Thursday's Baseball Roundup

Photo Credit: Mark Olencki

Wofford Baseball Claims Thursday Tilt 9-6 at Western Carolina
Both offenses were rolling Thursday evening at Hennon Stadium, but the Wofford baseball team outlasted the Western Carolina Catamounts to the tune of a 9-6 win to open the series. The Terriers improve to 24-15 (3-7 SoCon) as the Catamounts fall to 17-20 (2-8 SoCon). Terrier starter Cullen Condon (2-2) earned the win after allowing only three runs (one earned) in 5.0 innings. He surrendered five hits with two walks while striking out three. Michael Sills and Dylan Rhadans combined to hurl 2.0 frames of relief behind him before Carter Rasmussen (2) secured the save by locking down the final 2.0 innings. He did not give up a run with just two hits surrendered and no walks. The junior struck out three.

Bears Shut Down Bucs, Take Game One Of Series
Mercer pitching limited one of the country's top offenses to one run while the bats blasted three home runs to take game one of a crucial SoCon series, defeating ETSU by a score of 5-1 on Thursday night. Ty Dalley (2-for-4), Drew Johnson (1-for-3) and Eli Stephens (1-for-3) each homered to lead the Bears at the plate. Colton Cosper (5-1) was excellent on the mound, tossing six innings of one-run ball to get the win, while Andrew Garnett and Terry Busse locked it down in the late innings to secure the win. Carter Fink (6-2) took the loss for ETSU.

Mercer hits three home runs in a 5-1 win over ETSU
The ETSU baseball team dropped its series opener at Mercer on Thursday night by a score of 5-1. Thursday's loss moves ETSU's record to 25-11 and 6-4 in SoCon play. Carter Fink, a Macon, Georgia native, turned in one of his best starts of the season. Fink threw the first seven innings against the Bears and allowed three runs on six hits to go with four strikeouts. Despite the quality start, Fink saw his record dip to 6-2. ETSU was limited to five hits in game one. Two of those five hits came off the bat of Axel Melendez, while ETSU's run was scored on an RBI double from Jamie Palmese. Blake Jacklin and Grant Gallagher accounted for the other two hits for the Bucs on the day.

VMI continues hot streak with series-opening win over Samford
VMI Baseball started the Southern Conference series with an 11-8 win over Samford Thursday night at Lamore Field at Gray-Minor Stadium. The Keydets (25-14, 5-5 SoCon) earn their fifth league victory and fourth-straight triumph after defeating the Bulldogs in the first of a three-game series. This is VMI's first series-opening win against Samford since 2017.

UNCG Baseball Drops Series Opener at USC Upstate
The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) baseball team fell 10-5 to the USC Upstate Spartans in a non-conference series opener on Thursday evening at Harley Park. USC Upstate got on the board first with five runs on three hits in the opening inning. After Scott Campbell singled up the middle to score two runs, Wylie Waters hit a three-run home run to left to make it 5-0. USC Upstate then added another run in the third and fourth inning to extend its lead to 7-0. It started with Campbell making it 6-0 with a solo home run to left in the third. The fourth frame saw USC Upstate score on a wild pitch to make it a 7-0 lead.