Samford, Mercer advance to SoCon semis

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Brandon Powell drew a bases-loaded walk on a full-count pitch with two down in the bottom of the ninth to complete a two-run rally as No. 2 seed Samford stunned No. 3 seed Wofford 4-3 on Friday at the Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by Mountain Shore Properties at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

Samford (31-24) advances to Saturday’s semifinals, where it will face either Wofford or Furman at 9 a.m. The Terriers (37-21) will take on the Paladins in an elimination game Friday at 5 p.m. for the right to advance.

Samford entered the final inning trailing 3-2 after Wofford had scored three in the eighth to take the lead. Frankie Navarrete hit a ground-rule double down the right-field line to get the rally going, and T.J. Dixon followed with a double to the wall in right-center to put runners at second and third with no one out. Wofford closer Will Stillman uncorked a wild pitch to allow Navarette to score and tie the game before getting a strikeout for the first out of the frame.

The Terriers elected to intentionally walk the next two batters to set up force plays at every base, and Stillman struck out pinch-hitter Gregory Mula for the second out of the inning. Powell then worked a six-pitch walk to force in Dixon with the winning run.

Samford’s rally spoiled Wofford’s own comeback, as the Terriers trailed for most of the game before claiming the lead in the eighth. With Wofford down 2-0, Conor Clancey greeted Samford closer Andres Gracia with a double down the left-field line. After Kody Ruedisili worked a walk, a fly out to center moved Clancey to third and pinch-hitter Pete Carrier smoked a single to right to score Clancey with the Terriers’ first run of the day. Derek Hirsch legged out with a single to shortstop to score pinch-runner Matt Pelt, and Ruedisili never stopped running on the play, motoring around from second for the go-ahead run.

Wofford then turned it over to Stillman, who walked the first two batters he faced before getting a sacrifice and a pair of strikeouts to leave both runners stranded and send the Terriers to the ninth with the lead intact.

Samford built its 2-0 lead with single runs in the second and fifth innings. Catcher Richard Greene got the Bulldogs on the board with an RBI single in the bottom of the second, and SoCon Freshman of the Year Austin Edens smashed a one-out home run to left-center on the first pitch of his at-bat in the fifth.

Stillman, who leads the SoCon with 15 saves, and Gracia, who is fourth with 10, both blew what would have been two-inning save attempts. Gracia was the beneficiary of Samford’s ninth-inning rally, improving to 4-0 despite allowing three runs on four hits and a walk in two innings of work. Stillman fell to 1-1 after surrendering two runs on five walks – two intentional – in 1 2/3 innings. He allowed two hits and struck out four.

Parker Curry was denied his seventh win of the season after departing after 6 1/3 innings with no runs allowed on eight hits and a walk. He struck out four. Wofford starter Luke Leftwich went seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits with nine strikeouts.

Navarrete led Samford with a 2-for-4 effort, while Hirsch and Alec Paradowski had two hits apiece to pace Wofford.

No. 1 Mercer 19, No. 4 VMI 7

CHARLESTON, S.C. – No. 1 seed Mercer scored in all but two innings and pounded out a season-high 23 hits in a 19-7 win over No. 4 seed VMI on Friday at the Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by Mountain Shore Properties at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

The regular-season champion Bears (33-21) advance to Saturday’s semifinals and will face either The Citadel or VMI (21-29), who will meet in an elimination game Friday at 8:30 p.m. Mercer will meet that winner Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

Jackson Ware, Danny Edgeworth and Charlie Madden had four hits each for Mercer, which fell one hit shy of matching the SoCon tournament record set by Western Carolina in 1988. The Bears had 10 extra-base hits, four of which were home runs. Madden and SoCon Player of the Year Kyle Lewis had four RBIs each, with Lewis’ coming on a grand slam in the seventh inning.

Brandon Angus led VMI with three hits and two runs, while Thomas Stallings and David Geary had two hits each.

Mercer never trailed, getting a leadoff home run from Matt Meeder in the top of the first and adding two more runs on RBI singles from Edgeworth and Madden.

The Keydets got a run back on Matt Winn’s RBI single in the bottom half, but Mercer blew the game open with five runs in the top of the second, highlighted by a two-run single by Edgeworth.

VMI’s Geary stroked a three-run homer to close the gap in the second, but the Bears would score nine of the next 11 runs to pull away.

Madden hit a two-run shot to center field in the fourth and Truitt added a two-run homer of his own in the sixth. After Ray Lopez’s RBI double in the bottom half made it 13-6, Lewis hit his SoCon-leading 17th home run of the year, a grand slam that just cleared the wall in the right-field corner.

VMI’s Will Connerley drove in a run in the seventh before Mercer closed out the scoring with single runs in the eighth and ninth innings.

Mercer reliever Will Wade (6-1) picked up the win with four innings of relief, allowing two runs on three hits in four innings, striking out five.

Keydet starter Brandon Barbery (5-3) was roughed up for eight runs on seven hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings. Of the six pitchers VMI used, only Micah Gorman emerged unscathed, as he surrendered just one hit in 2/3 of an inning.

In the other half of the losers’ bracket, No. 3 seed Wofford will face No. 6 seed Furman on Friday at 5 p.m. in another elimination game. The winner of that contest will face No. 2 seed Samford on Saturday at 9 a.m.

Every game of the SoCon tournament will be streamed live and free on the SoCon Digital Network with the exception of Sunday’s championship tilt, which will air on ESPN3.

May 19 (Tuesday)
SoCon Championship presented by Mountain Shore Properties (all games on SDN)
(Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park; Charleston, S.C.)
Game 1: #8 The Citadel 8, #9 ETSU 2

May 20 (Wednesday)
SoCon Championship presented by Mountain Shore Properties (all games on SDN)
(Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park; Charleston, S.C.)
Game 2: #2 Samford 8, #7 Western Carolina 7 (10 inn.)
Game 3: #3 Wofford vs. #6 Furman, susp.

May 21 (Thursday)
SoCon Championship presented by Mountain Shore Properties (all games on SDN)
(Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park; Charleston, S.C.)
Game 4: #1 Mercer 3, #8 The Citadel 2
Game 5: #4 VMI 6, #5 UNCG 5
Game 3: #3 Wofford 16, #6 Furman 7
Game 6: #8 The Citadel 8, #5 UNCG 4
Game 7: #6 Furman 12, #7 Western Carolina 4

May 22 (Friday)
SoCon Championship presented by Mountain Shore Properties (all games on SDN)
(Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park; Charleston, S.C.)
Game 8: #2 Samford 4, #3 Wofford 3
Game 9: #1 Mercer 19, #4 VMI 7
Game 10: #6 Furman vs. #3 Wofford    5 p.m.
Game 11: #8 The Citadel #4 VMI    8:30 p.m.

May 23 (Saturday)
SoCon Championship presented by Mountain Shore Properties (all games on SDN)
(Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park; Charleston, S.C.)
Game 12: #2 Samford vs. Winner Game 10    9 a.m.
Game 13: #1 Mercer vs. Winner Game 11    12:30 p.m.
Game 14: Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 12^    5 p.m.
Game 15: Winner Game 13 vs. Loser Game 13^    8:30 p.m.
^ if necessary

May 24 (Sunday)
SoCon Championship presented by Mountain Shore Properties (ESPN3)
(Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park; Charleston, S.C.)
Championship game    2 p.m.