USCB softball team sweeps twin bill
The USCB softball team passed its final test before beginning Sun Conference play, as the Sand Sharks swept a doubleheader at Brewton-Parker 2-1 and 14-4 on Wednesday.
The Sand Sharks repeatedly got out of jams in the first game — including one with the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh inning — to hold on. Ashlie Layman earned the win, scattering 11 hits and five walks over a complete game while striking out six and allowing one unearned run.
USCB grabbed an early lead when Haley Brown led off the game with a double and scored on Emily Pauley’s RBI single, and Brodie McGregor’s RBI single in the fifth made it 2-0.
A pair of Sand Shark errors allowed the Barons to cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the fifth, but Layman recorded a strikeout and a flyout to strand the tying run at third. Layman again left the tying run at third in the sixth, and Brewton-Parker loaded the bases with three straight singles to start the seventh before Layman retired three straight to end the game.
Pauley went 3-for-4 with an RBI, Whitley Martin was 3-for-4, McGregor was 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Brown and Missy Hughes added two hits apiece for USCB.
The Sand Sharks racked up 16 hits in the second game. Becker went 3-for-4 with two runs and four RBIs, Hughes was 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBIs, and McGregor was 2-for-3 with a run and three RBIs. Brown again sparked the offense in the leadoff spot, going 2-for-2 with two walks, three runs and two RBIs.
USCB built a 5-0 lead before the Barons answered with four in the bottom of the fourth. The Sand Sharks broke it open again with six runs in the fifth, sending 11 batters to the plate, and USCB tacked on three more in the sixth to invoke the eight-run mercy rule.
Abby Pac picked up the win, striking out eight and allowing four runs on nine hits with no walks in a six-inning complete game.
The Sand Sharks (13-14) will open Sun Conference play this weekend, hosting Keiser on Saturday and St. Thomas on Sunday. Both doubleheaders will begin at 1 p.m.
Late Tuesday South Carolina 12, USC Upstate 6
LT Tolbert and Marcus Mooney each homered for the first time this season and were part of a 16-hit attack as 12th ranked South Carolina defeated USC Upstate at Fluor Field. The Gamecocks improved to 16-2 on the year while the Spartans dropped to 8-10.
Sophomore right-hander Brandon Murray (1-0) earned the win. He pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief and allowed just one hit and two walks while striking out two batters. USC Upstate starter Tyler Jackson (2-2) took the loss. He allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings of work.
USC Upstate took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Three consecutive singles from Jaden Savage, Jordan Ford and Zach Krider led to the first run of the game. An RBI fielder’s choice off the bat of Anthony Vaglica scored the second run.
Carolina quickly answered in the top of the third on LT Tolbert’s first career homer. Marcus Mooney led off with an infield single. With one out and Mooney on second base, Tolbert launched a 3-2 pitch over the right-center wall to tie the game up at 2-2. USC Upstate went back ahead 3-2 in the fourth inning.
Carolina answered again, though, with two runs in the fifth inning to take a 4-3 lead. With one out, Mooney launched his first homer of the year over the Green Monster wall in left field to tie the game. Gene Cone followed with a double into the gap in left-center and scored on John Jones’ two-out infield single.
DC Arendas increased the lead to 6-3 in the sixth inning with a two-run double. Dom Thompson-Williams led off the frame with a walk and Jonah Bride singled. After Chris Cullen’s sacrifice bunt, Arendas knocked a double off the wall in left field to score both runners.
Carolina added three more runs in the seventh inning and three more in the eighth. Jonah Bride had a pair of sacrifice flies in both the seventh and eighth, with Cullen driving in two runs with a double in the seventh and Jones and Thompson-Williams also adding RBIs. USC Upstate scored its final three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Clemson 12, The Citadel 1
Andrew Cox hit his first career long ball, a three-run homer in the Tigers’ six-run fifth inning, in No. 19 Clemson’s victory over The Citadel at Riley Park. The Tigers, who took a 1-0 lead in the two-game midweek series, improved to 12-3, while the Bulldogs dropped to 7-9. It was the first meeting between the teams at Riley Park since 1990 and first meeting overall since 2004.
Seth Beer started the scoring with a run-scoring double in the Tigers’ two-run first inning that extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Wilson hit a two-run single in the third inning, then Clemson exploded for six runs in the fifth. Wilson and Chase Pinder hit run-scoring doubles sandwiched around Cox’s home run. Wilson went 2-for-4 with four RBIs in Clemson’s 11-hit attack.
Tiger starter Jake Higginbotham (2-0) earned the win by tossing five scoreless innings of two-hit ball. He also struck out a career-high eight batters. The Citadel starter Alex Bialakis (0-1) took the loss, as he yielded four runs on four hits in three innings
USC Beaufort 7-5, Edward Waters 1-6
USCB claimed a 7-1 victory in the first game of a doubleheader at Edward Waters before a seventh-inning rally fell short in a 6-5 defeat in the finale.
The Sand Sharks, ranked seventh in the NAIA Baseball Coaches Top 25 Poll released Tuesday, won the opener behind three RBIs from Michael Johnson and a three-hitter from Justin Kortessis. USCB rallied from a 6-1 deficit in the nightcap and had the tying run at third in the seventh inning before the Tigers shut down the rally.
Kortessis (3-0) was dominant in the opener, striking out seven and allowing one unearned run. He allowed only one baserunner after the second inning.
The Tigers plated their run in the first, but USCB tied it on Kal Davis’ RBI double in the third and took the lead on Johnson’s two-run single later in the inning. Two Sand Sharks came home on a passed ball in the fourth to make it 5-1, and Johnson and John Cloyd drove in runs in the seventh.
One big inning was the Sand Sharks’ undoing in the second game, as Edward Waters scored six runs in the third. Johnson’s sacrifice fly cut the deficit to 6-2 in the fourth, and USCB mounted a rally in the seventh. Matt Kianka scored on a passed ball, and Davis added an RBI single to make it 6-4. Another run came home on a double play, but Frederick Belz put out the fire to split the doubleheader.
The Sand Sharks will be back in action Tuesday, hosting Brewton-Parker in a nonconference doubleheader at noon.
This story was originally published March 16, 2016 at 8:42 PM with the headline "USCB softball team sweeps twin bill."