GREENSBORO, N.C. – Davidson's freshman Henry Sisson threw his second consecutive complete game and Drew Gadaire went 2-for-5 with three RBI as Davidson scored twice in the decisive sixth inning to defeat UNCG, 7-5, in Southern Conference action on Friday evening at UNCG Baseball Stadium.
For the second game in a row, the visiting team hung a three-spot on the Spartans to take an early 3-0 lead.
UNCG (18-18, 4-12 SoCon) starter Max Povse didn't make it out of the first inning as he allowed three runs, three hits and walked three in 2/3 of an inning of work.
Davidson (16-19, 7-12 SoCon), winners of five straight, used a gutsy performance from Henry Sission (3-1), who last Friday threw a no-hitter against Wofford, gave his bullpen the night off as he went the distance in a 124 pitch outing. Sisson scattered 10 hits on the evening and allowed only four hits after the Spartans tagged him for four runs in the fourth inning.
The Wildcats offense came to life early and often as Jake Berman drew a leadoff walk to start the game. Forrest Brandt reached on a single up the middle and putting runners on first and second, setting the table for Gadaire. Following a wild pitch, Gadaire poked an RBI single through the right side to give Davidson a 1-0 lead in the top of the frame. Povse looked as if he'd escape the rest of the inning unscathed as he retired the next two batters, but, Ryan Lowe had other ideas as he roped a two-run single down the left field line to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead.
In the bottom of the frame, UNCG did its best impression of the Wildcats as Bobby Martin led off with a walk and Zach Leach singled to put runners on first and second with no outs. Two batters later, redshirt junior Trevor Edwards delivered an RBI single through the right side to get the Spartans on the board, 3-1. However, Sisson buckled down and retired the next two batters via fly out to end the threat.
Leach's single in the first extended his hitting streak to a team-high 12 games.
Leading 3-1 in the top of the fourth, Davidson's Calvin Sigelbaum chipped in with an RBI single to right. Two batters later, Brandt lofted a sacrifice fly to center to extend the Wildcat lead to four, 5-1.
UNCG's offense woke up in the bottom of the fourth as it scored four runs on three hits in the frame. Cambric Moye scored Thomas Troelstrup on a sacrifice fly of his own to cut the deficit to three, 5-2. The big blow came off the bat of Cole Harrison as he smacked a two-run double to left center to bring the home crowd to its feet and the score to 5-4. Leach plated Harrison thanks a sacrifice fly to right and would tie the score at 5.
Knotted up at 5 a piece in the top of the sixth, Davidson continued to apply pressure as David Daniels singled to start off the rally. Daniels would advance to second after a failed pickoff attempt. Sigelbaum reached safely as he was granted first base after a catcher's interference call. Three batters later, Gadaire struck again, this time with a two-run single that ricocheted off the glove of Troelstrup. The Spartans Tyler Hollstegge would retire the next batter to keep the damage to a minimum as the score board read 7-5 in Davidson's favor.
UNCG would put runners on first and third with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but Sisson thwarted the threat as he got a groundout to end the inning.
Brandt, Gadaire and Lowe all chipped in with two hits each for the Wildcats as Berman drew three walks and scored a run.
Moye paced the Spartan offense as he went 2-for-3 with an RBI while Edwards enjoyed a 2-for-5 performance with an RBI of his own. All but one Spartan starter recorded a hit.
Harrison finished the night 1-for-4 with two RBI and made a magnificent diving catch on the warning track in the top of the eighth.
With the loss, UNCG has dropped a season-high five in a row and for the second straight Friday, the opposing teams' starter has thrown a complete game.
Adam Boghosian (0-1) took the loss for the Spartans as he allowed two runs (one earned) off of one hit in two innings of relief work. Hollstegge provided the UNCG with 3 2/3 quality innings of relief as he allowed only allowed two hits and struck out a batter.
Before the game, roughly 12 UNCG players shaved their heads for the St. Baldrick's foundation initiative. By the end of the evening, UNCG had raised $3,680.20 for the event.
UNCG will look to bounce back on Saturday as it will face Davidson in a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. Sunday's game has been moved to Saturday due to the threat of inclement weather on Sunday. Game two will start approximately 30 minutes after game one.
Davidson 7, UNCG 5 (Apr 20, 2012 at Greensboro, N.C.)
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Davidson............ 300 202 000 - 7 9 1 (16-19, 7-12)
UNCG................ 100 400 000 - 5 10 2 (18-18, 4-12)
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Pitchers: Davidson - Henry Sisson and Daniel Gerow. UNCG - Max Povse; Zach Furl(1);
Adam Boghosian(4); Tyler Hollstegge(6) and Cambric Moye.
Win-Henry Sisson(3-1) Loss-Adam Boghosian(0-1) T-2:51 A-433
Weather: 70 degrees mostly cloudy
