S.C. college baseball recap, Friday, April 24

 

State schedule, Saturday, April 25

Erskine at Young Harris, 8 a.m.

Charleston Southern at UNC Asheville, 11 a.m.

Georgia College at Claflin, DH, noon

Lander at St. Leo, noon

North Georgia at USC Aiken, noon

Tusculum at Coker, DH, 1 p.m.

Anderson at Wingate, DH, 1 p.m.

Benedict at Miles, 1 p.m.

Florence-Darlington Tech at USC Union, DH, 1 p.m.

Francis Marion at King, 1 p.m.

Kentucky at South Carolina, 1 p.m.

Morris at Johnson & Wales, DH, 1 p.m.

North Greenville at Emmanuel, 1 p.m.

Shorter at Southern Wesleyan, DH, 1 p.m.

Spartanburg Methodist at Montreat, 1 p.m.

USC Lancaster at Gaston College, DH, 1 p.m.

USC Salkehatchie at USC Sumter, DH, 1 p.m.

Campbell at College of Charleston, 2 p.m.

Middle Georgia at USC Beaufort, 2 p.m.

Texas State at Coastal Carolina, 2 p.m.

UNC Greensboro at The Citadel, 2 p.m.

Winthrop at Gardner-Webb, 2 p.m.

Wofford at Mercer, 2 p.m.

Radford at Presbyterian, 3 p.m.

Clemson at Louisville, 7 p.m.

HBCUAC Tournament
River Run Park, Tuscaloosa, Ala

Game 1: East No. 4 Voorhees vs. West No. 1 Huston-Tillotson University, 1 p.m. Field 2
Game 2: West No. 3 Philander Smith vs. East No. 2 Stillman, 1 p.m. Field 4
Game 3: West No. 4 Dillard vs. East No. 1 Talladega, 4 p.m., Field 4
Game 4: East No. 3 Wilberforce vs. West No. 2 Southern New Orleans, 4:30 p.m. Field 2
Game 5: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 8 p.m. Field 4
Game 6: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 8 p.m. Field 2

State scoreboard, Friday, April 24

Michael Gibson is hitting .338 and has five
saves for the Bulldogs. (The Citadel photo)

Player of the day: Michael Gibson, The Citadel 2-3, 2B, R, S, 2.1 IP, 3, H, 0 R, 5 K 

* NCAA Division I: Michael Gibson got two of The Citadel's (20-21, 5-8 SoCon) three hits and pitched the final 2 1/3 innings of a series-opening win over UNC Greensboro (15-27, 2-11) ... South Carolina (21-22, 6-13 SEC) hit four home runs, but had to dance around eight walks, a hit batsman and three errors to take the series opener over Kentucky (26-14, 8-11). Ethan Lizama had a grand slam and Parker Marlatt stranded three Wildcats in the ninth for his first save ... Luke Jones (4-1) struck out six and allowed two hits in six shutout innings and No. 9 Coastal Carolina (29-12, 16-3 Sun Belt) took a series opener against Texas State (26-16, 9-10) ... Clemson (26-17, 6-13 ACC) committed five errors to help Louisville (24-18, 8-11) win the opener. The Cardinals broke open a one-run game with a five-run seventh, although Clemson did get the potential tying run on base in the ninth ... Cam Mallo's sacrifice fly gave Presbyterian (10-33, 6-10 Big South) a walk-off win over Radford (19-19, 7-9) ... Chris Katz's RBI single in the 11th inning gave Mercer (30-12, 5-5 SoCon) a walk-off win over first-place Wofford (30-12, 8-2). The Terriers, who had a nine-game winning streak snapped, took leads in the 10th and 11th innings, only to have the Bears answer. Katz hit a grand slam for Mercer in the seventh ... Titus Von Kapff (5-4) pitched into the eighth inning as Charleston Southern (23-17, 8-8 Big South) took Game 1 at UNC Asheville (16-26, 4-9) ... Campbell (27-14, 18-4 CAA) had four doubles and four homers to run-rule College of Charleston (20-21, 10-9) ... Three solo home runs and a complete game shutout by Oliver Ellison lifted Gardner-Webb (19-23, 7-9 Big South) over Winthrop (27-15, 10-3) ... Samford (22-19 put up crooked numbers in the first three innings of Game 1 and went on to sweep USC Upstate (19-25), extending the Spartans' losing streak to eight 

