BOX SCORE
Forest City, N.C.----Wingate University senior left-hander
Chris Nelson (Greenville, N.C.) allowed only one run in eight innings of work, while the Bulldogs blasted three consecutive homers in the sixth to lead Wingate to a 4-1 victory over the Eagles of Carson-Newman College on day one of the 2011 Food Lion SAC tournament at McNair Field.
Wingate improves to 31-20 overall and will be back in action Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. The Bulldogs will face the winner of Wednesday night’s LMU/Tusculum contest. The Eagles fall to 20-27 overall and will take on NCAA Division II number eight Catawba College at 12 noon Thursday.
Junior outfielders
Dodson McPherson (Graham, N.C.) and
Casey Allison (Horse Shoe, N.C.), along with redshirt sophomore first baseman
Brian Yeung (Raleigh, N.C.), each went two-for-four with a homer to lead the Wingate attack. Freshman infielder
Cody Shelton (Charlotte, N.C.) went one-for-four with a run scored for the Bulldogs.
Junior catcher
Mason Guymon (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) drove in the lone run of the day for the Eagles. Senior outfielder
Evan Patterson (Knoxville, Tenn.) was two-for-three, while senior outfielder
Cody Nix (Cartersville, Tenn.) went one-for-four with a run scored.
The Eagles got on the board first in the third inning. Nix led off the inning with a single, went to second on a sacrifice, then stole third. He would score the game’s first run on an RBI groundout from Guymon.
Wingate answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning. Shelton started the rally with a single; he moved to second on a sacrifice. Shelton would score when a line drive off the bat of senior outfielder
Cale Rogers (Snow Camp, N.C.) got past the Carson-Newman first baseman.
The game would remain 1-1 until the sixth inning. McPherson led off the inning, falling behind in the count 1-2. The SAC Player of the Year lined the next pitch right of the scoreboard in right center, putting Wingate on top. The solo shot is his league-leading 16th homer of the year. Yeung followed by hitting a towering solo homer down the left field line on an 0-1 pitch, his 15th of the year, to make the score 3-1. Allison wasted no time during his at bat, blasting his ninth homer of the year to left center (on the first pitch) to push the lead to three.
The three-run cushion would be plenty for Nelson (5-3 overall), who allowed only four hits in eight innings of work, striking out three and walking three. Nelson threw 108 pitches on the day, without allowing an extra-base hit. Senior right-hander
Cameron Falcon (Durham, N.C.) got the save, holding the Eagles scoreless in the ninth for his second save of the season. Senior right-hander
Austin Bridgewater (Morristown, Tenn.) took the loss, falling to 3-7 overall. He allowed four runs on five hits in five innings of work, striking out two.
(Wingate University assistant sports information director
Hugh Patton wrote this article. Patton is a 2006 Wingate graduate with a B.A. degree in Communication Studies.)
Wingate University baseball statistics
http://www.wingatebulldogs.com/custompages/baseball/2011/teamstat.htm
