FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES
Oklahoma 5 TCU 4 (12 innings)
FORT WORTH, Texas – For the second straight contest, the TCU Horned Frogs found themselves trailing heading into the ninth inning only to rally to tie the game. This time the Frogs needed three runs to tie the game at four, but Oklahoma broke the tie in the 12th inning to take a 5-4 victory Tuesday night at Lupton Stadium. The loss snaps the Horned Frogs’ nine-game winning streak and is just their first loss in the month of April.
Trailing 4-1 entering the bottom of the ninth, the Horned Frogs put together a furious rally to tie the game and send it to extra innings. Hunt Woodruff got the rally started with a lead-off double. Matt Vern worked a walk and Ben Carruthers singled to shallow left center to load the bases with nobody out. Bryan Kervin singled to make it a 4-2 game.
With one out, Chris Ellington made it a one-run contest with a sharp single to right field and Jimmie Pharr completed the Frogs’ comeback with a line drive sacrifice fly that scored Carruthers with the tying run.
The rally wouldn’t be enough as the Sooners broke the tie in the 12th inning. Tyson Seng broke a string of six straight strikeouts by Andrew Cashner (7-2), as he worked a lead-off walk. Aljay Davis was hit by the pitch and Mike Gosse singled to load the bases. J.T. Wise drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly to right. Cashner finished the night with seven strikeouts in three innings of work.
The Frogs had taken the early lead in the game with a run in the fifth inning. Vern doubled to lead off the inning and moved to third on a failed pick-off attempt by the catcher. Carruthers delivered with a sacrifice fly to right for an early 1-0 lead.
Oklahoma battled back to take its first lead of the game in the top of the seventh. Gosse singled to lead off the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Casey Johnson tied the game with a single to right. With the bases loaded and only one out, the Frogs went to the bullpen. Eric Marshall retired Trey Sperring, but on the play, Aaron Baker scored the go-ahead run. Marshall got out of the inning without allowing any more runs.
The Sooners tacked on two runs in the top of the ninth inning to take what seemed like a commanding 4-1 lead. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Bryant Hernandez grounded out to drive in the first run of the inning. Tyson Seng singled up the middle to make it a 4-1 lead. Again, the Frogs called on the bullpen and Paul Gerrish. He quickly got the second out of the inning, picking off Doug Buser at third before getting Davis to end the frame on a flyout.
Seth Garrison turned in another strong outing, pitching 6 1/3 innings in the no-decision. He allowed two runs on five hits, walked two and struck out eight.
The Frogs fall to 23-13 on the season. They will return to conference play Thursday night in Provo, Utah to start a three-game series against BYU. Tyler Lockwood will start for the Frogs and face the Cougars Jordan Muir.
South Florida 10 Stetson 8
DeLAND, Fla. – The University of South Florida baseball team dropped the Stetson University Hatters 10-8 Tuesday night, in DeLand, improving to 17-18 this season.
Junior Brian Hobbs blasted his first grand slam of the season in the first inning, and two batters later, junior Chris Rey rocketed his own home run, a solo shot, to give USF the 5-0 lead in the first inning.
“It’s good to see both of those guys swing the bats,” said head coach Lelo Prado. “That’s what we have been waiting for all year from both of them.”
Stetson, now 15-22, scored one in the fourth before the Bulls added five more in the fifth from five singles and a double. The Hatters struck again in the ninth, picking up five more to draw the final score within two.
Freshman right handed pitcher Matt Stull improved to 3-1 with a six-inning outing, which ties his longest appearance of the season. Stull struck out one, but allowed three runs from six hits in his longest start of his rookie campaign.
Sophomore Shawn Sanford, who earned his seventh save of the season, allowed one hit in his one inning of work.
Junior Brandon Smith drew a one-out walk, senior Joey Angelberger was hit by a pitch, then freshman Ryan Lockwood reached on an error to load the bases for Hobbs. The junior right fielder tattooed the pitch, sending his grand slam over the left field wall, collecting his team-high sixth home run of the season. With two outs, Rey homered to the same spot, over the scoreboard in left field at Conrad Park, his fifth of the year.
Stetson tagged a home run of their own in the fourth to break up the scoreless innings for the Hatters.
In the fifth, again with one out, USF collected six hits from the next seven batters to score five runs and take the 10-1 lead. Rey singled to right then stole second base, in time for freshman Jonathan Koscso to single to left field and pick up his 16th RBI. Junior Addison Maruszak singled to left field, then Smith’s base hit to right scored one more for the Bulls. Angelberger collected two RBI with a base hit to center field, then Lockwood drove in USF’s final run of the inning with a double to center.
Stetson chipped away at USF’s nine-run lead by drawing a pair of walks, then scored both runs off a double to left.
