COASTAL CAROLINA 5 LIBERTY 0
LYNCHBURG, Va. - The sixth-ranked Coastal Carolina University (45-6, 23-0 Big South) pitching staff recorded its fifth shutout of the season and completed a series sweep of Liberty (37-15, 18-6 Big South) with a 5-0 win May 16 in Lynchburg, Va. The Chanticleers have now won 33 straight Big South games and have won 26 of its last 27 games after allowing just three hits to the Flames' offense.
Coastal Carolina wiggled its way out of a jam in the first, and then scored the first run of the game in the top of the second. Freshman Josh Conway hit Curran Redal with his first pitch. He struck out Matt Williams, but Tyler Bream reached on an error, putting runners on the corners. P.J. Jimenez then hit a liner right at first baseman Rich Witten, who caught it and tapped first base for the inning-ending double play. Redshirt-sophomore Tommy La Stella opened the second with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from sophomore Taylor Motter. La Stella would score on redshirt-senior Chance Gilmore's double off the wall in left field.
The Chants made it 2-0 in the third as junior Rico Noel doubled and scored on a single to left by junior Scott Woodward. Coastal added a run in the third as sophomore Daniel Bowman singled home Gilmore, who doubled with one out in the inning.
Both teams put up zeroes until the Chants scored twice in the top of the ninth. Woodward walked with one out and moved to second on a Rice walk. Both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch and the Flames intentionally walked La Stella to load the bases. Motter then extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a double in the left field gap, scoring Woodward and Rice and giving Coastal a 5-0 advantage.
Conway earned his second win of the season, pitching five innings and allowing just two hits and striking out four. The bullpen of junior Matt Rein and Matt Laney, freshman Ryan Connolly and redshirt-senior Austin Fleet allowed just one hit with four strikeouts. The loss was charged to Dustin Umberger, who gave up three runs and seven hits in 3.1 innings of work.
Woodward, La Stella and Gilmore had two hits apiece, while Motter drove in a pair with a double. For Liberty, Tyler Bream had two of Liberty's three hits.
Coastal Carolina will play its last midweek game of the season Tuesday, May 18 against the College of Charleston. Game time is at 6 p.m, at BB&T Coastal Field in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
SOUTH CAROLINA 5 ARKANSAS 3
Fayetteville, Ark. - Whit Merrifield homered twice including a two-run homer in the top of the eighth inning and five Gamecock relievers combined for six scoreless innings as South Carolina defeated Arkansas 5-3 on Sunday afternoon to sweep a three-game series at Baum Stadium. The win improves the Gamecocks to 41-11 and 20-7 in the SEC while the loss drops Arkansas to 38-14 and 16-11 in conference play. South Carolina returns to action on Tuesday night hosting Furman 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 and at GamecocksOnline.com. The Gamecocks are tied for first with Florida in the SEC heading into the final weekend of conference play and will host the Gators beginning on Thursday night at Carolina Stadium.
Trailing by a run, the Gamecocks made their move in the top of the eighth inning. With reliever Jordan Pratt into the game for Arkansas, leadoff hitter Scott Wingo drew a walk on four pitches. With a full count, Merrifield drove a two-run homer to left center for his second homer of the game and 12th of the season giving the Gamecocks a one-run lead. The Gamecocks added some key insurance as Adrian Morales drove a solo homer to left center, his fifth of the season to give South Carolina a 5-3 lead.
That was enough for freshman Matt Price, who handcuffed the Razorbacks in 1.1 innings of relief to pick up a save, his seventh of the season and second of the series. Gamecock reliever John Taylor earned the win after two scoreless innings of relief with just one hit allowed. Taylor is now 3-2 on the year. Arkansas reliever Jordan Pratt suffered the loss after allowing three runs on three hits in one inning. He is 3-1 for the year.
South Carolina took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Whit Merrifield led off with a single and scored on Christian Walker's one-out RBI double to deep center field. Arkansas struck back in the bottom half of the first as Brett Eibner connected with a two-run homer giving Arkansas a 2-1 lead, the Razorbacks first lead of the series. After Zack Cox reached base on an infield hit off the glove of Webb, it would be Eibner who came through as he knocked a 2-1 pitch to left center for his 18th home run of the year.
