WCU, Samford advance in winners' bracket

No. 2 Western Carolina 10, No. 7 Wofford 9

GREENVILLE, S.C. – J.D. Long drew a walk-off, bases-loaded walk as second-seeded Western Carolina scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning off of All-Southern Conference closer Will Stillman to stun No. 7 seed Wofford 10-9 on Wednesday at the SoCon Baseball Championship at Fluor Field.

WCU (26-28) advances to face either No. 3 seed UNCG or No. 6 seed Samford on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Wofford (30-27) will take on either the Spartans or Bulldogs in an elimination game at 12:30 p.m.

Leading 9-5 after 7 1/2 innings, the Terriers turned the ball over to Stillman for the bottom half of the eighth. WCU’s Reece Strong roped a pinch-hit RBI double with two outs to make it a 9-6 game, but the real excitement came an inning later.

Bryce Bowman got the rally going with a one-out RBI double, and Matt Smith followed with an RBI double of his own as the Catamounts pulled within a run. Danny Bermudez drew a walk and Kramer Ferrell followed with a single off the glove of diving shortstop Derek Hirsch to load the bases.

Caleb Robinson walked with the bases loaded to force in the tying run, and after Stillman struck out Strong for the second out of the inning, Long worked back from a 1-2 count to knock in Bermudez and cap the improbable rally.

The late outburst made a winner of Colton Davis (6-3), who allowed two runs on five hits and two walks in 3 1/3 innings of work. Stillman (3-3) took the loss, allowing five runs on five hits and three walks in 1 2/3 frames.

Much of the scoring in the contest came early, as Wofford struck for four runs in the top of the first inning before WCU answered with two in the bottom half. The Terriers did all of their damage with two outs, highlighted by Max McDougald’s two-run triple.

The Catamounts got RBI singles from Smith and Bermudez in a first inning that took 49 minutes to complete.

The teams combined for five more runs in the second, with McDougald driving in two more for Wofford to make it 6-2. WCU again had an answer to keep it close, seeing runs score on an error, a bases-loaded hit batter and a sacrifice fly.

Wofford made it 7-5 with a run scoring on an error in the fourth, then saw Alex Malsch score on a wild pitch in the seventh and drive in a run in the eighth before turning it over to their bullpen.

Wofford starter Matthew Milburn did not earn a decision, as he allowed five runs on eight hits and two walks in seven innings of work. Milburn did enter the SoCon record book, however, striking out five to move his career total to 307, good for 10th in league history.

The teams combined for 30 hits in the 4-hour, 2-minute contest, with Wofford’s Hirsch leading the way with a 4-for-5 showing. Five other Terriers had two hits each, while four Catamounts turned in two-hit games.

Day two of the SoCon Baseball Championship concludes with No. 3 seed UNCG taking on No. 6 seed Samford with an 8:45 p.m. first pitch.

No. 6 Samford 8, No. 3 UNCG 5

GREENVILLE, S.C. – No. 6 seed Samford used a four-run outburst in the fourth inning to pull the first upset of the Southern Conference Baseball Championship on Wednesday, as the Bulldogs downed No. 3 seed UNCG 8-5 in the day’s finale at Fluor Field.

Samford (33-24), which also took two of three from UNCG (37-20) during the regular season, advances to face second-seeded Western Carolina on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The Spartans will take on No. 7 seed Wofford in an elimination contest at 12:30 p.m.

With the game tied at 4 heading into the fourth, Bulldog second baseman Frankie Navarrete lifted a triple off the wall in center field to score Jordan Fucci and Danny Rodriguez, who opened the frame with consecutive singles. T.J. Dixon followed with an RBI single, and after he stole second, Heath Quinn drove him in with a single to center to make it 8-4.

That was enough for Samford starter Parker Curry (7-2), who picked up the win despite allowing five runs on 12 hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out eight.

Samford opened the scoring on Austin Edens’ solo home run to center to lead off the second, but UNCG seized momentum in the bottom half of the frame on Jake Kusz’s three-run shot.

The Bulldogs reclaimed the lead in the third, getting a two-run triple from Hunter Swilling and another RBI single from Quinn to make it 4-3, but UNCG again had an answer, as Cesar Trejo crushed a moonshot solo home run that touched down 402 feet away, atop the five-story building behind the Green Monster in left.

Samford put up the 4-spot the following inning and Curry made it stand despite surrendering an RBI single to Kusz in the sixth that provided the final margin.

The Spartans ran themselves out of several scoring chances. After Trejo’s third-inning blast, L.J. Kalawaia and Collin Woody singled to put runners at first and second, but Curry struck out Dillon Stewart and catcher Richard Greene fired to third to catch Kalawaia trying to steal for an inning-ending double play.

The next inning, Ryne Sigmon was picked off of second base after a leadoff double, just before Kusz stroked a double to left-center. In the bottom of the fifth, Ben Spitznagel led off with a single, but right fielder Quinn fired to first to nab Spitznagel straying too far from the bag after making the turn.

Hunter Smith (6-5) was tagged with the loss after allowing eight runs on 10 hits and a walk in 3 2/3 innings. He struck out six.

Kusz and Kalawaia had three hits each, with Kusz driving in four runs on the day. Quinn, Edens and Navarrete had two hits each for the Bulldogs.

The SoCon Championship continues with an elimination game Thursday at 9 a.m. between No. 5 seed ETSU and No. 8 seed The Citadel.

May 24 (Tuesday)
SoCon Championship (SDN)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 1: #8 The Citadel 3, #9 VMI 2 (10 innings)

May 25 (Wednesday)
SoCon Championship (SDN)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 2: #4 Furman 3, #5 ETSU 0
Game 3: #1 Mercer 13, #8 The Citadel 1 (7 innings)
Game 4: #2 Western Carolina 10, #7 Wofford 9
Game 5: #6 Samford 8, #3 UNCG 5

May 26 (Thursday)
SoCon Championship (SDN)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 6: #5 ETSU vs. #8 The Citadel 9 a.m.
Game 7: #7 Wofford vs. #3 UNCG 12:30 p.m.
Game 8: #4 Furman vs. #1 Mercer 4 p.m.
Game 9: #2 Western Carolina vs. #6 Samford 7:30 p.m.

May 27 (Friday)
SoCon Championship (SDN)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 9 3:30 p.m.
Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8 7 p.m.

May 28 (Saturday)
SoCon Championship (SDN)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 12: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9 12 p.m.
Game 13: Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 11 3:30 p.m.
Game 14: Winner Game 13 vs. Loser Game 12 7 p.m.

May 29 (Sunday)
SoCon Championship (ESPN3)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 15: Winner Game 12 vs. Winner Game 14 1 p.m.
^Game 16: Winner Game 15 vs. Loser Game 15 60 minutes after Game 15

^ if necessary

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