The Hatters attempted to take over the game in the ninth, scoring two runs, then loading the bases with no outs. A single and a sac fly scored three more runs before the Bulls could stop the Hatter bats.
All nine starters, plus junior Mike Consolmagno, who came in for an injured Hobbs in the fifth, had both a hit as well as a strikeout in the non-conference game.
Smith, Angelberger and Lockwood each had doubles while Hobbs and Rey both rocketed home runs. Three Bulls – Smith (9 games), Angelberger (15) and Rey (12) – added a multiple-hit game to their USF resume.
Along with Stull and Sanford, senior lefty David Torcise, freshmen Michael Anzivino, Kevin Quackenbush and Stephen Hunt also took the mound for USF. Torcise pitched the seventh, striking out one and giving up no hits. Anzivino made his second appearance of the season, allowing one hit, but striking out one in the eighth. Quackenbush started the ninth, Hunt came in for relief, then, with the bases loaded and no outs, Sanford came in to close the game.
The Bulls continue their six-game stretch on the road on Wednesday night in Daytona Beach. USF will face Bethune-Cookman at 6 p.m. before heading to Rutgers for a three-game BIG EAST weekend series.
Liberty 13 William & Mary 3
Aaron Phillips hit a two-run home run and David Giammaresi connected for a grand slam during a seven-run second inning, powering the Liberty Flames past the Tribe of William & Mary, 13-3, Tuesday night at Plumeri Park.
With its fourth-straight victory, Liberty moves to 18-17 on the year. Meanwhile, William & Mary falls to 25-12.
Liberty jumped out to an early advantage in the first inning. Kenneth Negron (Jr., 2B, Kingwood, Texas) led off the contest with single. On a wild pitch, the Flames’ second baseman moved to second. He then advanced to third, on a throwing error by William & Mary catcher Tim Parker. Two batters later, P.K. Keller (Sr., CF, Clearwater, Fla.) plated Negron with a RBI ground out for a 1-0 Liberty lead.
The Flames extended their advantage with a seven-run uprising in the second inning. Cody Brown (Jr., 3B, Boca Raton, Fla.) dropped a single in front of the right fielder to open the frame and scored on a double to the left field gap by Joseph Feeley (Fr., CF, Chesapeake City, Md.). Phillips (Sr., SS, Claremore, Okla.) followed with a blast over the left field fence for a 4-0 edge. The home run was the shortstop’s third of the season.
Negron made it three-straight base hits, with a single through the left side of the infield. After the next Flame batter was retired for the second out of the frame, Keller and Garrett Young (Sr., DH, Fountain Valley, Calif.) reached on back-to-back singles to load the bases. Giammaresi (Sr., 1B, Coral Springs, Fla.) then stepped to the plate and hammered a 1-0 offering over the left field wall to make it, 8-0 Liberty. The grand slam was the senior’s first round tripper of the year.
In the sixth frame, the Flames upped their lead with a pair of runs. Phillips doubled to begin the inning and moved to third on a single by Errol Hollinger (Jr., C, Upland, Calif.). The Liberty shortstop scored the first run of the inning on a sacrifice fly by the next hitter, Keller. The Flames plated their second run of the frame on an error by Tribe shortstop Lanny Stansfield, who mishandled a liner by Young, for a 10-0 lead.
William & Mary broke through for its first hit of the night in the bottom of the inning against Liberty starter Steven Evans (Fr., RHP, Amherst, Va.), who cruised through the first five frames. After Stansfield reached on an error, second baseman James Williamson recorded the first Tribe hit of the evening with a double to left. However, Evans turned back the threat by striking out the next two batters.
Liberty added two more runs in the seventh inning. With two outs, Feeley doubled and scored on a single by Phillips. Negron later brought him home with a run-scoring single for a 12-0 edge.
The Tribe plated their first runs of the contest in the bottom of the frame. With two outs, right fielder Rob Nickle singled to left to score both William & Mary tallies for a 12-2 score.
Brown belted his fourth home run of the season, a solo blast over the scoreboard in left field, in the ninth inning for Liberty. William & Mary added a run of its own in the bottom of the frame for the final tally of 13-3.
Evans evened his record at 2-2 on the year. The freshman left-hander gave up two runs on six hits, striking out 10 batters in 8 1/3 innings. Tribe starter Tyler Truxell takes the loss to drop 4-2 on the season. The Tribe left-hander allowed eight runs on eight hits, before being relieved after the second inning.
Feeley, Negron and Phillips each had three hits on the night to pace Liberty’s 15-hit attack.
Liberty returns home tomorrow afternoon to host the Virginia Tech Hokies. Game time Wednesday at Worthington Stadium is scheduled for 3 p.m.
