Georgia Southern, Wofford Advance

#4 Georgia Southern 8, #1 Western Carolina 4

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Ben Morgan went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and one of Georgia Southern’s four home runs on the day as the fourth-seeded Eagles eliminated No. 1 seed Western Carolina 8-4 in Thursday’s first game of the Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

GSU (35-21) advances to face the loser of Thursday’s game between No. 5 seed Appalachian State and No. 8 seed Furman at 3 p.m. Friday. Barring an at-large NCAA Regional selection, regular-season SoCon champion Western Carolina sees its season end at 37-18.

The game featured five total home runs, one more than the four hit in the previous six games of the tournament combined.

With the Catamounts leading 2-1, GSU led off the sixth with back-to-back home runs to reclaim the lead. Morgan opened the frame with a homer over the scoreboard in left, and Mizell followed with a mammoth blast over the batter’s eye in dead center to make it a 3-2 contest in the Eagles’ favor.

Western Carolina answered with an Adam Martin homer to lead off the bottom half of the sixth, tying the contest at 3.

The Eagles quickly responded, going ahead for good the following inning. After Chase Griffin drew a one-out walk, Dalton Busby got in on the home run act with a shot out to left to make it 5-3 in GSU’s favor.

The Catamounts got a run back on Bradley Strong’s RBI triple in the bottom of the seventh, but Georgia Southern put the contest away with three runs in the top of the eighth. Griffin drove in a run on a ground-rule double and two batters later, Morgan hit a two-run single to make it 8-4.

WCU had one last chance for the comeback in the bottom of the ninth but stranded two runners. Danny Bermudez led off with a ground-rule double, and after a pair of outs, Aaron Attaway drew a walk to put runners at the corners. Strong then lifted a fly ball down the left-field line, but Stryker Brown made the long run and tracked it down on a dead sprint to end the ballgame.

The contest was shaping up to be a pitchers’ duel in the first few innings, with GSU’s Sam Howard and WCU’s Jeremy Null, a second-team all-conference selection, dealing early. The duo entered the contest third and fourth in the league in ERA, respectively.

Eagle freshman Garren Palmer hit a solo homer to left in the second for the game’s first run, but that was one of just four hits Null scattered through the first five innings. The GSU offense would find its stride after that, though, with the consecutive home runs in the sixth and Busby’s two-run shot in the seventh, which knocked Null from the game.

Howard was also effective in the early going, facing just two over the minimum through the first three innings before Western Carolina struck for two runs in the fourth. The Catamounts scored their first run on Dykota Spiess’ sacrifice fly to deep right, and another run came in on Taylor Sandefur’s RBI fielder’s choice.

Howard (5-6) picked up the win for GSU, allowing four runs on six hits and two walks in 6 2/3 innings, striking out four. Null (6-4) took the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out five.

Five players had two hits each for the Eagles, who pounded out 13 total. Strong and Martin had two each to pace the Catamounts.

 

#6 Wofford 4, #10 The Citadel 2

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Wofford’s Jesse Morris pitched five innings of shutout ball and the sixth-seeded Terriers got a pair of hits from Eric Brenk to down No. 10 seed The Citadel 4-2 on Thursday at the Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

Wofford (31-27) advances to face the loser of Thursday’s contest between No. 2 seed Davidson and No. 3 seed Samford on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The Bulldogs, playing their third straight game as the visiting team in their home park, see their season come to a close at 24-34.

Morris (9-6) danced around trouble but got crucial outs when he needed them all day to pick up his ninth win of the season. The senior from Columbia, S.C., allowed six hits, stranding six runners in the first three innings before retiring the side in order in the fourth. Morris stranded two more Citadel runners in the fifth before departing with a 4-0 lead.

He also had solid defense behind him, as right fielder Josh Hyman threw out Bret Hines at the plate trying to score on Mason Davis’ single to right to end the second inning. Morris also helped his own cause, picking off Hughston Armstrong from second in the third inning.

Wofford scored twice in the bottom of the first to stake Morris to the 2-0 lead, getting the first run on Brenk’s RBI bunt single to third and the second on a double steal that saw James Plaisted swipe home around catcher Stephen Windham’s tag.

The Terriers scored twice more in the bottom of the fifth to double their lead. Derek Hirsch led off with a walk and Kody Ruedisili singled to put runners at first and second. Alec Paradowski attempted to sacrifice both runners up a base, but a throwing error on the play allowed Hirsch to score. The next batter, Seth Neely, lifted a sacrifice fly to left to score Ruedisili, making it a four-run bulge.

The Citadel broke up the shutout in the sixth, getting an unearned run of its own off of Wofford reliever Luke Leftwich. A one-out error allowed Bret Hines to reach, and he later came in on Davis’ single and another Terrier error in the outfield.

The Bulldogs pulled within a run in the seventh, as Bo Thompson led off the frame with his ninth home run of the season, a blast to down the left-field line.

The Citadel brought the go-ahead run to the plate three times in the ninth, but Wofford closer Eric Eck picked up his 13th save of the season by striking out three straight batters to end the contest after allowing a walk and Thompson’s bloop single to lead off the inning.

Wofford, which won its first SoCon tournament game since 2008, did so on just six hits on the day, with Brenk accounting for two of them.

Davis went 3-for-5 to pace The Citadel’s nine-hit attack, while Thompson was 2-for-2 with a homer and a walk and was twice hit by pitches.

-www.SoConSports.com-