USCB splits doubleheader with Southern Wesleyan

If coach Rick Sofield has done his job and the pitchers have held up their end of the deal, the time eventually will come when a USC Beaufort hitter gets a chance to determine whether the Sand Sharks win or lose.

"If we're sitting there with the tying or winning run at the plate," Sofield said, "ultimately somebody's got to whack one."

The Sand Sharks found themselves in that position twice Wednesday, and they succeeded in one instance and failed in another, walking away from Hardeeville's Richard Gray Baseball Complex with a doubleheader split against Southern Wesleyan.

R.J. Neal and Spencer Jackson delivered RBI singles in the bottom of the seventh to lift USCB to a 4-3 win in the opener, but the Sand Sharks left the tying run at the plate in losing the second game 3-1.

In its first games back from a doubleheader sweep in which it was outscored 22-2 by Savannah College of Art and Design on Saturday, USCB got strong outings from starters Adam Miller and Kyle McCullough, as well as relievers Andres Castro and Colton Rudd. The Sand Sharks (9-6) were less than stellar on defense, though, and they continued to struggle at the plate against a team that came in allowing 12.8 runs per game.

After leaving six runners on base, USCB finally rallied in the seventh inning of the opener against reliever Wesley Allen. Larry Perry reached on an error with one out, then David O'Neil and Neal hit back-to-back singles, the latter scoring Perry with the tying run. The Warriors (2-12) walked Jeremy Webb to load the bases with one out, and Jackson ripped a single through the left side of a drawn-in infield to plate O'Neil with the winning run.

The Sand Sharks never got that big hit in the second game, though they had an opportunity in the seventh. Webb led off with a double and scored on Brandon Cooksey's single, but Allen struck out Clay Bonds, center fielder Brauncy Jenkins made a sliding catch to take a hit away from Brandon Collins and Perry grounded out to short to end the threat.

Allowing the Warriors to salvage a split left Sofield stinging a bit as the Sand Sharks head into a four-game weekend series against Fisher College, which comes in from Boston for doubleheaders at 1 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.

"We're lucky to come out with a split," Sofield said. "We've got a lot of work to do. The bottom line is we're not very good on defense right now, and that has to improve."

Game 1

SWU000 120 0 -- 362

USCB000 110 2 -- 4102

WP: Andres Castro (1-0) 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.

LP: Wesley Allen (0-2) 1-3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.

2B: SWU, Josh Hutto (1).

RBI: SWU, Aaron Plummer 2 (9), Joseph Taylor (4); USCB, David O'Neil (8), R.J. Neal (18), Spencer Jackson (11), Brandon Cooksey (8).

Game 2

SWU020 100 0 -- 382

USCB000 000 1 -- 151

WP: Ryan Miller (1-1) 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.

LP: Kyle McCullough (2-1) 5 2-3 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K.

S: Bradley Love (1) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.

2B: SWU, Stephen Wyatt (1); USCB, Jeremy Webb (2).

RBI: SWU, Tyler Lollis 2 (5), Seth Hunter (5); USCB, Brandon Cooksey (9).