Georgia Southern, Wofford Advance to Semis

#4 Georgia Southern 2, #5 Appalachian State 1

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Stryker Brown hit a two-run home run and six Georgia Southern pitchers combined to allow just one run as the fourth-seeded Eagles downed No. 5 seed Appalachian State 2-1 on Friday in an elimination game at the Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

GSU (36-21) advances to face No. 8 seed Furman (26-31) in the semifinals on Saturday at 10 a.m. The Eagles must beat the Paladins twice to advance to Sunday’s single-elimination championship game.

Appalachian State sees its season end at 21-34.

All of the game’s scoring came in the fourth inning. GSU’s Aaron Mizell led off the top of the fourth with a single through the right side, and Brown followed by sending Dallas DeVrieze’s 1-1 offering out down the right-field line. DeVrieze retired the next three batters in order to limit the damage.

The Mountaineers got one of those runs back in the bottom half of the frame to cut their deficit in half. Tyler Zupcic and Dillon Dobson led off with consecutive singles off of Eric Alonzo, GSU’s third pitcher of the afternoon, before a sacrifice moved both runners over. Alex Leach then lifted a sacrifice fly to left to score Zupcic, making it a 2-1 game. Alonzo struck out Matt Brill on three pitches to end the inning.

GSU’s bullpen allowed just three hits the rest of the way, with Jason Richman, who leads the nation in appearances, tossing 3 1/3 innings of two-hit relief. After allowing Preston Troutman’s one-out single in the fifth, Richman retired nine straight batters before surrendering Michael Pierson’s double in the eighth.

Appalachian State threatened in the bottom of the ninth, with Dobson leading off with a single and going to second on a sacrifice bunt. The Eagles then turned to Tripp Sheppard to close the door, and Sheppard got a strikeout and a grounder to third to notch his first save of the season.

GSU, meanwhile, threatened to add more but couldn’t push another run across. Dalton Busby and Kody Adams hit consecutive one-out singles in the fifth to knock DeVrieze from the contest, but reliever Zach Joyce got a pair of strikeouts to end the inning.

The Eagles loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth, but Robert Whaley, Appalachian State’s third pitcher of the day, got a grounder to end the threat.

GSU stranded two more runners in the ninth, making all three outs on the warning track in left field.

Avery Fagan (2-0) picked the win with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless, hitless relief. GSU starter Ryan Frederick went 1 2/3 innings, allowing two hits and a walk with two strikeouts.

DeVrieze ended his season with a 1-4 mark after allowing two runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings of work.

Adams was 2-for-4 to pace the Eagles at the dish, while Troutman and Pierson had two hits each. Both teams had seven hits.

 

#6 Wofford 10, #2 Davidson 7

CHARLESTON, S.C. – No. 6 seed Wofford scored five runs over the final two innings and saw Alec Paradowski go 5-for-5 and its pitching staff strike out 19 Davidson batters as the Terriers eliminated the second-seeded Wildcats by a 10-7 score at the Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

Wofford (32-27) advances to take on No. 3 seed Samford (34-24) on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Terriers would have to beat the Bulldogs twice to advance to Sunday’s single-elimination championship game.

Davidson, which set a school record for single-season victories, finishes the season 29-19.

Wofford trailed 5-0 after the first inning and 7-5 after the seventh but rallied late for the win.

After coming up empty with two on and no one out in the seventh inning, the Terriers took their first lead of the day in the top of the eighth. A pair of walks and an infield bunt single loaded the bases with no one out, and Demetrius Jennings singled up the middle to drive in pinch-runner Matt Kaskow. Paradowski drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 7, and one out later, James Plaisted lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Derek Hirsch with the go-ahead run.

Davidson threatened to reclaim the lead in the bottom half but stranded runners at the corners when reliever Eric Eck struck out the side.

Wofford scored two insurance runs in the top of the ninth to give itself some breathing room. With runners on the corners and one out, Hirsch laid down a perfect bunt single to the right side of the infield to score Kaskow. Later, a wild pitch with the bases loaded scored Matt Ramsay for a three-run lead.

Terrier reliever Will Stillman then came on to close the door. He struck out the first batter but walked Ty Middlebrooks. A single through the right side by David Daniels put runners at first and second, but Stillman recovered to strike out the next two batters to end the contest.

The late-inning rally capped a furious comeback for Wofford, which was down big after just one inning.

The Wildcats got six hits and took advantage of one error to plate five runs. Five straight batters picked up RBIs in the frame, with Forrest Brandt and Nathan Becker hitting RBI singles ahead of Sam Foy’s sacrifice fly. Ben Arkin followed with an RBI single and Daniel Gerow had an RBI double.

Wofford got four of those runs back in the third inning, highlighted by Plaisted’s bases-clearing double. Josh Hyman followed with an RBI double as the Terriers got back within a run.

Wofford tied it at 5 in the top of the fourth on Seth Neely’s sacrifice fly, only to see the Wildcats go back ahead in the bottom half on Becker’s RBI single.

Davidson made it a two-run spread in the bottom of the seventh on Daniels’ RBI single, which made it 7-5.

Each of Wofford’s five pitchers had at least two strikeouts on the evening, and the Terrier staff struck out at least two batters in each of the last six innings.

Eck (3-3) picked up the win with three innings of two-hit relief in which he allowed one run and struck out seven. Stillman earned his fourth save of the season with one inning of work. Connell Anderson started the contest and went three innings with six runs (five earned) allowed.
Michael Goldberg (3-4) took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits and three walks in the final two innings of work.

The teams combined for 30 hits in the 3-hour, 52-minute affair, with Davidson holding the 16-14 advantage. In addition to Paradowski’s five-hit day, Ramsey, Hirsch and Jennings had two hits each. Plaisted had four RBIs.

The top five batters in Davidson’s lineup had multiple hits, with Daniels and Lee Miller having three apiece.

-www.SoConSports.com-