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Furman, The Citadel Survive and Advance in SoCon Baseball
SoCon Baseball Championship Central
Game 10: #8 Furman 7, #4 Western Carolina 6
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? The No. 8 seed Furman Paladins scored four runs in the second inning and held on late to upset the No. 4 seed Western Carolina Catamounts, 7-6, in an elimination game at the 2009 Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Fluor Field.
Furman (24-30) advances to face No. 2 seed
Furman opened the scoring in the second inning by plating four runs. The Paladins scored two runs and loaded the bases before the first out. Will Miller reached on a fielding error by the second baseman, Ross Heffley, scoring Matt Hemingway. Reese Wade scored on a single by J.B. Jenkins. Connor Lind recorded a sacrifice fly, plating Campbell Lewis. The final run of the inning came on a Marcus Rose single to center field, scoring Miller.
Trailing 7-3 the Catamounts made a rally in the top of the ninth scoring three runs off Furman reliever Nick Karow. Dylan de Graaf scored on a passed ball before Matt Johns scored on a Mitchell Hatley ground ball. WCU’s final run came when Nick Liles singled, scoring J.C. Lyons. However, Karow forced a Trevor Collias pop up to end the game.
Rose led the Paladins offense, going 2-for-4 with a double, three stolen bases and an RBI. Wade was 4-for-4 with an RBI. Seven different Paladins recorded an RBI in the game.
In a losing effort, Nick Liles was 3-for-5 with an RBI for WCU. Rembert Rollison was 2-for-4 with a home run and a RBI.
Goldsberry (4-6) picked up the win, yielding three hits and a run in four innings of work, while fanning five. The Catamounts’ Mike Tavernier (7-6) suffered the loss after allowing six runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings of work.
After Furman jumped out to a 4-0 lead,
The Paladins increased their lead to 6-1 in the fourth inning when Rose scored on a Justin Holloway single down the right field line. Later in the inning, Wade singled up the middle scoring Holloway.
Each team scored a run in the sixth. The Catamounts got on the board when a Brent Greer sacrifice fly scored Liles. Furman’s Rose tallied another run on a Brian Harrison sacrifice fly, making the score 7-2 entering the seventh.
The Catamounts cut the lead to four in the eighth inning on a Rollison solo shot over the left center field fence.
Game 9: #3 The Citadel 5, #6 Appalachian State 3
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? The Citadel pitcher Matt Crim tossed a complete game, allowing only three runs, as the No. 3 seed Bulldogs knocked off No. 6 seed Appalachian State, 5-3, in an elimination game at the 2009 Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Fluor Field.
The Citadel (36-21) advances to take on top seed Elon at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. The Bulldogs would need to defeat Elon twice on Saturday to advance to Sunday’s 2 p.m. championship game. Appalachian State closes its campaign at 33-21.
Crim (8-4) pitched his second-straight complete game for the Bulldogs allowing three runs on eight hits. The senior also tied a career-high with eight strikeouts against three walks. The Summerville, S.C., native threw 147 pitches. Appalachian State’s Matt Andress (3-6) suffered the loss.
The Bulldogs tallied three runs in the third led by Sonny Meade, who gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game when he crushed a 1-1 Matt Andress pitch over the left center field wall scoring three runs to put the score at 4-1.
In addition to Meade, centerfielder Nick Orvin was 3-for-4. In a losing effort, David Towarnicky was 1-for-2 with two RBIs. Wes Hobson recorded a triple.
The Mountaineers’ David Towarnicky opened up the scoring in the first inning with a single to left field that brought in Wes Hobson. Hobson got in scoring position on the strength of a triple to left center that snuck past a pair of Bulldogs’ defenders.
The Citadel answered back in the second when Matt Simonelli singled to drive in David Greene, who had tripled to get in scoring position.
The Mountaineers had perhaps their best chance to take the lead in the top of the sixth inning. After loading the bases with no outs, ASU could not plate a run as the Bulldogs’ pitcher Matt Crim recorded three-straight outs to end the threat.
The Citadel tallied an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Sid Fallaw singled to right field, scoring Greene.
Appalachian State picked up a run in the eighth when Towarnicky hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Hobson.
The Mountaineers could get no closer however, as Crim closed out the game to advance the Bulldogs to Saturday.