COASTAL CAROLINA 11 WINTHROP 7
CONWAY, S.C. - On Senior Day at Watson Stadium/Vrooman Field, the seniors shined in the Coastal Carolina University baseball team's 11-7 win over Winthrop May 9 in Conway, S.C. With the win, 7th ranked Coastal Carolina improves to 41-6 overall and 19-0 in Big South play. The Chants also have won 22 of their last 23 games. Winthrop falls to 21-24 overall and 9-11 in the Big South.
Seniors Chance Gilmore, Adam Rice and Jose Iglesias combined for five hits, five runs-batted-in and five runs scored, while Austin Fleet came in to pick up his sixth save. That quartet joined Dan Lombardozzi before the game in the Senior Day festivities.
The Chants would take a 1-0 lead in the second as sophomore Daniel Bowman doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly from classmate Taylor Motter. Winthrop tied the game at one in the third as an Eddie Rohan sacrifice fly scored Patrick Gamblin.
Iglesias would homer in the third as his blast to left scored junior Rico Noel, who reached on an error to begin the frame. Winthrop would come right back and tie the game at three in the fourth. Chas Crane doubled to lead off the frame. Junior Cody Wheeler then walked Aaron Gliebe. Wheeler struck out Matt Pierpont but Tyler McBride singled to score a run. With two outs and runners on the corners, Tyler Cook reached on a bunt single to tie the game.
Coastal would take the lead for good in the fifth on Iglesias' second home run of the day and 13th of the season. His moonshot made it 4-3 Chants. A great defensive play from junior Scott Woodward saved a run in the sixth and the Chants answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame. Motter opened the inning with his eighth home run of the season. Sophomore Steve Davis then singled with one out. He went to third on a Woodward single and scored on a Matteo D'Angelo wild pitch.
Coastal added needed insurance in the seventh, scoring five runs. Redshirt-sophomore Tommy La Stella singled and scored on a Rice double. Rice moved to third on a Bowman fly out and scored on a Motter single. Motter stole second and trotted home on Gilmore's first triple of the season. Davis then doubled to right to score Gilmore and Noel followed with a single that brought in Davis.
Crane's 11th home run of the season in the eighth made it 11-4 Coastal, but for the second straight day, the Chants had trouble recording the final three outs. McBride led off the ninth with a walk. He went to third on a Gamblin double and scored on a Cook single. Sean Sullivan then scored Gamblin to make it 11-6. Junior Matt Laney retired the next two Eagles, but walked Crane and Adam Gliebe to force in a run. Redshirt-senior Austin Fleet came in and struck out Pierpont to end the game.
Wheeler struck out 10 in six innings to earn his ninth win of the season. He allowed seven hits and three runs with three walks. Freshman Ryan Connolly struck out three and allowed a run in two innings of work. D'Angelo was tagged with the loss, allowing five earned runs and nine hits with four strikeouts and two walks in six innings.
Motter had three hits and three RBI for the Chants, while Davis added three hits. It also was the third time this season that Iglesias has homered twice in a game. For Winthrop, Cook, Sullivan, Crane and McBride had two hits apiece.
Coastal Carolina and Winthrop will conclude the three-game set Monday, May 10 at 1 p.m., in Conway, S.C.
KENTUCKY 9 SOUTH CAROLINA 3
Lexington, Ky. - Kentucky erased an early 3-0 deficit and scored nine unanswered runs on its way to a 9-3 victory over South Carolina in the rubber game of a three-game SEC baseball series. Kentucky is now 26-21 and 9-15 in the SEC while the loss drops Carolina to 36-11 and 17-7 in conference play. It is the first time this season that the Gamecocks have lost a series in SEC play ending a streak of 10 consecutive SEC series won dating back to the 2009 season. South Carolina returns to action on Tuesday night hosting Wofford with first pitch at 7 p.m. at Carolina Stadium. The game will be televised live on SportSouth and can be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network.
Kentucky starting pitcher Alex Meyer worked seven innings in the Wildcat victory. He allowed three runs, all unearned, on four hits with six strikeouts, three walks and two hit batters. He is now 5-2 for the season. Gamecock reliever Jose Mata suffered the loss and is now 5-1 on the year. He allowed one run on one hit in 0.2 innings of work.
South Carolina broke ahead 3-0 in the top of the first inning. Carolina caught a break as Christian Walker reached base with two outs on a fielding error by second baseman Chris Bisson, who was unable to come up with the backhand attempt allowing Walker to reach base. Kentucky starter Alex Meyer didn't help himself as he hit Nick Ebert with a 0-2 pitch to put a pair of runners on base. Adrian Morales drove in the first run of the game with a single up the middle that scored Walker. Adam Matthews followed with a RBI base hit to right center plating home Ebert. With runners on the corners, Kentucky catcher Marcus Nidiffer couldn't handle a high pitch from Meyer and had a passed ball allowing Matthews to score giving the Gamecocks a three-run lead.
