GREENSBORO, NC A pair of home runs by Tommy Piacenza and Matt Webb drove in five to help Davidson to a 9-5 Southern Conference victory over UINC Greensboro, Wednesday evening at UNCG Baseball Stadium. The victory broke a 12-game Wildcat losing streak and gave them their first road win of the season.
UNCG has now dropped five-straight to move them to a 30-24 overall record with a 14-11 mark in the conference. Davidson improved to an 11-36 record and is now 3-22 in the league.
Starter Thomas Middour (3-4) took the win after allowing just two runs in six innings with six strikeouts. Freshman starter Warren Slack (0-3) was handed the loss after giving up Davidson's first three runs. In his 2.1 innings on the hill, freshman reliever Greg Smith retired five - three came out of the fourth inning alone.
At the plate, senior catcher Adam Deleo was 3-for-4 with a pair of runs, an RBI and a solo home run. With his hits this evening, he extended his hit streak to six straight. The Wildcats were led by Matt Webb who hit 3-for-5 with three RBI, three runs, a pair of doubles, and a home run.
Davidson took a 3-0 lead in the second inning as Tommy Piacenza sent a three-run shot over the wall to bring around Matt Webb and Danny Weiss. His ball out of right center was his second home run of the season, the team's 28th.
After a bases loaded strikeout by reliever Greg Smith to close out the third, Adam Deleo led off with his first home run of the season. Deleo golfed a 1-0 solo over the left center fence to give UNCG its first run of the evening.
The upper half of the fourth took just 17 pitches as Smith retired the inning from the mound.
The Wildcats furthered their lead in the fifth with a one out, four-run rally highlighted by a two-run homer off the bat of Matt Webb. With a runner on first, Webb drove a 1-2 count out of the left side. Consecutive batters were then plated off of a walk and a sacrifice fly to give Davidson the 7-1 lead.
A pair of RBI doubles in the sixth by Brett Shore and Webb brought in two to push the Wildcats into a 9-1 advantage.
Before tallying their second run of the game, the Spartans took the Wildcats three up, three down with the help of their 54th double play of the season. Senior shortstop Matt Gaski took a chopper up the middle over to second himself before tossing to first to close out the inning.
In the home half of the inning, sophomore centerfielder Corey Overholtzer was given a free pass to first after being struck by a pitch. He shifted to third on a Deleo centerfield single before being plated by a routine groundout to first.
Down by seven heading into the ninth, the blue and gold tacked on three more. Deleo came in for the first run of the inning before both junior Pedro Leon and Gaski could be brought around by a two-out, left center double by senior first baseman Ricky Orton. Orton would remain stranded as the Wildcats fielded a groundout for the final inning of the game.
The Spartans and the Wildcats are back tomorrow for a 1pm diamond meeting. The game has been rescheduled from the original 6pm start time due to the threat of inclement weather. Friday's game is slated for 7pm. Prior to the finale first pitch, the ball club will take a moment to recognize its 10 senior student-athletes.
2008 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament action will get underway Tuesday, May 20 in Charleston, SC. For complete tournament information visit www.SoConSports.com.
For more news on UNCG baseball, ticket prices, a complete season schedule, and all other Spartan athletic information log onto www.UNCGSpartans.com
# # UNCG # #
Davidson 9, UNC Greensboro 5 (May 14, 2008 at Greensboro, NC)
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Davidson................... 030 042 000 - 9 14 0 (11-36, 3-22 SoCon)
UNC Greensboro...... 001 000 103 - 5 9 1 (30-24, 14-11 SoCon)
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Pitchers: Davidson - Middour; Sliwiak(7); Frongello(9).
UNC Greensboro - Warren Slack; Greg Smith(3); Matt Bjorkstrom(6); James White(7); Ian Phillips(9).
Win-Middour(3-4)
Loss-Warren Slack(0-3)
HR DAV - Webb (5); Piacenza (3).
HR UNCG - Adam Deleo (2).
Middour faced 1 batter in the 7th.
