GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNC Greensboro got 8 1/3 strong innings from starter Warren Slack and held on late as the Spartans defeated Southern Conference foe Davidson, 6-5, on Tuesday evening at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. The Spartans and Wildcats will play three midweek contests this season instead of the traditional weekend series due to conflicts with Davidson's exam schedule.
Slack allowed three runs on four hits in the first inning, but settled down after that to give up just five hits, while striking out seven over the final 7 1/3 innings to pick up the win. Blake Hassebrock came in to record the final out for the Spartans (12-12, 1-6 SoCon) to pick up his first save of the season.
Reliever Brian Russell was credited with the loss for the Wildcats (13-12, 4-6 SoCon) after allowing three unearned runs on just one hit in an inning of work.
The Spartans were led by Kris Richards who went 3-4 at the plate with a run scored and Corey Overholtzer who was 2-4 with a runs scored. Lloyd Enzor also added a two-run home run for UNCG.
Danny Weiss helped pace the Wildcats by going 2-3 with two walks and an RBI. Drew Gadaire and Jamers Cerbie also chipped in a pair of hits for Davidson.
The game didn't get started off on a good note though for the Spartans as Davidson jumped on Slack for a trio of early runs in the first inning. With one out, Gadaire singled to center field before Weiss tripled to dead center to score Gadaire and give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
Andrew Barna then singled through the left side to score Weiss to make it a two-run game. Tommy Piacenza kept the momentum rolling for the Wildcats as he delivered a double to right center that allowed Barna to come all the way around and score from first to put Davidson ahead, 3-0.
The Spartans responded though in the bottom half of the second as Ed Jayjack drew a one-out walk. Enzor then stepped to the plate and belted his third home run of the season out to left field to pull the Spartans within 3-2.
UNCG took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth inning as Zach Leach drew a one-out walk. Eric Brindle then reached base on a fielding error by the Wildcat third baseman to put runners on first and second. Richards followed with a single to right field to load the bases.
Harry Slade hit a sacrifice fly to deep left field that scored Leach and allowed all of the runners to move up a base and tie the game at three. With Drew Gehringer at the plate, Brindle scored on a passed ball to put the Spartans ahead, 4-3.
With runners on the corners, Gehringer was caught leaning off the bag and put in a rundown, but Richards wisely took the opportunity to race home before Gehringer was tagged out to make it a 5-3 advantage for the Spartans.
In the fifth inning, Overholtzer led off the inning with a triple to left field. The triple was the 16th of Overholtzer's career, which ties him with Ryan Gordon for the most in school history. He scored on the next play on a groundout to the second baseman to extend UNCG's lead to 6-3.
The score stayed that way until the ninth inning when the Wildcats put together a late-game rally. Michael Goldberg lead off the inning by reaching on a fielding error. Slack got the next batter to strikeout before Cerbie singled through the left side and put runners on first and second.
That was the end of the night though for Slack as he had to turn it over to the bullpen. The runners advanced to second and third though as the next batter grounded out to the first baseman. A wild pitch allowed Goldberg to score and Gadaire then singled through the left side to score Cerbie and pull Davidson within, 6-5.
Hassebrock was then called out of the pen and he induced Barna to fly out to left field to end the game.
The Spartans will return to the diamond on Wednesday as UNCG and North Carolina A&T renew their annual rivalry at 6 p.m. at NewBridge Bank Park, home of the Greensboro Grasshoppers.
AGATE
UNC Greensboro 6, Davidson 5
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Davidson............ 300 000 002 - 5 10 2 (13-12, 4-6)
UNC Greensboro...... 020 310 00X - 6 10 2 (12-12, 1-6)
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Pitchers: Davidson - Thomas Middour; Brian Russell(4); Mike Frongello(5); Andy Bass(8) and Tommy Piacenza. UNC Greensboro - Warren Slack; Greg Smith(9); Blake Hassebrock(9) and Ed Jayjack.
Win-Warren Slack (2-5) Save-Blake Hassebrock (1) Loss-Brian Russell (2-1) T-2:43 A-235
HR UNCG - Lloyd Enzor.
Weather: 62 and clear skies
- UNCG -