Both teams' leadoff hitters hit solo homers in the third inning. Merrifield tied it up at 2-2 in the top of the third inning with a solo home run to left field, his team-leading 11th of the year. Merrifield launched a 1-2 pitch from Arkansas starter T.J. Forrest that just stayed fair and was off the foul pole. Collin Kuhn answered for Arkansas as he stroked 1-0 pitch from Webb to left center, also his 11th homer of the year that put Arkansas back out front 3-2.
Both bullpens stymied the opposing offense from the fourth through the seventh inning as Gamecock relievers Jose Mata, Steven Neff and John Taylor kept Arkansas off the scoreboard and were matched by Razorback relievers D.J. Baxendale and Geoffrey Davenport.
Merrifield had a 3-for-4 day with three runs and three RBI. Zack Cox was 2-for-3 to lead the Razorbacks at the plate.
WAKE FOREST 11 CLEMSON 2
Winston-Salem, NC - All nine Demon Deacon starters had at least one hit and freshman lefthander Tim Cooney tossed 8.0 strong innings to lead Wake Forest to an 11-2 win over Clemson in front of 802 fans at Wake Forest Baseball Park on Sunday afternoon. The Demon Deacons, who won the series 2-1, improved to 15-36 overall and 6-21 in the ACC. The Tigers fell to 33-19 overall and 15-12 in ACC play.
Cooney (4-6) allowed just four hits, two runs, and two walks with four strikeouts in 8.0 innings pitched to earn the win. He also threw just 88 pitches.
Tiger starter Dominic Leone (2-1) suffered the loss, as he yielded four hits, five runs (one earned), and two walks with one strikeout in 1.2 innings pitched.
The Demon Deacons took the game's first lead in the first inning after the first two batters of the frame were retired. Steven Brooks bounced a two-out single up the middle, Mike Murray walked, and Matt Conway lined a single to right field to score Brooks. It also extended Conway's hitting streak to 14 games.
Wake Forest added four unearned runs to its lead in the second inning with the help of a costly Tiger error. Trenton Langston hit a one-out single down the left-field line and Mark Rhine hit a potential inning-ending double-play grounder, but second-baseman Mike Freeman booted the ball. After Pat Blair loaded the bases with a walk and Ryan Semeniuk popped up, Brooks laced a two-out single to center to score Langston and Rhine. Murray was hit-by-pitch to load the bases again, then Conway walked to bring home Blair and Brooks scored on a wild pitch.
The Tigers responded with a run in the top of the third inning. Will Lamb hit a one-out triple to right-center and scored on Freeman's sacrifice fly to left field. The three-bagger extended Lamb's hitting streak to 10 games.
In the bottom of the third inning, Langston led off with a walk but was erased at second on Rhine's bunt back to the mound. Blair followed with a sharp single to left field. Semeniuk grounded a ball to where third-baseman John Hinson was originally playing, but since both runners were moving on the pitch and Hinson was moving towards third base, the ball went through the vacated spot for a single to score Rhine.
Mac Williamson hit a one-out infield single in the fourth inning, stole second, and scored on Carlos Lopez's two-run homer to left field, his sixth long ball of the year.
Jeff Schaus hit the first pitch of the sixth inning over the fence down the right-field line, his 12th long ball of the season.
In the seventh inning, Langston led off with a walk and Rhine reached on a bunt single. After Blair's sacrifice bunt moved the runners up a base, Semeniuk bounced a 1-2 pitch up the middle for a single to plate Langston and Rhine.
Wake Forest added to its lead in the eighth inning. Conway led off with a single to right-center. Three batters later, Langston hit a two-out single to left field on a 3-0 pitch. Rhine followed with a double down the left-field line to score Conway.
Semeniuk, Brooks, Conway, Langston, and Rhine all had two hits apiece for Wake Forest, who outhit the Tigers 14-4. Semeniuk added three RBIs, while Rhine totaled three runs.
Brad Miller had two hits to lead the Tigers, who suffered their worst loss to the Demon Deacons since a 12-3 defeat in 2001.
With Virginia's comeback win over North Carolina on Sunday, the Tigers clinched a spot in the ACC Tournament at Greensboro, NC.
Clemson will host Presbyterian on Tuesday at 6:30 PM.