Furman, Mercer advance in winners' bracket

G2: No. 4 seed Furman 13, No. 5 seed Wofford 3 (7 innings)

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Fourth-seeded Furman banged out 17 hits and junior right-hander Will Gaddis threw five strong innings as the Paladins downed No. 5 seed Wofford 13-3 in seven innings in Wednesday's opening game of the Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases at Fluor Field.

The Paladins (30-26) advance to face either No. 1 seed Mercer or No. 9 seed VMI at 4 p.m. Thursday. Wofford (28-29) will take on either the Bears or Keydets in an elimination game Thursday at 9 a.m.

All but two Furman starters had at least two hits on the day, paced by 3-for-3 efforts from Sky Overton and Carter Grote.

Furman roughed up Wofford starter Adam Scott for four runs in the first, highlighted by Cameron Whitehead's towering three-run home run, which hit the awning of the Rooftop at Fluor Field, the party deck atop the building behind the Green Monster in left. Landon Kay got the scoring started with an RBI double prior to Whitehead's mammoth blast.

The Paladins added another run in the second on Grote's RBI double before putting the game out of reach with an eight-run fourth. All eight of Furman's hits in the big inning were singles, including a trio of bunt hits and Overton's two-run single to left center.

Gaddis, the SoCon's ERA leader (1.88) and the 2016 SoCon Pitcher of the Year, continued to shine, as he was perfect the first time through the order and allowed his only run on Brett Hash's sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth. He was lifted after 5 innings and 57 pitches, sitting on a comfortable 13-1 lead. Gaddis (9-3), who picked up his league-leading ninth win of the season, allowed just three hits and did not walk a batter, striking out four.

The Terriers got two runs back in the top of the sixth, as Kody Ruedisili greeted reliever Nolan Mullen with his second double of the game and McClain Bradley followed with a two-run homer to left center to make it a 10-run spread.

Wofford threatened again the seventh, but Cody Miller was picked off of second after a pair of leadoff singles and, after Ruedisili's third hit of the contest, Bradley grounded into an inning-ending double play that kept Furman's 10-run lead intact and the run-rule in effect.

Scott (6-6) was tagged for 10 runs on 13 hits in 3 innings.

The SoCon Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases continues Wednesday with No. 1 seed Mercer taking on No. 9 seed VMI at 12 p.m. The time of that contest was moved up a half hour in an effort to avoid the inclement weather scheduled for later in the day.

G3: No. 1 seed Mercer 11, No. 9 seed VMI 6

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Catcher Charlie Madden and designated hitter JT Thomas had four RBIs each as No. 1 seed Mercer downed No. 9 seed VMI 11-6 on Wednesday at the Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases at Fluor Field.

The Bears (39-15) advance to face No. 4 seed Furman on Thursday at 4 p.m. VMI (23-33) will take on No. 5 seed Wofford in an elimination game at 9 a.m. Thursday.

After VMI took a 1-0 lead in the top half of the first on Tyler Tharp's RBI single, Mercer staked starter Austin Cox to all the runs he would need in the bottom of the inning before the Keydets could record an out. Thomas got the Bears on the board with an RBI single, and after a walk loaded the bases, Madden unloaded them with a blast over the Green Monster in left to make it 5-1. The grand slam was Madden's league-leading 17th home run of the year.

Mercer added two more runs on Thomas' two-run single in the second, but VMI got one back in the third on Peyton Maddox's RBI double to make it 7-2. The Keydets inched closer in the fourth, when Matt Dunlevy followed a leadoff walk with a homer down the right-field line to make it 7-4.

Ryan Hagan's two-out solo homer to right center and Thomas' RBI double stretched Mercer's advantage back to five runs at 9-4 in the fifth, and the Bears added another run on a double-play groundout in the sixth.

After a 32-minute rain delay in the bottom of the seventh inning, VMI scratched across two runs in the top of the eighth, with Michael Diodato delivering an RBI double and later scoring on a Mercer fielding error. Mercer capped the scoring in the bottom half of the inning on Jackson Ware's sacrifice fly.

Thomas and Madden each finished with three hits for the Bears, while Hagan had two. Tharp paced the Keydets with three hits, with Matt Pita and Dunlevy notching two apiece.

Cox (4-2) picked up the win, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits and two walks in 5 innings of work, striking out seven.

Matthew Eagle (4-4) was tagged with the loss after allowing seven runs on six hits and two walks in 1 1/3 innings, his shortest start of the season. The junior right-hander, who had appeared out of the bullpen in his last seven outings, was making his first start since April 21.

The SoCon Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases continues Wednesday with No. 2 seed Western Carolina facing No. 7 seed ETSU, but that game is under a delay and is tentatively set to start at 7:30 p.m. Follow the Southern Conference on Twitter @SoConSports for updates.

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: #2 Western Carolina vs. #7 ETSU 7:30 p.m.
Game 5: #3 UNCG vs. #6 Samford TBD

May 25 (Thursday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (SDN)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 6: #5 Wofford vs. #9 VMI 9 a.m.
Game 7: Loser Game 4 vs. Loser Game 5 12:30 p.m.
Game 8: #4 Furman vs. #1 Mercer 4 p.m.
Game 9: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 7:30 p.m.

May 26 (Friday)
SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases (SDN)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8 3:30 p.m.
Game 11: Winner Game 6 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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