* Conference Carolinas: Skyler Hegler singled, doubled twice and homered to drive in five runs for North Greenville (42-7, 28-4) in Game 1 and the Trailblazers clinched the regular-season championship with a rout in Game 2 at Emmanuel (20-28, 15-17). The Trailblazers have won 17 straight games ... Charlie Bussey III's sixth-inning single broke a tie and Francis Marion (39-10, 26-6) held off King (13-35, 10-22) to open a doubleheader sweep ... Young Harris (35-14, 24-8) hit five home runs in Game 1 to beat Erskine (25-24, 19-13), but the Flying Fleet came back to take the nightcap ... Shorter (16-27, 7-24) dealt Southern Wesleyan's (15-33, 9-22) conference tournament hopes a blow in Game 1 of their series.

* Peach Belt Conference: Zach Cowart's 10th-inning double gave Lander (30-18) the lead and the Bearcats held on to beat St. Leo (22-21) in Game 1 and Oliver Zohn had three hits and scored the winning run on a seventh-inning wild pitch in Game 2 of a nonconference doubleheader. The Bearcats have won eight straight ... Regular-season champ North Georgia (37-11, 25-3) scored four runs in the ninth to force extra innings and went on to beat second-place USC Aiken (34-14, 19-9) ... Middle Georgia (17-31, 10-18) used a pair of big innings  to beat USC Beaufort (12-32, 4-24) ... Former USC Beaufort player Carson Phillips had four hits and drove in three runs as Georgia College (20-25, 12-16) run-ruled Claflin (4-34, 1-27). The Panthers have loss eight straight.

* South Atlantic Conference:  Matthew Lipcsey's two-run single in the ninth inning provided a walk-off win for Coker (13-32, 10-21) against Tusculum (16-31, 10-21). The Cobras trailed 7-0 after 2 1/2 innings ... Nick Foster doubled twice and drove in four runs as Newberry (26-23, 18-14) took Game 1 of 2 at Mars Hill (26-22-1, 19-12-1), but the Lions scored three runs in the fifth inning of the nightcap and gained a split ... Tanner McCammon hit two homers in Wingate's (33-15, 23-8) win over Anderson (23-24, 10-21).

* Other: Brady Jeffcoat and Lane Schrader hit two-run homers as Spartanburg Methodist (25-21, 16-10 AAC) took the opener, and Blake Exizian homered to break a tie in the seventh inning of Game 2 of a doubleheader at Montreat (30-19, 13-13). The Pioneers scored six runs in the sixth inning to tie the nightcap as they extended their winning streak to 6 ... Benedict (20-11, 18-11 SIAC) scored seven runs over the final three innings to take Game 1 of a doubleheader against Miles (20-21, 13-18) at Rickwood Field. Joshua Medina singled in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning. The host Golden Bears scored five runs in the first inning and claimed the nightcap

Beyond the border
* ACC: Duke evened its series with No. 2 North Carolina, 3-1 ... No. 3. Georgia Tech held off  Wake Forest, 6-5 ... Stanford scored four runs in the fifth to top No. 8 Florida State, 4-3 ... Pitt edged No. 10 Virginia, 7-5 ... Notre Dame ripped No. 22 Boston College,12-2 ... Virginia Tech blanked N.C. State, 4-0 ... California blasted Miami, 9-2.

* ACC standings: Georgia Tech 17-5; North Carolina 16-7; Florida State 12-7; Boston College 14-8; Virginia 12-10; Miami 10-9; Wake Forest 11-11; N.C. State 9-10; Virginia Tech 10-12; Pitt 8-11; Louisville 8-11; Stanford 8-11; Duke 9-14; California 7-12; Notre Dame 8-14; Clemson 6-13.

*SEC: No. 21 Florida turned back No. 7 Texas A&M, 9-2 ... No. 11 Auburn held off No. 14 Oklahoma, 6-4 ... No. 4 Texas handled Vanderbilt, 11-4 ... No. 24 Arkansas shut out Missouri, 6-0 ... Tennessee swept a doubleheader from No. 13 Alabama, 10-0 and 11-4 ... No. 15 Mississippi State beat LSU in 11 innings, 10-8 ... No. 5 Georgia and No. 17 Ole Miss were rained out and are scheduled to play two on Saturday.
* SEC standings: Georgia 13-5; Texas A&M 12-6; Texas 12-6; Auburn 11-8; Florida 11-8; Mississippi State 11-8;  Ole Miss 10-8; Arkansas 11-9; Oklahoma 10-9; Alabama 10-11; Tennessee 10-11; Vanderbilt 9-10; Kentucky 8-11;  LSU 6-13; South Carolina 6-13; Missouri 3-17.