UNC-Wilmington 16 Citadel 6
WILMINGTON, N.C. – Sophomore Kyle Lewis tossed five innings of 5-hit relief and senior Daniel Hargrave finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle as No. 29 UNC Wilmington trimmed The Citadel, 16-6, in non-conference baseball action Tuesday at Brooks Field.
The Seahawks, who are ranked 29th in the USAToday/ESPN Coaches Poll, extended their winning streak to four games with the win and raised their record to 27-7-1. The Bulldogs, who fell to 0-5 all-time in Wilmington against the Seahawks, saw their record dip to 22-14.
Lewis won his third straight decision to remain perfect at 3-0. The southpaw allowed one run, unearned, and struck out two in setting a career-high with those five innings. In two appearances against The Citadel, Lewis has allowed just two runs, one earned, in 9 1/3 innings.
Hargrave, who finished 4-for-6, homered in the first and doubled in the fourth before adding singles in the third and fifth innings and finished with three runs batted in.
Senior Mark Carver, Nate Hall and Shane French each had three hits on the evening as UNCW pounded out 18 hits, two short of their season-high of 20. French tied his career-high with five runs batted in.
Sophomore Matt Reifsnider had three hits for the Bulldogs and drove in two runs. Junior Sonny Meade and sophomore Richard Jones both added two hits.
Hargrave, who tied his career-best with four hits, gave the Seahawks an early lead with an opposite field homer to right with one out off losing freshman pitcher Matt Talley (1-3) , who surrendered eight runs on seven hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings.
A 9-run bottom of the third gave the Seahawks a 10-0 lead. A 3-run double by French and a 2-run double off the bat of sophomore Bobby Leeper highlighted an inning that saw 14 batters make their way to the plate.
The Citadel fought back in the top of the fourth with four runs to move to within 10-4. Jones doubled in the first run and sophomore Chris McGuiness singled through the right side to knock in Meade, who singled earlier in the frame. Reifsnider singled off Lewis, who relieved freshman starter Justin Bradley, to score the third run and Jordan completed the scoring with a RBI ground out.
French singled in his fourth run of the game in the fourth and UNCW added three more in the fifth to take a 14-4 lead.
Carver launched his 12th homer of the season in a 2-run seventh inning. Freshman pinch hitter Tyler Stott drove in the other run with a sacrifice fly to center.
The Citadel completed the scoring with single runs in the eighth and ninth innings. Senior Chris Suager singled in the first run and Reifsnider added a RBI single in the ninth.
The Seahawks return to action on Friday when they open a Colonial Athletic Association series at Delaware with a 3 p.m. start.
VMI 6 James Madison 4
LEXINGTON, Va.- Daniel Wood pitched six innings of shutout baseball in relief as VMI claimed their first win in Lexington over JMU since 1989 in a 6-4 decision on Tuesday evening at Gray-Minor Stadium.
The Keydets (18-17) took a 5-2 lead with three-run third inning off of JMU starter John Mincone (1-3), who faced four batters in the second inning but failed to record an out. The freshman was tagged for six hits while retiring only three of the 11 batters he faced.
The Dukes (25-9) scratched across four runs off of Keydet starter Jason Farley through the first two-plus innings, before Wood (1-1) came on in relief. The redshirt-sophomore allowed an unearned run in his first inning of work then settled in to allow only three hits over his final five frames. Travis Smink came on to strike out the side in order in the ninth for his fifth save of the season.
“Daniel Wood did an awesome job today in relief,” said VMI head coach Marlin Ikenberry. “He came in, got us out of a jam and then mowed their hitters down for six innings. He was awesome tonight, and I’m really proud of how far he’s come and what he’s done to get himself in this situation, to beat one of the best teams in the state of Virginia.”
Mike Roberts went 3-for-5 with two RBIs for VMI, while Jordan Ballard went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a run scored. Brian Sandridge knotted the game at two in the bottom of the first with his two-run single, while Sam Roberts and Tanner Biagini each plated runs for VMI.
“I was proud of our offense to come back after being down two runs early,” continued Ikenberry. “Then we put up the three-spot in the second to take the lead. Our offense is really starting to come around and look dangerous. I think that we have a lot of weapons that are starting to get going at the right time, and I’m really excited about that.”
The Dukes took a 2-0 lead in the first on RBI singles by Brett Sellers and Trevor Knight. After VMI rallied with five unanswered runs, JMU cut the lead to 5-4 in the third on a lead off home run by Sellers and an unearned run on an error.
Sellers paced the Duke offense by going 3-for-5 with two RBIs, while Knight went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
The win is the first by VMI over James Madison in Lexington since April 6, 1989, though this is only the fifth meeting in Lexington since that time.
VMI returns to action on Wednesday evening, playing host to Norfolk State at 6 p.m. at Gray-Minor Stadium.
