ETSU, UNCG survive at Baseball Championship

No. 5 ETSU 4, No. 8 The Citadel 2

GREENVILLE, S.C. – No. 5 seed ETSU got eight strong innings from starter Jamin McCann and survived a Citadel rally in the ninth as the Bucs eliminated the eighth-seeded Bulldogs from the Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Fluor Field on Thursday, 4-2.

ETSU (27-29) advances to face either No. 2 seed Western Carolina or No. 6 seed Samford on Friday at 3:30 p.m. The Citadel saw its season conclude at 17-42.

McCann, who pitched into the ninth inning, struck out 10 and allowed two runs on six hits and a walk. The Bulldogs made it interesting late, however, loading the bases with one out before Peyton Taylor came back from a 3-0 hole to induce a foul out and then got a swinging strikeout to nail down his fifth save of the season.

The Bucs staked McCann (8-4) to an early lead, with Jeremy Taylor scoring on an Aaron Maher groundout in the first and Hagen Owenby and Kevin Phillips recording RBI hits in the third to make it 3-0.

After The Citadel scratched across its first run in the top of the fifth, ETSU answered in the bottom half, getting an Owenby sacrifice fly to score Jeremy Taylor, who doubled to lead off the inning.

The Bulldogs made it a two-run contest again in the seventh, as Shy Phillips cleared the Green Monster in left for his first home run of the season.

McCann, a junior left-hander, retired 12 straight batters after inducing a fielder’s choice in the first inning, with The Citadel finally pushing across a run on William Kinney’s RBI single in the fifth.

Thomas Byelick (4-4) took the loss for the Bulldogs after allowing four runs on four hits and two walks in four innings of work. Zach Lavery work a scoreless four innings in relief, allowing just three hits.

Jeremy Taylor and Phillips had two hits each to pace the Bucs, each recording a double. Taylor scored three times and reach base four times, also drawing a walk and being hit by a pitch.

Barrett Charpia was 2-for-4 to lead The Citadel at the plate.

No. 3 UNCG 9, No. 7 Wofford 6

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Outfielder L.J. Kalawaia went 4-for-4 and reached base five times and Chad Sykes worked five innings of solid relief to lead No. 3 seed UNCG past No. 7 seed Wofford, 9-6, Thursday in an elimination game at the Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Fluor Field.

The Spartans (38-20) advance to face either No. 1 seed Mercer or No. 4 seed Furman in an elimination game Friday at 7 p.m. The Terriers see their season come to a close at 30-28.

UNCG used a four-run seventh inning to break open a close contest, reclaiming the lead with a shot off the bat of freshman Cesar Trejo, who homered off the building beyond the Green Monster in left for the second straight day. After Trejo’s solo shot made it 5-4, Kalawaia doubled and Collin Woody singled to make it a two-run spread. Dillon Stewart followed with a 419-foot, two-run homer to center to blow the game open.

The Spartans extended their lead on Jake Kusz’s RBI single in the top of the ninth, but the Terriers made it interesting in the bottom half before Woody settled down to lock up the win. McClain Bradley got the rally started with a one-out triple to the gap in right-center, and after a groundout scored Bradley, Cody Miller stroked a solo home run to left-center to make it a three-run game.

That was where the score would stay, however, as Woody got a fly out to right to end the contest.

UNCG, the nation’s top-hitting team, did nothing to hurt its reputation Thursday, pounding out 19 base hits, eight of which went for extra bases. Kalawaia had three of those, roping two doubles and a triple and falling just a homer short of the cycle.

Wofford had 11 base knocks of its own as the teams combined for 30 hits in the game.

Sykes (5-2) picked up the win for UNCG, as he allowed just two hits and three walks after coming on for starter Matt Frisbee in the fourth. The sophomore right-hander came on with two runs in, two on and no outs but worked out of the jam with limited damage. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, and a Derek Hirsch sacrifice scored Wofford’s third run of the inning, which was charged to Frisbee. After falling behind the next batter 3-0, Sykes battled back to strike out Brett Hash to end the inning with UNCG down just 4-2.

The Spartans quickly regrouped, getting RBI singles from Ben Spitznagel and Kalawaia in the top of the fifth to tie things at 4.

In addition to Kalawaia’s four hits, UNCG got three each from Trejo, Kusz and Ryne Sigmon. Wofford was paced at the plate by Ruedisili and Demetrius Jennings with two hits each.

Sykes picked up nine strikeouts in his five innings of work. Frisbee allowed four runs on seven hits in 3-plus innings.

Terrier reliever Elliot Lance allowed three runs on five hits in 1 2/3 innings to take the loss. Starter Jacob Condra-Bogan went 4 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits.

Day three of the SoCon Baseball Championship continues with No. 1 seed Mercer taking on No. 4 seed Furman in a winners’ bracket game. First pitch is set for 4:50 p.m.

May 24 (Tuesday)
SoCon Championship (SDN)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 1: #8 The Citadel 3, #9 VMI 2 (10 innings)

May 25 (Wednesday)
SoCon Championship (SDN)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 2: #4 Furman 3, #5 ETSU 0
Game 3: #1 Mercer 13, #8 The Citadel 1 (7 innings)
Game 4: #2 Western Carolina 10, #7 Wofford 9
Game 5: #6 Samford 8, #3 UNCG 5

May 26 (Thursday)
SoCon Championship (SDN)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 6: #5 ETSU 4, #8 The Citadel 2
Game 7: #3 UNCG 9, #7 Wofford 6
Game 8: #4 Furman vs. #1 Mercer 4 p.m.
Game 9: #2 Western Carolina vs. #6 Samford 7:30 p.m.

May 27 (Friday)
SoCon Championship (SDN)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 10: #5 ETSU vs. Loser Game 9 3:30 p.m.
Game 11: #3 UNCG vs. Loser Game 8 7 p.m.

May 28 (Saturday)
SoCon Championship (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 29 (Sunday)
SoCon Championship (ESPN3)
(Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.)
Game 15: Winner Game 12 vs. Winner Game 14 1 p.m.
^Game 16: Winner Game 15 vs. Loser Game 15 60 minutes after Game 15

^ if necessary

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