Rock Hill, S.C.----The defending Food Lion SAC champion Wingate University Bulldogs will be the four seed in this week’s tournament, which begins Thursday at McNair Field in Forest City, N.C. Wingate will take on the third-seeded Tornados of Brevard College at 7:30 p.m. Wingate finished the regular season 28-21 overall and 14-13 in the SAC.
The Bulldogs have gotten it done with the offense this year, leading the nation with 84 homers. That puts Wingate fourth on the league’s all-time single season charts. Carson-Newman set the record with 95 in 2002, while Catawba hit 93 in 2006 and 90 in 2008. The Bulldogs have 38 more homers than any other SAC team this year. Senior outfielder
Casey Allison (Horse Shoe, N.C.) is the 15th player in SAC history to hit 20 or homer homers in a season. He has 42 career homers, which ranks seventh on the all-time conference charts.
Allison is hitting .352 on the year, leading the league with his 20 homers, 63 RBI and 147 total bases. He ranks third in the SAC with a .762 slugging percentage, fourth with 52 runs and fifth with 17 doubles. Redshirt junior first baseman
Brian Yeung (Raleigh, N.C.) leads the team with a .366 batting average, while ranking second in the SAC in hits (71) and doubles (19), third in RBI (55), fourth in total bases (129), fifth in homers (13) and slugging percentage (.665) and seventh in runs (49).
Senior infielder
Jacob Karr (Richmond, Va.) is third on the team with a .345 batting average. He leads the league with 23 doubles and 56 runs scored, while ranking second with 59 RBI and 131 total bases, fourth with 70 hits, and sixth with 12 homers and a .645 slugging percentage. Senior outfielder
Dodson McPherson (Graham, N.C.) is hitting .339 on the year. The reigning SAC Player of the Year is fourth in the league with 52 runs, sixth with 12 homers, seventh with 115 total bases and 10th with a .618 slugging percentage.
Junior catcher
Jason Hunter (West Chester, Pa.) has had a solid junior year, hitting .338 with eight homers, 10 doubles and 42 RBI. Freshmen
Josh Clark (Clemmons, N.C.) and
Thomas Spitz (West Chester, Pa.) have had solid first years at Wingate. Clark is hitting .331 with 20 RBI. Spitz is second in the league with five triples, to go along with six homers and eight doubles. He has driven in 22 runs, and ranks second on the team with 53 runs scored. Senior infielder
Chris Vazquez (Tyrone, Ga.) has seven homers, nine doubles, 31 RBI and 40 runs scored on the year.
Sophomore right-hander
Ben Currie (Clemmons, N.C.) has been the team’s ace throughout most of the year, making 11 starts. He is 6-3 on the season, leading the team with 68 2/3 innings pitched. Currie has 40 strikeouts on the year, and has one of Wingate’s two complete games. Sophomore right-hander
Olen Little (Charlotte, N.C.) has made five starts and 13 relief appearances. He is 3-0 with a 3.62 ERA, compiling 35 strikeouts against just 12 walks in 37 1/3 innings of work. Senior right-hander
Justin Nygard (Wilson, N.C.) has made 11 starts, and leads the team with 50 strikeouts.
Sophomore right-hander
Stephen Vaughan (Wilmington, N.C.) has 18 appearances on the year, including four starts. He is 6-1 on the season, with 47 strikeouts and just nine walks in 46 2/3 innings. Freshman right-hander
Brett Morgan (Clemmons, N.C.) has made 18 appearances out of the Wingate bullpen. He has a 3.38 ERA, notching one save while piling up 23 strikeouts. Redshirt junior right-hander
Josh Karr (Richmond, Va.) has a 2-1 record, and is tied for the lead league with seven saves. He has 17 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings, making a team-best 21 appearances, which ranks second in the SAC.
Wingate and Brevard played a three-game series in Brevard in early April. The Tornados swept the series, winning 8-3, 14-6 and 7-6. Brevard has won 11 straight games entering the SAC Tournament, and has won nine consecutive league contests. The Tornados are 26-20 overall, and went 16-11 in league play. The winner of the game takes on the winner of the Catawba vs. Carson-Newman game. The loser will take on the winner of the Tusculum vs. Newberry game.
