Wingate, Newberry, Catawba Advance In Food Lion SAC Baseball Tournament

FOREST CITY, N.C. -- Justin Somers struck out 11 over 7 1/3 innings of work as Wingate University defeated Lincoln Memorial University 3-1 in the 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament Thursday night at McNair Field.

With the victory, the second-seeded Bulldogs (32-20) advance to face sixth-seeded Newberry in a winners' bracket final Friday at noon. The third-seeded Railsplitters (29-21) will play top-seeded Catawba in an elimination game Friday at 3:45 p.m.

Somers (Wilmington, N.C.) worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the fifth and allowed an unearned run on seven hits to improve to 7-3 this season. He threw 137 pitches before giving way to Joshua Karr (Richmond, Va.), who struck out three of the five batters he faced for his second save.

Austin Johnson (Versailles, Ky.) was the hard-luck loser for LMU, as he threw all nine innings, giving up just five hits and three runs while striking out six and walking three across 138 pitches.

Wingate jumped to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second as Brian Yeung (Raleigh, N.C.) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and moved to third on a double by Casey Allison (Horse Shoe, N.C.). After a strikeout, Cody Shelton (Charlotte, N.C.) grounded out to second to drive in Yeung with the game's first run. James Tedder (Clemmons, N.C.) followed with a single to right to drive in Allison for a 2-0 Bulldog advantage.

After the Railsplitters stranded two runners in scoring position to end the second inning, Wingate came back with a run in the top of the third. Chris Vazquez (Tyrone, Ga.) singled with one out and came home on a double to deep left-center by Dodson McPherson (Graham, N.C.) which gave the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.

LMU got on the board against Somers in the bottom of the fourth as Gelson Perez (Gurabo, P.R.) and Eric Kitts (Blaine, Tenn.) reached on back-to-back singles with one out and moved up on a throwing error. Deaun Williams (Beech Grove, Ind.) grounded out to bring home Perez and trim the Bulldog lead to 3-1.

The pivotal moment of the game came in the bottom of the fifth. The Railsplitters' Joseph Horsley (Corryton, Tenn.) led off with a walk, Cody Baker (Knoxville, Tenn.) followed with a single and Juan Alvarez (Carolina, P.R.) reached on an infield single to short to load the bases with none out. Somers then struck out the next two hitters and retired Perez on a fly ball to the warning track in left-center to escape unscathed.

Meanwhile, Johnson kept the Bulldogs at bay, not allowing a hit after McPherson's third-inning RBI double until a single by Yeung with one out in the eighth. Over that span, Johnson retired 14 of the 15 batters he faced.

LMU looked to rally in the eighth as Perez led off the inning with a single, but after Somers' 11th strikeout of the game he was relieved by Karr, who struck out both batters he faced in the eighth and set down the Railsplitters in order in the ninth for the save.

Alvarez went 2-for-5 to lead the attack for LMU, while Perez was 2-for-4 and scored the only run of the game for the Railsplitters. Yeung reached in three of his five plate appearances for the Bulldogs with a single, and walk and a hit by pitch.

Newberry 5, Tusculum 4

FOREST CITY, N.C. -- Andy Vogel broke a 3-3 tie with a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning as sixth-seeded Newberry remained unbeaten in the 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament with a 5-4 win over fourth-seeded Tusculum College Thursday afternoon at McNair Field.

The Wolves (24-25), who upset top-seeded Catawba 4-2 in the tournament opener on Wednesday, will play Friday at noon against Wingate. The Pioneers (31-16) were eliminated from the tournament with their second loss.

With the score tied 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Chris Love (Columbia, S.C.) led off with a single. After an out, Vogel launched an 0-2 pitch from Tusculum starter Dylan Hochevar (Wray, Colo.) over the left-field wall for his fifth home run of the season and a 5-3 Newberry lead.

Tusculum mounted a comeback in the ninth against reliever Tyler Sturkie (West Columbia, S.C.), as Sean Cotten (Mooresville, N.C.) doubled with one out and scored on a single by Cody Coffman (Cape Coral, Fla.). The Pioneers put runners on first and third with two outs, but Sturkie got Matt Henriksen (Hingham, Mass.) on a grounder to short to end the game.

The Pioneers finished with a 13-9 advantage in hits over the Wolves, but stranded 11 runners on base. Tusculum went out in order just once and left five runners in scoring position in the contest.

Henriksen led the Pioneers at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a double and a triple, while Cotten, Coffman and Aaron Guinn (Norris, Tenn.) all had two hits apiece. Branfy Arias (La Romana, D.R.) drove in three of the Pioneers' four runs with a two-run single and a groundout.

