Elon Rallies Past Furman, Western Carolina Tops Cougars

GREENVILLE, S.C. ? No. 4 seed Western Carolina pounded out 12 runs, including six in the second inning, to advance past No. 5 seed College of Charleston, 12-4, in game four of the 2009 Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Flour Field.

With the win, Western Carolina advances in the winner’s bracket to face No. 1 seed Elon at 9 p.m., Thursday night. With the loss, College of Charleston falls into the loser’s bracket to meet Furman at 1 p.m., Thursday afternoon in an elimination game.

Western Carolina scored six runs on seven hits in the second inning to take a 6-0 lead over the Cougars. The Catamounts began the scoring onslaught with right fielder J.C. Lyons singling to left field, plating catcher Stephen Notaro and shortstop Brent Greer. Centerfielder Nick Liles hit a double to left field scoring Lyons and Matt Johns to provide the Catamounts with their next two runs. Dylan de Graaf scored on a groundout by designated hitter Trevor Collias and Liles scored on a single by Ross Heffley to close out the inning.

Leading the way for the Catamounts, who pounded out 20 hits, were Heffley who went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and Lyons, who went 2-for-5 with three RBIs. Greer was 4-for-5, giving him a SoCon-best 101 hits on the season. In a losing effort, Joash Brodin went 3-for-5.

Picking up the win for the Catamounts was Chris Masters (6-2), who pitched seven innings and fanned 11 batters against only two walks. The Cougars’ Jesse Simpson (9-4) took the loss after giving up 15 hits and nine earned runs in 5.2 innings of work.

After the six-run second inning, the Catamounts added to their lead in the third with a Lyons solo home run.

College of Charleston got on the board in the fifth inning when centerfielder Cole Rakar hit a solo blast over the left center field wall.

WCU picked up a pair of runs in the sixth when Collias scored on a Notaro single and Greer scored on a Johns single to center field.

In the seventh inning, both teams scored three runs apiece. The Cougars’ Austin Morgan scored on a Joey Bergman double to right field. In the next at bat second baseman Brandon Sizemore delivered a two-run homer over the “Green Monster,” scoring Bergman.

The Catamounts equaled the Cougars three runs with a Heffley triple to right field that scored Collias and de Graaf. Greer brought in Heffley with a double to center to close out the scoring.

Game 3: #1 Elon 10, #8 Furman 8

Box Score

Photo Slideshow

GREENVILLE, S.C. ? Elon’s Mike Melillo hit a two-out, grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning to give No. 1 seed Elon its first lead of the game and a victory over the No. 8 seed Furman Paladins, 10-8, in game three of the 2009 Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Flour Field.

With the win the Phoenix (38-14), who have won five-straight SoCon Tournament contests, advance in the winner’s bracket where it will meet the winner of the Western Carolina-College of Charleston game Thursday at 9 p.m. Furman (22-30) drops into the loser’s bracket where they will meet the Catamounts-Cougars loser on Thursday at 1 p.m.

Despite trailing by four runs at two different points in the game, Elon rallied to load the bases in the eighth when Melillo came to the plate. The grand slam was Elon’s seventh of the season, which is a new SoCon single-season record.

Leading the way for the Phoenix was Melillo with five RBIs, catcher Dallas Tarleton with two RBIs and centerfielder Cory Harrilchak, who was 4-for-5 at the plate with three runs scored. In a losing effort, designated hitter Reese Wade went 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Second baseman Marcus Rose was 2-for-5 with two RBIs, while third baseman J.B. Jenkins went 3-for-4 with an RBI.

With the wind dying down as the evening wore on, the two teams combined for 30 hits and 18 runs in the contest.

Jared Kernodle (2-4) picked up the victory, while Furman?s Nick Karrow (1-1) was saddled with the loss.

The Paladins jumped on the Phoenix early scoring two runs in the top of the first. Wade singled to right field with two outs, scoring both catcher Matt Hemmingway and first baseman Brian Harrison.

Elon closed the gap to one in the bottom of the second when Melillo doubled to right-center, scoring leftfielder Pat Irvine. The Phoenix missed out on another scoring opportunity when Melillo tried to score, but was gunned out at home by Furman centerfielder Campbell Lewis, after first baseman Ryan Adams hit a single.

Furman picked up a single run in the third when Wade picked up his third RBI of the day with a single through the left side, plating Harrison.

In the fourth, the Paladins added a trio of runs to push their lead to 6-1. Rose singled up the middle driving in Jenkins. Later in the inning, Harrison hit a sacrifice fly scoring left fielder Justin Holloway. Rose then scored on a throwing error.

Elon picked up a run in the bottom of the fourth when Tarleton hit the tournament’s first home run.

In the fifth, the Paladins made it 7-2, as Rose drove in Will Miller on a squeeze bunt.

Elon chipped into the lead in the fifth with a pair of runs. Right fielder Justin Hilt scored on a fielder’s error and Harrilchak scored on a sacrifice fly from SoCon Co-Player of the Year Chase Austin.

Jenkins singled to right field to bring in Wade in the top of the sixth to make the score, 8-4.

Elon scored two more runs to draw to within two in the bottom of the seventh. A Tarleton single drove in Harrilchak while Furman pitcher Stephen Gary walked in Irvine.