The Wildcats would tally three solo home runs in the first four innings to tie the game at 3-3. Gunner Glad put Kentucky on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning as he knocked a two-out solo home run to left field. Glad hit the first pitch he saw from Brown for his 11th home run of the season. Marcus Nidiffer tallied a solo home run of his own to lead off the second inning to left center, his eighth of the year. Then in the fourth, Taylor Black knocked a 3-1 pitch from Brown that just cleared the wall and stayed fair down the right field line for his ninth homer of the year to knot the game up.
Kentucky went ahead 4-3 in the top of the fifth inning. With one out, Chris Bisson stole second base and scored on Chad Wright's single up the middle. Kentucky got some important insurance in the bottom of the seventh to increase the lead to 5-3. Neiko Johnson was hit by a pitch with one out and Bisson drew a walk to give the wildcats a pair of runners. After a fielder's choice nabbed Bisson, the Wildcats had runners on the corners with two outs. On a 1-0 pitch, Gunner Glad knocked a high chopper to short that Bobby Haney could not handle allowing Johnson to score and giving the Wildcats a two-run cushion. Kentucky finished off the scoring in the eighth inning with four runs. Cory Farris had a RBI double and Bisson had a key two-run single as the Wildcats increased the advantage to 9-3.
Kentucky finished with a 8-4 advantage in hits with eight different players recording hits. Adam Matthews was 2-for-3 to lead the Gamecocks.
CLEMSON 7 MARYLAND 5
College Park, MD -
Kyle Parker's three-run homer in the sixth inning gave the Tigers the lead and Tomas Cruz pitched 4.2 scoreless innings of one-hit ball in relief to propel #24 Clemson to a 7-5 win over Maryland in front of 517 fans at Bob Smith Stadium on a windy Sunday afternoon. The Tigers, who swept the series 3-0 and won their sixth game in a row, improved to 31-17 overall and 14-10 in the ACC. The Terrapins fell to 16-37 overall and 4-23 in ACC play.
The Tigers jumped out to a 2-1 lead after two innings, then Maryland tied the score 3-3 in the fourth inning. After the Terrapins scored two runs in the fifth inning to take a 5-3 lead, the Tigers scored four two-out runs in the sixth inning to close out the scoring.
Cruz (3-2) pitched 4.2 masterful innings in relief to earn the win. He allowed just one hit, no runs, and no walks with four strikeouts. It was also a career-long outing for the senior righthander from Amarillo, TX.
Adam Kolarek (1-3), the second of three Maryland hurlers, suffered the loss. He yielded four hits, four runs, and one walk with seven strikeouts in 5.0 innings pitched.
The Tigers grabbed the game's first lead in the top of the first inning thanks in part to a Terrapin miscue. John Hinson reached with two outs on an error and Parker worked a walk. Jeff Schaus then laced a single through the right side to score Hinson.
In the bottom of the first inning, Jon Wilson reached on an infield single, moved to second on a balk, advanced to third on a throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt, and scored on Gary Schneider's sacrifice fly to center.
The Tigers regained the lead in the second inning. Brad Miller led off with a walk and went to third on Wilson Boyd's single to right field. After the next two Tigers were retired, Will Lamb grounded a single through the right side to plate Miller.
In the top of the fourth inning, Chris Epps led off with a walk, moved to second on a wild pitch, and advanced to third on an error on the throw to second. After Lamb walked, Epps scored when Mike Freeman grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.
The Terrapins scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to tie the score. Schneider led off with an infield single and went to third base on David Poutier's one-out single down the right-field line. Zach Fisher hit into a fielder's choice that enabled Schneider to score. After Mike Rozak was hit-by-pitch, Kevin Tehansky laced a single up the middle to score Fisher.
Maryland took its first lead of the contest in the fifth inning. Alfredo Rodriguez led off with a double down the left-field line and advanced to third on Wilson's sacrifice bunt on a 1-2 pitch. After Schneider walked, Matt Marquis singled through the left side to score Rodriguez. Schneider and Marquis moved up a base on a double steal, then Schneider scored on Poutier's groundout.
In the sixth inning, the Tigers scored four runs after the first two batters of the frame were retired. Lamb hit a two-out single up the middle, stole second, and moved to third on Freeman's infield single that extended his hitting streak to 16 games. Lamb scored on a passed ball and Hinson walked. Parker then belted an opposite-field, three-run homer to right field, his 17th long ball of the season, to give Clemson a 7-5 lead.
Lamb had a team-high two hits for the Tigers, who had seven hits, seven walks, and one hit-by-pitch in the game. Parker added three RBIs on his home run, while Hinson scored two runs. Miller's 10-game hitting streak came to an end as well.
Poutier went 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI to lead the Terrapins, who had eight hits in the contest.
Clemson will face Furman at Fluor Field in Greenville, SC on Tuesday at 7:00 PM.
