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Citadel, Georgia Southern Win at SoCon Tourney
No. 4 The Citadel 12, No. 1 Western Carolina 11
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Tyler Griffin’s three-run home run in the sixth inning proved to be the difference in a dramatic back-and-forth affair between No. 1 seed Western Carolina and No. 4 seed The Citadel, sending the Bulldogs to a 12-11 win Thursday in the Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Fluor Field.
Western Carolina (39-19) will take on No. 5 seed Appalachian State in an elimination game Friday at 3 p.m. The Citadel (34-24) earned itself a day off and will face the winner of the WCU-Appalachian State game on Saturday at 10 a.m.
The 2-5 hitters in The Citadel’s lineup combined to go 9-for-16 with 10 runs scored and five driven in. Griffin had four of those RBIs as part of his 2-for-4 day. Bo Thompson was 3-for-5 with three runs scored, and Hughtson Armstrong and Joe Jackson had two hits each. Johnathan Stokes, the Bulldogs’ 9-hole hitter, was 3-for-4 with four RBIs.
All nine starting hitters for the Catamounts recorded hits, with Jacob Hoyle hitting a pair of home runs and driving in four runs and SoCon Player of the Year Tyler White hitting a sixth-inning grand slam.
After the teams combined for just one run in the first three innings, they exploded for 20 over the next three to bring the crowd to life.
With WCU holding a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth, The Citadel took its first lead of the day on Calvin Orth’s two-run single. Stokes added another RBI hit to make it 3-1, but the Catamounts tied it in the top of the next frame, with Hoyle hitting his first two-run homer.
The Citadel seemed to blow the game open the following inning, plating five runs to take what appeared at the time to be a commanding 8-3 lead. Stokes had the big blow in the inning, as his bases-clearing double put the Bulldogs up by five.
Western Carolina answered emphatically in the top of the sixth, with Julian Ridings drawing a bases-loaded walk ahead of White, who crushed a pitch out to left-center to tie the contest at 8. The Catamounts weren’t done in the inning, as Dykota Spiess’ RBI single later plated Adam Martin to put WCU ahead by one.
The Bulldogs had one more big inning in them, coming right back with four in the bottom half of the sixth. After Jackson’s RBI double down the left-field line, Thompson singled to put runners on the corners. That brought up Griffin, who fouled off a pitch before depositing one onto the patio of the condo beyond the wall in left-center to make it a 12-9 game.
WCU had one more rally in it, getting another two-run homer from Hoyle in the top of the eighth, but The Citadel’s defense stepped up to limit the damage. After Martin drew a walk, Bulldog shortstop Spiess made a diving stop on a ground ball and flipped it behind his back to for the force out to second baseman Mason Davis, who fired to first to complete the double play and end the inning.
The teams used six pitchers each, with James Reeves (2-1) picking up the win for The Citadel despite allowing five runs in an inning of work. Citadel freshman Skylar Hunter struck out the only batter he faced for his 12th save of the season.
WCU reliever Jon Nadale took the loss, falling to 0-3 after allowing two runs and not recording an out in the sixth inning.
No. 7 Georgia Southern 3, No. 6 Furman 2
GREENVILLE, S.C. – No. 7 seed Georgia Southern rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the top of the ninth to slip past No. 6 seed Furman 3-2 in Thursday’s finale at the Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Fluor Field.
Furman falls to 32-24 and will take on No. 3 seed Elon on Friday at 7 p.m. Georgia Southern (27-30) awaits the winner of that game on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
After two quick outs in the top of the ninth, GSU’s Stryker Brown reached on an infield single to get the rally going. With the Eagles down their last strike, Tyler Avera battled back from a 1-2 count to work a nine-pitch walk to bring Zac Lenns to the plate. Lenns then lined a 2-0 pitch into right field to plate Brown with the tying run, moving Avera to third.
The Eagles were again down to their final strike with pinch-hitter Garren Palmer in an 0-2 hole, but Paladin reliever Ben Carlson (5-3) uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Avera to scamper home with the go-ahead run.
Furman tried to mount a rally of its own in the bottom half of the frame, as Hunter Burton lifted a one-out double to right-center that just missed leaving the yard. GSU reliever Kyle Rowe (4-3) nailed down the win by striking out Will Muzika and Taylor Johnson to end the game.
In stark contrast to the two games that preceded it at Fluor, the final game of the day was a pitchers’ duel. Earlier Thursday, Elon topped College of Charleston 18-8 and The Citadel downed Western Carolina 12-11. But the nightcap wasn’t so hitter-friendly, with the Paladins limiting Georgia Southern to just five hits and the Paladins scoring eight fewer runs than in their tournament opener on Wednesday.
Both starting pitchers turned in outstanding starts but earned no-decisions. Georgia Southern’s Sam Howard allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings, striking out nine, while his counterpart, Furman’s Alex Abrams, allowed just an unearned run on two hits in seven innings, striking out 10.
GSU’s Rowe allowed just three hits in 2 1/3 innings, and Furman’s Carlson surrendered two runs on three hits in two innings of work.
Abrams was dealing through the first five innings, allowing just Scooter Williams’ infield single, but ran into trouble in the sixth as the Eagles drew first blood. Brent Pugh reached on an error to lead off, and Ben Morgan hit a one-out single to put runners on the corners. Robbie Dodds then lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to score Pugh and break up the shutout.
Furman went ahead in the bottom of the seventh, getting a Jordan Simpson double down the left-field line to score Griffin Davis to tie it before Muzika doubled in Simpson to make it 2-1.
Greg Harrison went 4-for-4 to pace Furman at the plate, while Simpson was 2-for-4. Williams was 2-for-3 for GSU’s lone multi-hit game.
Wednesday, May 22
(Fluor Field, Greenville, S.C.)
Game 1: #4 The Citadel 6, #5 Appalachian State 5
Game 2: #1 Western Carolina 13, #8 Samford 7
Game 3: #6 Furman 10, #3 Elon 1
Game 4: #2 College of Charleston vs. #7 Georgia Southern, ppd.
Thursday, May 23
(Fluor Field, Greenville, S.C.)
Game 4: #7 Georgia Southern 2, #2 College of Charleston 0
Game 5: #3 Elon 18, #2 College of Charleston 8
Game 7: #4 The Citadel 12, #1 Western Carolina 11
Game 8: #6 Furman vs. #7 Georgia Southern, 8:30 p.m.
(Furman’s Latham Stadium, Greenville, S.C.)
Game 6: #5 Appalachian State 2, #8 Samford 1
Friday, May 24
(Fluor Field, Greenville, S.C.)
Game 9: #1 Western Carolina vs. #5 Appalachian State, 3 p.m.
Game 10: #6 Furman vs. #3 Elon, 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 25
(Fluor Field, Greenville, S.C.)
Game 11: #4 The Citadel vs. Winner Game 9, 10 a.m.
Game 12: #7 Georgia Southern vs. Winner Game 10, 1:30 p.m.
^Game 13: Loser Game 11 vs. Winner Game 11, 5 p.m.
^Game 14: Loser Game 12 vs. Winner Game 12, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 26
(Fluor Field, Greenville, S.C.)
Game 15: Championship game (ESPN3), 2 p.m.
All times Eastern
^ If necessary. If Game 13 is not necessary, Game 14 will begin approximately 40 minutes after the conclusion of Game 12.
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