* D1Baseball.com top 25: No. 1 UCLA scored a run in the eighth and two in the ninth to beat Sacramento State, 6-5, in walk-off fashion ... Illinois topped No. 20 Nebraska, 20-10.

Benedict 14, Miles 9, Game 1 - Ben: Jonathan Olmedo 3-4, 2B, 2 BB, 2 SB, R, 2 RBI

Miles 9, Benedict 4, Game 2 - Ben: Cameron Haley 1B, BB, SB, 2 RBI

Campbell 16, College of Charleston 1, 7 innings - Cha: Reece Holbrook 1B, BB, R
Charleston Southern 12, UNC Asheville 2 - Cha: Blake Edgmon 2B, HR, BB, 2 ER, 2 RBI

Coastal Carolina 6, Texas State 2 - Coa: Brice Estep 1B, 2B, HR, SB, 2 RBI

Coker 14, Tusculum 13 - Cok: Luke Miller 3-4, BB, 2 R,  RBI
Francis Marion 4, King 2, Game 1 - Fra: Owen Powell 3.2 IP, H, 2 K
Francis Marion 15, King 8, Game 2 - Fra: Brandon Vargas 3-4, 2B, 3B, 3 R, 4 RBI
Gardner-Webb 3, Winthrop 0 - Win: Corey Wouters 2-4

Georgia College 15, Claflin 5, 7 innings -  Cla: Devon Whitehead 2 HR, 4 RBI

Lander 10, St. Leo 8, 10 innings, Game 1 - Lan: Cooper Backman 3-5, 2B, R, 3 RBI

Lander 5, St. Leo 4, Game 2 - Lan: Oliver Zohn 1B, 2B, HR, BB, 3 R, 2 RBI
Louisville 13, Clemson 10 - Cle: Luke Gaffney 3-3, HR, 2 BB, 3 R, 2 RBI

Mercer 9, Wofford 8, 11 innings - Wof: Brady Gold 3-6, 2 R

Middle Georgia 15, USC Beaufort 10 - Bea: Noah Campbell 3-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI
Newberry 13, Mars Hill 4, Game 1 - New: Luke Compton 4-6, 2 2B, 3 R, RBI, SB
Mars Hill 6, Newberry 4, Game 2 - New: Keillor Osbon 2-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI

North Georgia 6, USC Aiken 4, 11 innings - Aik: Donovan Glisson 3-4, 2B,2 R

North Greenville 12, Emmanuel 10 Game 1 - Nor: Thomas Powell 3-5, HR, BB
North Greenville 16, Emmanuel 3, Game 2 - Nor: CJ Dean 2 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI

Presbyterian 6, Radford 5 - PC: Amman Dewberry 2B, HR, 2 R

Samford 7, USC Upstate 5, Game 1 - Up: Wylie Waters 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI

Samford 6, USC Upstate 1, Game 2 - Up: Jack Gibson 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 K

Shorter 5, Southern Wesleyan 4 - Sou: Cole Kirschner 1B, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI
South Carolina 10, Kentucky 9 - USC: Dawson Harman 2 HR, 4 R

Spartanburg Methodist 4, Montreal 3, Game 1 - Spa: Jarian Pinckney 3-4, 2B, R

Spartanburg Methodist 8, Montreat 7, Game 2 - Spa: Michael Mapes 3.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R
The Citadel 2, UNC Greensboro 1 - Cit: Will Holmes W, 6.2 IP, 2 H, R, 9 K

Wingate 10,  Anderson 3 - And: Bryce Helms 1B, BB, 2 R
Young Harris 14, Erskine 8, Game 1 - Ers: Noah Hill 1B, HR, 2 ERBI
Erskine 8, Young Harris 5, Game 2 - Ers: Quinn Allen 2B, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
(31/1088)

S.C. college baseball recap, Thursday, April 23

State schedule, April 24-26

Friday, April 24

Newberry at Mars Hill, DH, noon

Spartanburg Methodist at Montreat, DH, noon

Benedict at Miles, DH, 1 p.m.

Francis Marion at King, DH, 1 p.m.

