UNCG, VMI pick up tournament wins

G5: No. 3 seed UNCG 6, No. 6 seed Samford 3

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Tripp Shelton was 3-for-3 and eight of UNCG's nine position players recorded hits as the third-seeded Spartans downed No. 6 seed Samford 6-3 in Thursday's first game at the Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases at Fluor Field.

UNCG (32-24) advances to face No. 7 seed ETSU on Friday at 12 p.m., while Samford (31-22) will take on No. 2 seed Western Carolina in an elimination game Thursday at 4 p.m.

Shelton paced four Spartans with multiple hits, as Ben Spitznagel, Andrew Moritz and Caleb Webster had two each.

The Spartans took control of the game with a three-run third inning, with Michael Goss' RBI single tying the score at 1 before Zach Kuchmaner hit a two-run triple to put UNCG on top.

The designated home team added to its lead in the fourth on Shelton's RBI single, but Samford cut its deficit in half on Troy Dixon's RBI single up the middle in the top of the fifth.

UNCG got the run back in the sixth, with SoCon Freshman of the Year Webster hustling down the line and sliding in just under the tag on Spitznagel's fielder's choice to first. The Spartans made it 6-2 in the seventh on Austin Embler's sacrifice bunt before Samford's Anthony Mulrine hit a towering home run well over the Green Monster in left to lead off the eighth.

Spartan left-hander Bryce Hensley (7-7) evened his seasonal record with a quality start, limiting the Bulldogs to two runs on five hits and a walk in seven innings of work, striking out six. Andrew Wantz pitched the final two frames, allowing a run on two hits.

For Samford, Cody Shelton (5-3) allowed four runs on eight hits and a walk in four innings, while Jared Brasher worked the final four innings, surrendering two runs on five hits and two walks.

Designated hitter Ayrton Schafer was 2-for-2 with a second-inning sacrifice fly to lead the Bulldogs at the plate.

The SoCon Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases continues Thursday with No. 5 seed Wofford facing No. 9 seed VMI at 12:30 p.m. in an elimination game.

 

G6: No. 9 seed VMI 6, No. 5 Wofford 5 (10 innings)

GREENVILLE, S.C. – VMI's Michael Diodato singled up the middle to score Matt Dunlevy from third to give No. 9 seed VMI a 6-5, walk-off win over No. 5 seed Wofford on Thursday in an elimination game at the Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases at Fluor Field.

The Keydets (24-33) advance to take on either No. 3 seed UNCG or No. 7 seed ETSU on Friday at 7 p.m. The Spartans and Bucs play a winners' bracket game at noon Friday, with the loser facing VMI later in the day.

Wofford, which went 13-11 in league play for its second-ever winning SoCon record, sees its season end at 28-30 overall.

After Wofford center fielder Kody Ruedisili had what at the time was a game-saving play in the bottom of the 10th, nailing pinch-runner Ryan Hatten at the plate on Josh Hollifield's single to center, Diodato, the next batter, sent Reece Maniscalco's full-count offering right back up the middle to score Dunlevy with the winning run.

That came after a top half of the inning in which Alex Malsch hit a leadoff double and Kody Ruedisili drew a one-out walk before VMI center fielder Matt Pita laid out to snare McClain Bradley's sinking line drive in the gap in right center, saving at least one run. A groundout ended the threat.

The wild finish made a winner of Ryan Bennett (6-1), who allowed one run on three hits and a walk in three innings of work. Maniscalco (1-2) took the loss after allowing a run on four hits in an inning of work.

After Collin Fleischer's two-run homer put VMI in front 4-3 in the sixth, Wofford tied the game at 4 on Mack Nathanson's RBI single in the top of the seventh.

VMI's Jake Huggins was poised to be the hero in the eighth, as his one-out solo home run in the bottom of the inning snapped the tie and put the Keydets in position for the win.

Wofford had other ideas, however, as Nathanson's swinging bunt to the pitcher in the top of the ninth scored Bradley, who led off the top of the frame with a triple off the wall in right center, to knot the score at 5.

Despite a leadoff walk from Jacob Jaye in the bottom of the frame, VMI could not find the equalizer and the game went to extra innings.

VMI drew first blood in the contest on Pita's massive two-run home run to dead center in the first inning, but the Terriers got one of those runs back on a bases-loaded walk in the top of the second.

Wofford took its first lead of the day in the top of the fourth, when Reed Massey and Max McDougald scored on a Brett Rodriguez RBI and one of VMI's four errors on the day.

Jaye, Fleischer, Huggins, Dunlevy and Hollifield had two hits apiece for VMI, which had 14 hits on the afternoon.

Wofford's 4 through 8 hitters accounted for 11 of the Terriers' 13 hits on the day, led by Nathanson's 3-for-5 effort.

VMI is the first No. 9 seed to win two games at the SoCon Championship since Wofford won the title with five wins from the 9 seed in 2007.

The SoCon Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases continues Thursday with No. 2 seed Western Carolina taking on No. 6 seed Samford in an elimination game beginning at approximately 5:10 p.m.

May 23 (Tuesday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (SDN)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 1: #9 VMI 8, #8 The Citadel 0

May 24 (Wednesday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (SDN)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 2: #4 Furman 13, #5 Wofford 3 (7 innings)
Game 3: #1 Mercer 11, #9 VMI 6
Game 4: #7 ETSU 8, #2 Western Carolina 6

May 25 (Thursday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (SDN)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 5: #3 UNCG 6, #6 Samford 3
Game 6: #9 VMI 6, #5 Wofford 5 (10 innings)
Game 7: #2 Western Carolina vs. #6 Samford 4 p.m.
Game 8: #4 Furman vs. #1 Mercer 7:30 p.m.

May 26 (Friday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (SDN)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 9: #7 ETSU vs. #3 UNCG 12 p.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8 3:30 p.m.
Game 11: #9 VMI vs. Loser Game 9 7 p.m.

May 27 (Saturday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (SDN)
Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 12: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9 12 p.m.
Game 13: Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 11 3:30 p.m.
Game 14: Winner Game 13 vs. Loser Game 12 7 p.m.

May 28 (Sunday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (ESPN3)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 15: Winner Game 12 vs. Winner Game 14 12 p.m.
^Game 16: Winner Game 15 vs. Loser Game 15 40 minutes after Game 15

^ if necessary

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