Western Carolina downs Mercer for SoCon title

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Nobu Suzuki was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the ninth inning and B.J. Nobles pitched into the ninth in his first start of the season as second-seeded Western Carolina topped No. 1 seed Mercer for the second time Sunday, 3-2, to win its record 10th Southern Conference Baseball Championship and first since 2003.

The Catamounts (30-29) will learn their postseason fate Monday, as the 2016 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship Selection Show, with regional pairings, will be revealed in a live, one-hour telecast on ESPNU at noon. Western Carolina will be making its first NCAA appearance since receiving an at-large bid in 2007 and its 12th overall.

After the Bears (38-23) tied it at 2 on Charlie Madden’s solo home run with one out in the top half of the frame, Western Carolina came right back in the bottom half to win their second win-or-go-home contest of the day. Tournament Most Outstanding Player Matt Smith got the rally going with a leadoff single, and a sacrifice bunt moved him into scoring position. Kramer Ferrell was intentionally walked to put runners on first and second, and Caleb Robinson drew a walk to load the bases.

Mercer reliever Conard Broom struck out designated hitter Reece Strong for the second out, but his next pitch caught Suzuki on the left hip to force in Smith with the game-winning run.

A Jose Hernandez RBI double put Mercer in front 1-0 in the second inning, and the Bears rode the right arm of starter Ryan Askew into the ninth. Askew was solid early, scattering four hits in the first five innings, but Western Carolina, which had yet to hit a home run in the tournament to that point, finally got to Askew in the sixth, going deep twice in a span of three batters to turn a one-run deficit into a one-run lead.

Bryce Bowman smoked the first pitch he saw out to left-center to even the game at 1, and Danny Bermudez followed one out later with a 393-foot blast out to left to put the Catamounts on top.

That looked like it might be enough for Nobles, who was making his first start since May 15, 2015. The junior righty got out of the seventh with a strike-‘em-out, throw-‘em-out double play, and he retired the side in order in the eighth. With one out in the ninth, Mercer finally the big hit it needed off Nobles in Madden’s homer, but Nobles got a flyout and Colton Davis worked around a Jackson Ware single to record the final out of the inning.

Davis was credited with the win to improve to 7-3, while Nobles took the no-decision, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits in 8 2/3 innings. Nobles struck out 10.

Askew, who worked five scoreless innings in Mercer’s first game of the tournament, took the loss after allowing three runs on seven hits in 8-plus innings.

Bowman and Smith finished with two hits each to lead WCU, which beat Mercer 4-2 in the day’s first game to force the deciding winner-take-all nightcap.

Ware and Hernandez had two each for Mercer, which was trying to become the first back-to-back SoCon champion since The Citadel won consecutive titles in 1998 and 1999.

2016 Southern Conference Championship All-Tournament Team
SP – Will Gaddis, Furman
SP – B.J. Nobles, Western Carolina
RP – Korey Anderson, Western Carolina
C – Jake Kusz, UNCG
1B – Matt Smith, Western Carolina
2B – Frankie Navarrete, Samford
SS – Matt Meeder, Mercer
3B – Jake Crawford, Furman
OF – Trey Truitt, Mercer
OF – Heath Quinn, Samford
OF – Kramer Ferrell, Western Carolina
DH – Cesar Trejo, UNCG

Walt Nadzak Most Outstanding Player
Matt Smith, Western Carolina

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 4, #8 The Citadel 2
Game 7: #3 UNCG 9, #7 Wofford 6
Game 8: #1 Mercer 6, #4 Furman 1
Game 9: #2 Western Carolina 14, #6 Samford 4

May 27 (Friday)
SoCon Championship (SDN)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 10: #6 Samford 12, #5 ETSU 11 (10 innings)
Game 11: #4 Furman 15, #3 UNCG 10

May 28 (Saturday)
SoCon Championship (SDN)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 12: #1 Mercer 9, #2 Western Carolina 8
Game 13: #6 Samford 2, #4 Furman 0
Game 14: #2 Western Carolina 7, #6 Samford 4

May 29 (Sunday)
SoCon Championship (ESPN3)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 15: #2 Western Carolina 4, #1 Mercer 2
Game 16: #2 Western Carolina 3, #1 Mercer 2

-www.SoConSports.com-