Lander at St. Leo, DH, 1 p.m.

North Greenville at Emmanuel, DH, 1 p.m.

Erskine at Young Harris, DH, 2 p.m.

Anderson at Wingate, 4 p.m.

USC Upstate at Samford, DH, 4 p.m.

Shorter at Southern Wesleyan, 5 p.m.

Campbell at College of Charleston, 6 p.m.

Charleston Southern at UNC Asheville, 6 p.m.

Clemson at Louisville, 6 p.m.

Georgia College at Claflin, 6 p.m.

Middle Georgia USC Beaufort, 6 p.m.

North Georgia at USC Aiken, 6 p.m.

Radford at Presbyterian, 6 p.m.

Texas State at Coastal Carolina, 6 p.m.

Tusculum at Coker, 6 p.m.

UNC Greensboro at The Citadel, 6 p.m.

Winthrop at Gardner-Webb, 6 p.m.

Wofford at Mercer, 6 p.m.

Kentucky at South Carolina, 7 p.m.

Saturday, April 25

Erskine at Young Harris, 8 a.m.

Charleston Southern at UNC Asheville, 11 a.m.

Georgia College at Claflin, DH, noon

Lander at St. Leo, noon

Tusculum at Coker, DH, 1 p.m.

Anderson at Wingate, DH, 1 p.m.

Benedict at Miles, 1 p.m.

Florence-Darlington Tech at USC Union, DH, 1 p.m.

Francis Marion at King, 1 p.m.

Kentucky at South Carolina, 1 p.m.

Morris at Johnson & Wales, DH, 1 p.m.

North Greenville at Emmanuel, 1 p.m.

Shorter at Southern Wesleyan, DH, 1 p.m.

Spartanburg Methodist at Montreat, 1 p.m.

USC Lancaster at Gaston College, DH, 1 p.m.

USC Salkehatchie at USC Sumter, DH, 1 p.m.

Campbell at College of Charleston, 2 p.m.

Middle Georgia at USC Beaufort, 2 p.m.

North Georgia at USC Aiken, 2 p.m.

Texas State at Coastal Carolina, 2 p.m.

UNC Greensboro at The Citadel, 2 p.m.

Wofford at Mercer, 2 p.m.

Radford at Presbyterian, 3 p.m.

Winthrop at Gardner-Webb, 3 p.m.

Clemson at Louisville, 7 p.m.

HBCUAC Tournament
River Run Park, Tuscaloosa, Ala

Game 1: East No. 4 Voorhees vs. West No. 1 Huston-Tillotson University, 1 p.m. Field 2
Game 2: West No. 3 Philander Smith vs. East No. 2 Stillman, 1 p.m. Field 4
Game 3: West No. 4 Dillard vs. East No. 1 Talladega, 4 p.m., Field 4
Game 4: East No. 3 Wilberforce vs. West No. 2 Southern New Orleans, 4:30 p.m. Field 2
Game 5: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 8 p.m. Field 4
Game 6: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 8 p.m. Field 2

Sunday, April 26

Charleston Southern at UNC Asheville, noon

Texas State at Coastal Carolina, 12:30 p.m.

Campbell at College of Charleston, 1 p.m.

Florence-Darlington Tech at USC Union, 1 p.m.

Middle Georgia at USC Beaufort, 1 p.m.

North Georgia at USC Aiken, 1 p.m.

Radford at Presbyterian, 1 p.m.

UNC Greensboro at The Citadel, 1 p.m.

USC Lancaster at Gaston College, 1 p.m.

USC Salkehatchie at USC Sumter, 1 p.m.

Winthrop at Gardner-Webb, 1 p.m.

Wofford at Mercer, 1 p.m.

Clemson at Louisville, 2 p.m.

Newberry at Mars Hill, 2 p.m.
USC Upstate at Samford, 2 p.m.

Kentucky at South Carolina, 3 p.m.

HBCUAC Tournament
River Run Park, Tuscaloosa, Ala

Game 7: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 11 a.m. Field 4
Game 8: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 11 a.m. Field 2
Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 8 loser, 2:30 p.m. Field 4
Game 10: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 loser, 2:30 p.m. Field 2
Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 6 p.m., Field 2

State scoreboard, Thursday, April 23

Mikey Scott had a season-high three hits in the opener
of Thursday's doubleheader. (USC Union photo)

Player of the day: Mikey Scott, USC Union, 5-for-6, 3 2B, BB, 4 R, 3 RBI  

* Briefly: Mikey Scott had five hits, scored four runs and drove in three as USC Union (31-18) swept a doubleheader from Blue Claws postgrad. Jaxson Barbee and Gavin Brown combined on a two-hit shutout in the opener. Markus Kirksey had a homer and four RBI in the nightcap as the Bantams extended their winning streak to five.

