SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College baseball team scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to take a 7-6 win over ETSU at Russell C. King Field on Thursday night.
The Bucs took an early lead by scoring five runs in the fourth inning, but the Terriers battled back. After scoring twice in the bottom of the ninth, a single with two outs by Derek Hirsch drove in the final two runs for the victory.
Wofford is 28-23 overall and 10-9 in the Southern Conference. ETSU is 22-26 on the season and 9-10 in the league. The Terriers were led by Hirsch with two hits and a pair of RBIs, while Mack Nathanson and Kody Ruedisili each added two hits. Nathanson and Brett Hash had home runs for Wofford. The Bucs were led by Hagen Owenby with two hits and two RBIs.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Max McDougald singled. A triple by Nathanson to the corner in right field drove in a run and a single from Ruedisili drove in Nathanson to make it 6-5. Alec Paradowski walked with two outs and a double steal had both runners in scoring position. Hirsch drove a single up the middle to score both runners and walk off with the 7-6 win.
After a delayed start due to lightning, the Bucs got on the board with one out in the top of the first inning with a solo home run by Trey York. In the top of the fourth inning, Owenby hit a solo home run to left center for a 2-0 lead. After a single, a double made it 3-0. Back-to-back singles added another run and with one out a single gave the Bucs a 5-0 lead. A single with two outs plated a run for a 6-0 advantage in the middle of the fourth.
Wofford got one run back in the bottom of the fourth on a solo home run by Nathanson. It was his fifth home run of the season. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Hirsch singled and Hash followed with a home run over the fence in left center. It was his ninth home run of the season and cut the lead to 6-3.
Wofford starting pitcher Matt Milburn went six innings with six runs allowed on nine hits. He struck out five batters with two walks. David Ehmen (1-0) threw a career-high three innings and gave up one hit with three strikeouts to earn his first career win.
Lee Haeberle started for ETSU and in six innings allowed three runs on four hits, along with nine strikeouts. Jamin McCann worked two innings and allowed one hit. Ryan Simpler (0-5) allowed four runs on four hits, along with two strikeouts, in the final two-thirds of an inning.
The two teams will meet again on Friday and 6 p.m. and conclude the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. Wofford will end the regular season with a three-game series at Furman beginning on May 19.