by Brandon Angus off reliever Julian Abreu gave the Keydets a 10-2 cushion in the seventh. Wright then wrapped up the UNCG scoring with a solo home run off Heenan in the eighth, two batters before the Keydet bullpen entered the game. Jack Gomersall and Kyle Staats combined to retire all five hitters they faced, and Tarsovich accounted for the final margin with a solo home run in the eighth.
Offensively, Connerley led the way with a 3-for-3, two-run, three-RBI game. Five different Keydets scored two runs in the win. Zac MacAneney went 2-for-5 to pace UNCG.
With the three home runs, the 2015 VMI squad tied the 1997 club for fifth on the all-time program listing with 48 home runs in a season.
VMI will return to action Saturday, when the series with UNCG resumes at Gray-Minor Stadium. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
Samford 13, Western Carolina 4
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford freshman Austin Edens went 5-for-5 and drove in five runs to lead an impressive offensive effort as the Bulldog baseball team earned a 13-4 win over Western Carolina in the first game of a three-game Southern Conference series Friday night at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
Edens had a home run, two doubles and two singles on the night. This marked the first time a Samford player has recorded five hits in a game since T.J. Dixon performed the feat, going 5-for-6 against Elon on April 5, 2014.
Samford's Richard Greene went 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and three RBIs. Frankie Navarrete went 3-for-5 with an RBI. Alex Lee went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, while Heath Quinn went 2-for-4 with a double.
Samford pitcher Alex Ledford (7-4) pitched 7 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on four hits to earn the win on the mound for the Bulldogs. He struck out seven batters, while walking just two. Eric Wright and Devan Traglia also saw time on the mound for the Bulldogs.
For Western Carolina, Matthew Koehler went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Korey Anderson (3-4) pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up 11 runs, 10 earned, on 15 hits to take the loss on the mound for the Catamounts.
Samford jumped on top early with a run in the first inning and four more in the second. In the first inning, Edens singled to left field to drive in Hunter Swilling for the game's first run. In the second inning, Edens drove in two runs with a double, and Dixon and Lee drove in a run each for a 5-0 Samford lead.
Samford pushed its lead to 8-0 with three runs in the fourth inning. Greene hit a three-run home run to left field, his 10th homer of the season, to give Samford an eight-run advantage.
Western Carolina put its first run on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth inning. Koehler doubled to lead off the inning and later scored on a groundout by Matt Smith to cut the Samford lead to 8-1.
Samford plated three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to make the score 11-1. Edens led the inning off with a home run to left field, his 13th homer of the season. Navarrete reached base on an infield single to drive in Jared Watson, and Danny Rodriguez scored on an error on the play to give Samford a 10-run lead.
Western Carolina scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to cut the Samford lead to 11-4. Bradley Strong tripled and scored on an error for the inning's first run. Koehler and Garrett Brown drove in a run each to bring Western Carolina to within seven runs of Samford.
The Bulldogs plated two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the final score 13-4. Edens and Lee drove in a run each in the inning for the game's final two runs.
With the win, Samford improves to 27-21 overall and 12-7 in Southern Conference play. Western Carolina falls to 18-25 overall and 9-10 in league games.
The teams will continue their series with a game Saturday at 2 p.m. CDT at Joe Lee Griffin Field.