UNCG BASEBALL DOWNS FURMAN 6-4
GREENSBORO, NC -- UNCG rallied for five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to lift the Spartans to a 6-4 victory over Furman on Saturday night in Southern Conference baseball action at UNCG Stadium.
UNCG moves to 30-18 on the season and 16-9 in SoCon action. With the loss, Furman slips to 20-29 and 11-15 in league play. The Spartans got on the board first with a single run in the fourth.
Jason Sarvis led off the inning with a walk and quickly moved to second on a sacrifice from Justin Saltalamacchia. Sarvis advanced to third on a Ryan Gordon groundout before scoring on a Jesse Martin single to center.
Furman, trailing 1-0, sprung for four runs in the sixth inning. Clint Hill singled to right to begin the inning to get the Paladins rolling. Drew Latora drew a walk from Spartan starter Jay Metzger, before Dominic Frankey drove home Latora and Hill with a single to center. Two more Paladins came home in the inning to put Furman up 4-1.
The Paladin lead was short lived though, as UNCG came alive with five runs in the sixth. Kirk Strebin reached on an infield hit to lead off the inning. After stealing second, Strebin came home to score on a Sarvis single to center. Saltalamacchia drew a base on balls and Gordon then reached on an error, plating Sarvis. Martin drove home his second run of the night with a single to center, scoring Saltalamacchia from third. Mike McClain followed with another run scoring single.
Furman replaced starting pitcher Corey Etheridge with Brian Corcoran in an attempt to halt the Spartan's rally. The Spartans' Ryan Galligan laid down a sacrifice bunt to move McClain to second and Martin to third. Craig Whalen, pinch hitting for Justin Lee, was next and singled to left field, driving in Martin and moving McClain to third. Corcoran coaxed David Adams into a strike out before issuing a walk to Strebin. The Paladins then made their second pitching change of the inning as they brought in Patrick Griffin, who quickly got them out of the inning.
The Spartans threatened again in the seventh, but came away with no runs. Senior Chris Cloninger picked up the win on "Senior Night" for the Spartans to improve to 5-6 on the season. Corey Etheridge recorded the loss, slipping to 3-8 this season. The win was UNCG's 23rd at home this season, setting a new school record for home wins in a season.
The same two teams will meet again on Sunday afternoon at 1 pm for the rubber match of the three game series.