GREENSBORO, N.C. - Eric Brindle hit a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning to score Lloyd Enzor from second and give UNC Greensboro a 4-3 win over Harvard on Wednesday evening at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. It was the fourth walk-off hit for the Spartans this year.
Enzor hit a one-out double to the gap in right center to get the Spartans started in the bottom of the 10th inning. After Zach Leach was intentionally walked, the Spartans fouled out for the second out in the inning. Brindle then stepped up to the plate and took the first pitch he saw into right field. The Crimson right fielder made a good throw to the plate, but Enzor was able to dislodge the ball from the catcher's mitt as he applied the tag and Enzor touched home to give UNCG the 4-3 victory.
Spartan reliever Greg Smith moved to 4-0 on the year after pitching the last four innings and allowing just three hits and walking none. Will Keuper picked up the hard luck loss for the Crimson (3-6) after giving up just three hits, two of them in the 10th inning, and one run in 4 2/3 innings of work.
Brindle led the Spartans (10-5) at the plate after going 4-5 with an RBI to raise his batting average to an even .300. Ray Quinones also had a home run and Ed Jayjack added a pair of hits for the Spartans.
Samuel Franklin and Tyler Albright each had a nice day for the Crimson as they both went 3-5 to account for six of Harvard's seven hits on the evening.
The Spartans were able to manufacture a run in the bottom of the second inning to get on the board first. Leach led off the inning with an infield single before being moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt. Brindle and Taylor Schwarz then delivered back-to-back singles to score Leach and give UNCG a 1-0 advantage.
That lead didn't last long though as Harvard immediately responded with three runs in the top half of the third. Dillon O'Neill led off with a walk and Franklin followed with a single up the middle. A walk to Jeff Reynolds loaded the bases and a walk to Marcus Way allowed O'Neill to walk home and tie the game at one. A groundout and fielder's choice allowed Franklin and Reynolds to score later in the inning and put the Crimson ahead, 3-1.
UNCG fought back in the bottom of the fifth though to knot the game at three after Chris Barker led off the inning with a triple off the top of the left field wall that fell back inside the park. He scored a batter later on a groundout to pull the Spartans within 3-2.
Quinones was up next for the Spartans and hit his second home run of the season over the left field wall to make it a 3-3 game.
Neither team was able to break the tie until the 10th inning when Brindle delivered his walk-off single.
The Spartans and Crimson will wrap up their midweek series on Thursday as the two teams meet at 6 p.m. at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.
AGATE
UNC Greensboro 4, Harvard 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Harvard............. 003 000 000 0 - 3 7 3 (3-6)
UNC Greensboro...... 010 020 000 1 - 4 10 0 (10-5)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Harvard - Berardo, Daniel; Keuper, Will(6) and Albright, Tyler. UNC Greensboro - Alex Shelton; Wes McBride(3); Blake Hassebrock(6); Greg Smith(7) and Ed Jayjack.
Win-Greg Smith(4-0) Loss-Keuper, Will(1-1) T-2:55 A-176
HR UNCG - Ray Quinones.
Weather: 61 and cloudy
Shelton faced 4 batters in the 3rd.
- UNCG -
