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Season-high five home runs send UNCG past Wofford, 16-9
GREENSBORO, NC - UNC Greensboro scored ten runs off of a season-high five home runs to defeat the Wofford Terriers, 16-9, on Saturday afternoon at UNCG Baseball Stadium in Greensboro, NC.
Right fielder Pedro Leon and first baseman Ricky Orton accounted for six of those runs as both slammed three-run home runs over the left field fence; Leon went yar in the first, while Orton hammered away for the tenth time in the second. In the fourth, shortstop Matt Gaski sent a solo shot out to left center and Sean Snell brought in two with a hit to left field. Third baseman, Ray Quinones added another solo shot to the list in the seventh after sending another ball out to the left side.
Following Saturday's Southern Conference victory, UNCG moved to 21-12 on the season with a 7-4 conference mark. Wofford fell to 19-15 on the season and is now 4-7 in the league.
With the help of Leon and Orton, the Spartans jumped out to a 9-2 lead after two innings. Home runs by Gaski and Snell in the fourth, along with an RBI single by second baseman Tim Carrier pushed UNCG ahead by four more to put the game at 13-3 in favor of the Spartans.
The Terriers came back in the fifth with a five-run fally to come within five runs of the Spartans. Michael Gilmartin started things off with an RBI single to right center. In the next at-bat, Shane Kirkley doubled down the left field line to bring in Kyle Behrendt from third. Gilmartin came home off of a wild pitch before Jake Williams bounced a three-bagger off of the center field wall to bring one in. Keith Munns closed out the rally with an RBI single through the left side.
After scoring three more between the sixth and the seventh inning and allowing just one in the sixth, the blue and gold took a 16-9 lead over Wofford. One of the Spartan runs came off of the bat of Quinones as he tallied the team's fifth home run of the game to set a new season-high for UNCG.
Greg Feltes went 3-4 with four runs, two RBI and a pair of doubles. Pedro Leon was 2-5 with four RBI and a run scored. The Terriers' Kyle Behrendt was 3-4 with three runs and an RBI.
Reliever Matt Bjorkstrom (2-1) nabbed the win for the Spartans after taking over for James White in the fifth. Matt Gibbs (3-0) notched his second save of the season after coming to the mound in the seventh. Wofford's Ben Austin (4-3) took the loss after giving up 13 of UNCG's 16 runs.
The Spartans return again tomorrow to UNCG Baseball Stadium for the final game of the series with the Wofford Terriers. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. Sunday's game will be a continuation of Katie Ball Memorial Baseball Weekend in honor of the late Katherine (Katie) Ball, former baseball administrative assistant. Fans are invited to join UNCG baseball and the rest of Spartan athletics in their effort to STRIKEOUT cancer.
For news about UNCG baseball, complete season schedule and any other information regarding Spartan athletics log onto www.UNCGSpartans.com.
UNC Greensboro 16, Wofford 9 (Apr 12, 2008 at
Greensboro, NC)
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Wofford............. 201 051 000 - 9 11
3 (19-15, 4-7-0 SoCon)
UNC Greensboro...... 540 402 10X - 16 14
2 (21-12, 7-4-0 SoCon)
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Pitchers: Wofford - Ben Austin; Reid McElveen(4); Drew Sheridan(7);
Ryan Conway(8) and
Adam Kearney. UNC Greensboro - Matt Gibbs; James White(5); Matt
Bjorkstrom(5);
Blake Hassebrock(6); Wes McCall(7) and Sean Snell; Adam Deleo.
Win-Matt Bjorkstrom(2-1) Save-Wes McCall(2) Loss-Ben
Austin(4-3) T-3:00 A-281
HR WOF - Kyle Behrendt (3).
HR UNCG - Matt Gaski (4); Ricky Orton (10); Sean Snell (3); Pedro
Leon (2); Ray Quinones (5).
Weather: Overcast, light rain
White faced 1 batter in the 5th.