Beyond the border
* ACC: No. 2 North Carolina took the series opener at Duke, 3-1.
* ACC standings: Georgia Tech 16-5; North Carolina 16-6; Boston College 14-7; Florida State 12-6; Virginia 12-9; Miami 10-8; Wake Forest 11-10; N.C. State 9-9; Virginia Tech 9-12; Pitt 7-11; Stanford 7-11; Louisville 7-11; Duke 8-14; Clemson 6-12; California 6-12;  Notre Dame 7-14.

* SEC: No. 13 Alabama took the series opener at Tennessee, 12-8 ... No. 24 Arkansas broke a 3-3 tie in the eighth and beat Missouri, 5-4.
* SEC standings: Georgia 13-5; Texas A&M 12-5; Texas 11-6; Auburn 10-8; Florida 10-8; Mississippi State 10-8; Oklahoma 10-8; Ole Miss 10-8; Alabama 10-9; Arkansas 10-9; Vanderbilt 9-9; Kentucky 8-10; Tennessee 8-11; LSU 6-12; South Carolina 5-13; Missouri 3-16.

USC Union 7, Blue Claws 0, 5 innings, Game 1 - Uni: Josh Jackson 2-2, 2B, HBP, R, RBI
USC Union 20, Blue Claws 10, 5 innings, Game 2 - Uni: Tanner Smith 1B, 3B, HBP, 3 R, 3 RBI

(2/1057)

S.C. college baseball recap, Wednesday, April 22

In case you missed it, April 22

 

* Coastal Carolina pitcher Cameron Flukey is expected to start Sunday's home game against Texas State as he returns from an injury from an injury that has sidelined him most of the season. He was one of the key parts of the Chanticleers' run to the College World Series runner-up spot a season ago.

* Voorhees will play Huston-Tillotson at 1 p.m. (EDT) Saturday in a first-round game of the HBCU Athletic Conference Tournament. Games will be played at River Run Park in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The top four teams in the league's two divisions are in the double-elimination event.  Huston-Tillotson won the West Division and Voorhees took fourth in the East Division of the NAIA conference.
Saturday's schedule
Game 1: East No. 4 Voorhees vs. West No. 1 Huston-Tillotson University, 1 p.m. Field 2
Game 2: West No. 3 Philander Smith vs. East No. 2 Stillman, 1 p.m. Field 4
Game 3: West No. 4 Dillard vs. East No. 1 Talladega, 4 p.m., Field 4
Game 4: East No. 3 Wilberforce vs. West No. 2 Southern New Orleans, 4:30 p.m. Field 2
Game 5: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 8 p.m. Field 4
Game 6: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 8 p.m. Field 2

* Lander has shattered the NCAA Division II record for times being hit by a pitch in a season. Bearcats batters have been plunked 165 times in 46 games. The previous was 159 by Angelo State in 65 games in 2024.

 * Tristan Tillman of Southern Wesleyan has stolen a school-record 44 bases in 50 attempts this season. The Summerville High and USC Sumter product stolen seven in a game against Chowan April 4. Mike Hyman set the previous record with 43 steals in 2015.

* The first NCAA Division II regional rankings of the season are out. The rankings are used in the process of selecting teams to the NCAA Tournament. Eight teams from the Southeast Region - made up of Conference Carolinas, the Peach Belt Conference and the South Atlantic Conference - qualify for the playoffs. The 10 teams in the Southeast rankings are listed in alphabetical order.
Southeast Region: Belmont Abbey, Catawba, Flagler, Francis Marion, Lenoir-Rhyne, North Georgia, North Greenville, USC Aiken, Wingate, Young Harris.

* Charlie Bussey III of Francis Marion is closing in on 100 runs scored this season. He has scored 94 times in 47 games. Both Bussey and teammate Ethan McAnally have hit 17 home runs this season, topping the previous record of 15 by Tim Dockery in 1998. McAnally has set a school record for RBI in a season (76). Bussey, with 69, also has topped the previous season record of 67 by Preston Shuey in 2011.