Friday's Baseball Roundup

Bears Battle Back For Series-Opening Win Over Western Carolina
Despite falling behind early, the Mercer baseball team used a four-run fourth and a two-run sixth along with a strong performance from the bullpen to defeat Western Carolina by a score of 6-5 on Friday night. Ty Dalley (1-for-2) homered for the fourth time in the last three games and Parker Lester (1-for-4) drove in two runs to lead the Bears at the plate. Colton Cosper battled through five innings before giving way to Andrew Garnett (1-0), who tossed 2 – 1/3 scoreless innings to get his first win as a Bear. Terry Busse locked down his sixth save of the season with two strikeouts in the ninth, while Dusty Revis (1-3) took the loss for the Catamounts. 

Wofford Baseball Claims First SoCon Win 14-3 Over The Citadel
The Wofford baseball team jumped on The Citadel with five runs in the first and eight in the third en route to a 14-3 seven-inning victory over the Bulldogs Friday night at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. Wofford improves to 19-8 and 1-0 in SoCon play as The Citadel falls to 14-13 (2-2 SoCon). Branton Little (4-2) earned the victory after tossing all 7.0 innings. He allowed five hits with three runs (one earned), striking out six with no walks surrendered. Little tossed a pair of 1-2-3 frames.

The Citadel Baseball Falls in Series Opener Against Wofford
TJ Anderson went 2-for-2 with two runs scored. Anderson recorded his first triple of the season. Garrett Fulmer posted his seventh RBI. Brandon Little (1-0) recorded the win for the Terriers after throwing 7.0 innings, allowing five hits on one earned run. Andrew Stanley (1-2) picked up the loss for The Citadel after throwing 2.0 innings with seven earned runs.

Early deficit haunts Keydets in series opener
VMI Baseball had an uphill battle against UNC Greensboro on Friday at Lamore Field at Gray-Minor Stadium. The Keydets (16-10, 2-2 SoCon) dropped their first home Southern Conference bout against the Spartans, 9-7. Both sides brought out the hot bats, combining for 26 hits.

Bucs tie program record with seven home runs but fall in a slugfest at USC Upstate, 19-14
The ETSU baseball team matched a single-game program record on Friday by hitting seven home runs on the road at USC Upstate. Despite the impressive power shown by the Bucs, the Spartans came away with the 19-14 win. Friday's loss moves ETSU's record to 19-6 on the 2025 season. The seven home runs hit on Friday by the Bucs were matched only by the team's performance on March 1, 2020, against Georgia State. Perhaps just as impressive, ETSU's seven long balls came from six different players. Grant Gallagher crushed a pair of home runs to bring his team-leading total to 14. Cooper Torres, Jamie Palmese, Gabe Juarez, Blake Jacklin, and Joey Little all homered as well.