No. 8 Furman, No. 3 Samford Advance

#8 Furman 3, #5 Appalachian State 1

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Greg Harrison curled a walk-off, two-run home run around the left-field foul pole in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift No. 8 seed Furman to a 3-1 win over No. 5 seed Appalachian State on Thursday in the Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

Harrison’s homer put the exclamation point on what was otherwise an outstanding pitchers’ duel. Appalachian State starter Jeffrey Springs and Furman starter Tyler Wood each turned in spectacular performances in what was a 1-0 game going into the ninth inning.

After the Mountaineers (21-33) tied the contest with an unearned run in the top half of the frame, Paladin freshman Carter Grote greeted App reliever Taylor Thurber walk to lead off the bottom half. Harrison then hammered the first pitch he saw out down the line, sending Furman (26-31) past its second straight higher seed and into Saturday’s semifinals against either Appalachian State or No. 4 seed Georgia Southern (35-21).

The Mountaineers will face GSU in an elimination game Friday at 3 p.m. to determine who advances to take on Furman.

Prior to Appalachian State’s ninth-inning rally, Wood had been in line for the win, carrying a shutout into the ninth inning. Tyler Zupcic hit a one-out single to get things going, and Dillon Dobson singled off of diving first baseman Harrison’s glove. Second baseman Jordan Simpson backed him up and threw to first trying to get Dobson, but it was not in time. Zupcic tried to take an extra base on the play, but Harrison fired across the diamond to nail him at third for the second out of the inning.

A walk to Jaylin Davis put runners at first and second, but Wood coaxed a ground ball to second off the bat of Alex Leach. Simpson couldn’t handle the grounder cleanly, however, allowing Leach to reach to load the bases and prolong the game. Brian Bauk then drew a five-pitch walk to drive in the tying run, knocking Wood from the game unable to pick up the win.

Alex Abrams (8-2) needed just three pitches to record the third out of the frame, sending the game to the bottom of the ninth for Harrison to win it against App reliever Thurber (1-7).

The rally got Springs off the hook for the loss. The Mountaineers’ junior left-hander from Belmont, N.C., was simply masterful on the night, striking out a career-high 11 and allowing just an unearned run on just two hits in a career-best eight innings of work. He was perfect the first time through Furman’s order.

The Paladins scored their lone run against him in the fourth inning, getting Hunter Burton’s leadoff double – Furman’s first hit of the game – and his SoCon-best 41st stolen base of the season. A two-out error allowed Burton to score from third as the Paladins went ahead 1-0.

That was where the score stayed until the ninth, as Springs limited Furman to just an additional seventh-inning single before being lifted for the bottom of the ninth.

Wood scattered eight hits and issued two walks, striking out five, in a career-long 8 2/3 innings of work.

Appalachian State’s best scoring chance against him prior to the ninth inning came in the first, when Tyler Stroup reached on a two-base error to lead off the game. Preston Troutman followed with a fly out to right field, allowing Stroup to tag and go to third, but Furman appealed the play at second and Stroup was ruled to have left early, clearing the bases with two outs. The play would loom large, as Michael Pierson followed with an infield single and Zupcic doubled before Wood induced a fly out to end the frame without damage.

Furman is 3-0 at the tournament so far, having beaten No. 9 seed UNCG 6-5 on a walk-off in the 11th inning Tuesday in a single-elimination game before taking a 3-2 win over No. 1 seed Western Carolina on Wednesday.

 

#3 Samford 7, #2 Davidson 3

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Caleb Bryson went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and four RBIs as third-seeded Samford downed No. 2 seed Davidson 7-3 on Thursday at the Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

The Bulldogs (34-24) advance to Saturday’s semifinal round and will face either No. 6 seed Wofford (31-27) or Davidson (29-18) at 1 p.m. The Terriers and Wildcats will square off at 6:30 p.m. Friday to determine who will play Samford.

Samford trailed 3-0 midway through the fifth before scoring all seven of its runs from the fifth through seventh innings. SoCon Freshman of the Year Heath Quinn got things started in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single to plate Frankie Navarrete, who was safe at second on a throwing error earlier in the frame. Bryson followed with a three-run homer to left-center to put the Bulldogs on top for the first time on the day. All four runs were unearned.

The Bulldogs tacked on another run in the sixth on Tripp Martin’s mammoth home run to left and blew the game open with two more runs in the seventh, getting an RBI triple from Quinn and an RBI double from Bryson.

That was more than enough for Samford, which held Davidson to just one run and four hits after a two-run first inning.

The Wildcats did draw first blood with a pair of unearned runs in the first. Samford starter Jared Brasher struck out David Daniels to open the game, but Daniels reached first on a passed ball. Lee Miller followed with a single to right before a fly out moved Daniels to third. A hit batter loaded the bases for Nathan Becker, who drew a walk to force in the first run of the game. Sam Foy then lifted a sacrifice fly to right to make it a 2-0 contest.

Davidson knocked Brasher from the game in the third after he walked the bases full with one out, but reliever Mark Donham induced a double play to keep the Wildcats from scoring in the frame.

The Wildcats scored their third run of the day in the fifth inning, getting an RBI double from Forrest Brandt to make it 3-0. Reliever Parker Curry got a pair of strikeouts to escape further damage.

Curry picked up the win, improving to 7-2 with four innings of work. He allowed one run on four hits and two walks, striking out six.

Davidson starter Nick Neitzel (7-2) was the tough-luck loser, as he allowed five runs, only one of which was earned, on six hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out six.

Daniel Gerow had Davidson’s lone multi-hit game, going 2-for-4. Quinn, Bryson and Navarrete had two hits each to pace Samford.

 

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