DAVIDSON, N.C. – UNCG plated five runs in the top of the fifth with two outs as the Spartans took game one of the weekend series from Davidson, 8-5, on Friday evening at Wilson Field.
UNCG starter Warren Slack improved his record to 4-1 this season as he went 5 1/3 innings and allowed just three runs, two earned, on six hits, while striking out seven Wildcats. Tyler Hollstegge came in to pitch the final out of the game to pick up his fourth save of the season.
Chris Lamb picked up the loss for the Wildcats (14-15, 6-9 Southern Conference) after giving up six runs on seven hits in six innings of work.
Eric Brindle led the Spartans (17-11, 9-4 SoCon) at the plate as he went a perfect 4-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBI. Ray Crawford also had a nice night as he had a pair of solo home runs and Thomas Troelstrup went 2-5 with three RBI.
Drew Gadaire went 3-5 with a run scored for Davidson as he improved his batting average to an incredible .424. Forrest Brandt also had a pair of hits and two RBI, while Andrew Barna had a pair of RBI, as well.
The Spartans were finally able to break the scoreless deadlock in the top of the fifth inning with a two-out rally. Chris Barker got it started by belting a double into the right-center gap and Bobby Martin followed with a single right back up the middle to score Barker and put UNCG ahead, 1-0.
UNCG wasn't done there as Brindle and Trevor Edwards drew back-to-back walks to load the bases for Andrew Spleth. Spleth then took a 2-1 pitch to the opposite field gap to score Martin and Brindle and move Edwards to third. Troelstrup continued the two-out rally as he cleared the bases with a double off the wall in center field to put UNCG in front of the Wildcats, 5-0.
Crawford added to the Spartan lead in the top of the sixth as he took the first pitch in the top of the sixth over the right field wall for his first home run of the season to give UNCG a 6-0 lead.
The Wildcats were able to cut the Spartan lead in half, however, in the bottom half of the sixth. Seth Freeman started the inning with a groundball to third base, but the throw sailed over the first baseman's head allowing Freeman to take second. Brandt followed with a single up the middle to put Davidson on the board and make it 6-1.
Gadaire then delivered a double off the wall in right field to move Brandt over to third base. Two batters later, Barna hit a double to right field to bring both runners home and cut UNCG's lead down to 6-3.
The Spartan offense continued to roll in the top of the seventh as Edwards hit a double off the left field wall with one out. A groundout to second base moved Edwards to third before Troelstrup singled up the middle to score Edwards and extend the Spartan lead to 7-3.
Crawford struck again in the top of the eighth inning as he again hit a leadoff home run to right field to make the UNCG lead 8-3.
Davidson would get a pair of RBI singles in the bottom of the ninth to make the final score 8-5.
The Spartans and Wildcats will meet in the second game of the series on Saturday at 2 p.m.
AGATE
UNCG 8, Davidson 5
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UNCG................ 000 051 110 - 8 13 2 (17-11, 9-4)
Davidson............ 000 003 002 - 5 8 0 (14-15, 6-9)
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Pitchers: UNCG - Warren Slack; Zach Furl(6); Greg Smith(6); Jarett Miller(7); Tyler Hollstegge(9) and Trevor Edwards. Davidson - Chris Lamb; Mike Frongello(7); Michael Goldberg(8); Jip Richards(9) and Seth Freeman.
Win-Warren Slack(4-1) Save-Tyler Hollstegge(4) Loss-Chris Lamb(1-4) T-2:51 A-324
HR UNCG - Ray Crawford 2.
Weather: 76 and partly cloudy
- UNCG -
