Wofford, The Citadel, Furman pick up wins Thursday

No. 3 Wofford 16, No. 6 Furman 7

CHARLESTON, S.C. – No. 3 seed Wofford banged out 17 hits, seven of which went for extra bases, en route to a 16-7 win over No. 6 seed Furman in the completion of Wednesday’s suspended game on Thursday afternoon at the Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by Mountain Shore Properties at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

The Terriers advance to face No. 2 seed Samford on Friday at 9 a.m., while Furman will take on No. 7 Western Carolina in an elimination game Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.

The game resumed Thursday with Wofford leading 8-6 and runners on the corners and two out in the bottom of the third. Matt Ramsay stepped into the batter’s box with a 2-1 count and tattooed the first pitch he saw from Furman pitcher Will Gaddis out to left field to blow the game open.

The Terriers continued to pile on, adding three more in the fourth on Kody Ruedisili’s three-run homer to make it 14-6. The Paladin pitching staff finally stopped the bleeding with a pair of scoreless frames, but Wofford tacked on two more runs in the seventh on Carson Waln’s two-run triple to make it a 10-run spread.

Furman got a run back on Chris Ohmstede’s solo homer in the top of the eighth. The home run was the 43rd of Ohmstede’s career, extending his school record and his lead among active SoCon players.

Ohmstede’s home run stopped a string of 16 consecutive runs scored by the Terriers, who trailed 6-0 after the top of the first.

Furman bolted out to the six-run lead in the first on the strength of a two-run double by Brandon Elmy and a two-run home run from Ryan Morse, but Wofford answered with two in the bottom half and took the lead with a 5-spot in the second, highlighted by RBI singles by Ramsay and Conor Clancey. Wofford pushed across one more run in the third on Derek Hirsch’s bases-loaded walk to cap the scoring before the game was suspended.

Neither starter was effective Wednesday, as Furman’s Matt Solter (4-5) was tagged for 10 runs (seven earned) on eight hits and two walks. Wofford’s Matthew Milburn did settle down after the rough first inning but surrendered six runs on five hits and a walk in three innings of work.

Elliot Lance (5-2) took the mound for Wofford on Thursday and delivered a career-high six innings of solid relief, allowing just the one run on three hits, striking out five.

Seven Terriers posted multiple hits in the game, led by Ramsay’s 3-for-5 effort. The senior designated hitter had four RBIs and scored four runs. Waln was 3-for-4 with three RBIs, slugging a pair of doubles and a triple. Ruedisili was 2-for-5 with three driven in.

Ohmstede and Cameron Whitehead had two hits each for Furman.

No. 8 The Citadel 8, No. 5 UNCG 4

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Austin Mapes and Jacob Watcher had three hits apiece and No. 8 seed The Citadel turned just the third triple play in tournament history as the Bulldogs earned an 8-4 win over No. 5 seed UNCG in an elimination game Thursday at the Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by Mountain Shore Properties at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

The Citadel (27-29) will face the loser of Friday afternoon’s Mercer-VMI on Friday at 8:30 p.m. UNCG sees its season end at 23-27.

Mapes finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored. He hit a tie-breaking RBI double in the bottom of the sixth to spark a three-run rally and added a two-run home run in the eighth.

Watcher finished 3-for-3 with two runs had a two-run double in the second inning to stake The Citadel to an early lead.

UNCG countered with two runs of its own in the top of the third, starting the inning with consecutive doubles by Tyler Long and Ryne Sigmon. Sigmon scored one batter later on a Bulldog error on a sacrifice attempt.

The Spartans ran themselves out of a bigger inning, as The Citadel made some history with the first triple play in SoCon tournament action since 2007. Bulldog starter Thomas Byelick struck out Hunter King in an 11-pitch battle to start it, and catcher Ryan Kilgallen fired down to first when he spied Zac MacAneney straying too far from the bag. First baseman Stephen Windham ran down MacAneney for the first caught stealing on the play then fired over to third to nail Tripp Shelton trying to take third.

The teams traded runs in the fourth, with the Spartans claiming their only lead on Eric Kalbfleisch’s RBI single before The Citadel answered in the bottom half with William Kinney’s RBI base hit.

The Bulldogs went ahead to stay in the sixth, as Johnathan Stokes ripped a two-run single to right after Mapes’ RBI double to make it 6-3.

The Citadel tacked on two more in the eighth on Mapes’ homer before the Spartans scratched across a run in the ninth for the final margin.

Austin Mason (2-2) picked up the win with two scoreless innings of relief, while Bryant Stafford (4-3) took the loss after allowing three runs on five hits in 2 2/3 frames.

Long led UNCG with a 2-for-4 effort at the plate.

Thursday’s action concludes with No. 6 seed Furman taking on No. 7 seed Western Carolina in an elimination game, which is in progress.

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.

No. 6 Furman 12, No. 7 Western Carolina 4

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Furman’s Jake Jones went 4-for-5 to pace a 19-hit attack as the sixth-seeded Paladins eliminated No. 7 seed Western Carolina, 12-4, in Thursday’s nightcap at the Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by Mountain Shore Properties at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

Furman (25-32) will take on the loser of Friday morning’s Samford-Wofford game at 5 p.m. Friday. Western Carolina’s season comes to a close at 21-30.

Jones finished with two RBIs and two runs scored, while Carter Grote and Jordan Simpson added three hits each. Chris Ohmstede, Cameron Whitehead, Brandon Elmy and Ryan Morse finished with two hits apiece as seven of Furman’s nine starting hitters finished with multiple hits.

In a game that featured a combined 28 hits and fell just two minutes shy of four hours, the Paladins scored in bunches to keep their season alive.

Furman jumped out to a 6-0 lead after three innings and never looked back. In the bottom of the first, Whitehead hit a two-out, three-run home to give the Paladins a lead they would not relinquish.

Furman added two more runs in the second on a Griffin Davis sacrifice fly and an Ohmstede RBI single. Morse added a solo shot to right-center in the third to make it 6-0 before Western Carolina scratched the scoreboard on Brett Pope’s RBI single in the fourth.

The Paladins got the run back in the fifth, as Elmy scored on Jones’ infield single, but the Catamounts countered with a Jacob Hoyle solo homer in the sixth to make it 7-2.

Western Carolina made things interesting in the seventh with two more runs, courtesy of the Brothers Strong. Reece Strong got the scoring starting by scorching an RBI double down the left-field line, and Bradley Strong later knocked him in with an infield single.

The Catamounts threatened for more in the eighth, getting their first two runners on before Elliott Warford induced a 6-4-3 double play and struck out Pierce Suttles to snuff the rally.

The momentum shifted back in Furman’s favor after that, as the Paladins tacked on five runs in the eighth for the knock-out blow. Morse’s RBI single made it 8-4 before Grote, Jones and Sky Overton notched two-out run-scoring hits of their own to blow it open.

Pope finished 3-for-4 to lead Western Carolina at the plate. Matt Smith and Reece Strong had two hits each.

Matthew Quarles (6-2) earned the win for Furman, allowing two runs on six hits in six innings. Warford earned his seventh save of the season with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Catamount starter Korey Anderson (3-5) took the loss after allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits in 1 2/3 innings of work.

The SoCon tournament resumes Friday with No. 2 seed Samford taking on No. 3 seed Wofford in a winners’ bracket game 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 vs. #3 Wofford    9 a.m.
Game 9: #1 Mercer vs. #4 VMI    12:30 p.m.
Game 10: #6 Furman vs. Loser Game 8    5 p.m.
Game 11: #8 The Citadel vs. Loser Game 9    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: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 10    9 a.m.
Game 13: Winner Game 9 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.