Love paced the Wolves by going 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored, and Evan Darr (North Augusta, S.C.) added two hits in four trips including a double.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning, when the Wolves broke through with three runs against Hochevar. With one out, Terrence Gray (Newberry, S.C.) and Kevin Rufus (Andrews, S.C.) had back-to-back singles, and Love connected for a two-out bloop double down the right-field line to drive in Gray for a 1-0 lead.

With runners at second and third, Sanchez Gartman (Newberry, S.C.) followed with a single into right field to knock home Rufus and Love to give the Wolves a 3-0 lead.

The Pioneers answered with two runs in the top of the sixth off Newberry starter Cole Robison (Greer, S.C.). Rolondo Bonner (Garner, N.C.) and Guinn opened the frame with singles and a fielder's choice loaded the bases with one out. Arias then singled to left to knock in Bonner and Guinn and cut the Wolves lead to 3-2, but Robison escaped further damage.

Tusculum knotted the game 3-3 in the eighth as Guinn led off with an infield single and took third on a double by Henriksen. A grounder to third prevented any advance, and Robison departed in favor of Sturkie. Arias greeted the Newberry reliever with a grounder to first that enabled Guinn to score the tying run.

Robison worked 7 1/3 innings for the Wolves, throwing 124 pitches and giving up three runs on 10 hits while striking out two and walking one. Sturkie (3-0) was charged with a run on three hits in the ninth.

Hochevar dropped to 5-2 for the Pioneers after allowing five runs on nine hits in 7 1/3 innings, with eight strikeouts and three walks. Jason Gardner (West Henrietta, N.Y.) came on with a runner on in the eighth and retired both batters he faced.

Catawba 12, Carson-Newman 0

FOREST CITY, N.C. -- Chris Dula went 5-for-5 and JJ Jankowski scattered two hits over seven shutout innings as top-seeded Catawba College blanked fifth-seeded Carson-Newman College 12-0 in an elimination game at the 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament Thursday afternoon at McNair Field.

Dula (Troutman, N.C.), the SAC Freshman of the Year, singled in the first, doubled in the third, singled in the fifth, doubled home a run in the sixth, was hit by a pitch in the eighth and hit a two-run home run in the ninth. He scored four runs and drove home three to lead a 16-hit attack for the Catawba Indians (37-9).

Jankowski (McMurray, Pa.) allowed two baserunners in the first inning, then retired 18 straight batters until Jonathan Dalton (Rutledge, Tenn.) doubled with one out in the seventh. Jankowski (8-1) struck out six and did not walk a batter, throwing 61 of his 92 pitches for strikes.

Austin Moyer (Greensboro, N.C.) and Garrett Furr (Gold Hill, N.C.) also hit home runs for the Indians, while Brett Underwood (Greensboto, N.C.) finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and Julio Zubillaga (China Grove, N.C.) added two hits and drove home three runs.

The Eagles (20-27), who were eliminated from the tournament with the loss, finished with five hits in the contest and committed four errors to allow the Indians to score four unearned runs.

Catawba will play Friday at 3:45 p.m. against Lincoln Memorial.

Catawba was blanked through the first three innings by Eagle starter Robby Thigpen (St. Petersburg, Fla.) but broke through with a pair of runs in the fourth. With one out, John Neese (Summerfield, N.C.) and Underwood reached on back-to-back singles, and a throwing error loaded the bases. Zubillaga followed with a double off the wall in left to drive home Neese and Underwood and give the Indians a 2-0 lead.

In the fifth, Dula led off with a single and came home as Moyer slammed a one-out home run over the fence in right-center, his seventh of the season, for a 4-0 Catawba lead.

The Indians tacked on three runs in the sixth on an RBI double by Dula and a two-run homer by Furr, his 10th round-tripper of the year. An RBI single by Zubillaga and a sacrifice fly from Ryan Bostian (Kannapolis, N.C.) expanded the Catawba lead to 9-0 in the seventh, and an infield single by Underwood in the eighth drove home Dula for a 10-0 advantage.

Dula capped his big afternoon with his ninth home run of the season, a two-out, two-run shot to left in the ninth inning to close out the scoring.

Thigpen dropped to 6-5 for Carson-Newmna after allowing nine hits and four earned runs over 4 1/3 innings of work, with four strikeouts and a walk. Dalton was the lone Eagle to record more than one hit in the game, finishing 2-for-4 with a double.