Wingate, N.C.----The second-seeded Wingate University Bulldogs are one win away from the championship series after taking down third-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne 9-5 on day two of the South Atlantic Conference baseball tournament at Ron Christopher Stadium and Plyler Athletic Field. The Bulldogs improve to 36-16 overall and are the only team without a loss in this pod of the tourney. The 'Dogs need one more win to advance to next week's championship series. The Bears fall to 36-12-1 on the season.
KEY STATS
- The Bulldogs out-hit the Bears 12-9
- Wingate had four of the five extra-base hits; each team homered
- The Bears left 12 on base; the 'Dogs stranded nine
- The Bulldogs had four of the six stolen bases
- Wingate committed all three errors in the contest
- WU pitching struck out seven and walked five; LR struck out four and walked two
KEY BULLDOGS
-
Reed Benamati was two-for-three with three RBI and a pair of stolen bases
-
Will Farrell added a double, two RBI and two runs scored
-
Neil Griffin homered and scored two runs
-
Jake Courville went two-for-five with a double, RBI and run scored
-
Jalen Evans was three-for-four with an RBI, stolen base and two runs scored
-
Tanner McCammon collected two hits including a double, driving in a run and scoring a run
-
Bowen Powell also scored a run
-
JD Little allowed one earned run in 6 2/3 innings, striking out six
-
Carson Morton allowed one earned run in 2 1/3 innings of work with a strikeout
SECOND INNING
- Evans got things started with a one-out single
- Farrell lined an RBI double to left to get the Bulldogs on the board
THIRD INNING
- A Courville two-out double and a hit batter put two on for the 'Dogs
- An RBI single from McCammon plated Courville
- Evans added an RBI single to give Wingate a 3-0 lead
FOURTH INNING
- A Drew Beard solo homer got Lenoir-Rhyne on the board
- A walk and hit batter put two on for the Bulldogs in the bottom of the frame
- Courville's RBI single pushed the lead back to three
FIFTH INNING
- McCammon led off the inning with a double
- A hit batter and Griffin bunt single loaded the bases
- Farrell's sacrifice fly made it 5-1
- Benamati delivered a two-out, two-run single to right to give Wingate a six-run cushion
SEVENTH INNING
- A Matt Procopi two-run single cut the lead to four
- The Bears scored another run on a WU error to make it 7-4
- Griffin blasted a solo homer in the bottom of the frame to stretch the lead back to four
- Farrell drew a walk, then stole second
- He scored on another two-out RBI single from Benamati to make it 9-4
NINTH INNING
- An Andrew Still RBI single made it 9-5
- Morton induced a game-ending flyout to cap the Wingate victory
WRAPUP
- Little got the win, moving to 3-2 on the year
- He allowed an earned run on five hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out six and walking two
- Hugo Tafoya took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings of work
UP NEXT
- Wingate will need one more victory to advance to the three-game championship series next week
- Lenoir-Rhyne will face the winner of Saturday's Newberry vs. Carson-Newman contest Sunday at noon
- The 'Dogs will take on the winner of that game Sunday at 4 p.m.
- If the Bulldogs win, they advance to the finals
- If Wingate loses, there will be one final game Monday to decide who advances
