GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG sophomore Dylan Hathcock outpitched Davidson's Ryan Overcash in a pitchers' duel in game one and Thomas Troelstrup and Christian Wolfe collected three RBI apiece as the Spartans scored five runs in the seventh inning of game two as UNCG defeated Davidson, 4-2 and 8-6, in a doubleheader in Southern Conference action on Saturday afternoon at UNCG Baseball Stadium.
UNCG (20-18, 6-12 SoCon) picked up its first conference series victory of the 2012 campaign as it snapped a five-game losing streak and ended Davidson's five-game winning streak in the process.
Herndon, Va., native Zach Leach gathered two hits in game one and followed up with a 1-for-5 performance in game two to extended his hitting streak to a team-best 14 games.
Davidson (16-21, 7-14 SoCon) stranded 15 runners on the day and saw David Daniels commit four errors as UNCG kept its postseason hopes afloat by taking two-of-three games in the series.
In game one, the Spartans scored single runs in four of the first five innings and gave starter Hathcock (3-3) plenty of support as the Tampa, Fla., native was marvelous as he allowed one hit, a single by Ryan Lowe, through his first seven innings of work.
The sophomore provided UNCG's bullpen some much needed rest after Spartan relievers threw 8 1/3 innings of relief on Friday. Following Lowe's single, Hathcock retired 17 of the next 19 batters.
The Spartans' Bobby Martin led off the bottom of the first inning with a single to right. Following a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, Martin scored on a fielding error by Daniels off the bat of Trevor Edwards to give the Spartans its first lead of the series, 1-0.
UNCG would tack on single runs in the second and third inning to extend the lead to three, 3-0. In the second, TJ Spina plated Troelstrup, who doubled, via sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 in UNCG's favor.
Leading 2-0, Edwards belted a run-scoring double to right to give the Spartans the 3-0 lead. UNCG looked to build on the lead as it loaded the bases with two outs, but Overcash buckled down and ended the threat after a groundout.
Senior Kris Richards doubled in Lloyd Enzor in the fifth inning to extend the Spartan lead to four, 4-0.
With UNCG leading 4-0 in the eighth inning, it looked as if Hathcock were going to breeze through the inning as he retired the first two batters, but the Wildcats' Calvin Sigelbaum drew a five-pitch walk to put a runner on first with two outs. The next batter, Jake Berman, connected on a monster two-run blast to dead center to cut the deficit in half, 4-2.
Following an error and single, the Spartans' Brennen James was called upon to end the threat and did just that as he fanned Andrew Barna.
James would collect his fourth save of the season by working a perfect ninth inning and giving UNCG the 4-2 victory.
Hathcock impressed as he went a career-high 7 2/3 innings while striking out a career-high seven batters and allowed only two runs.
Overcash (3-6) took the hard-luck loss as he went the distance and allowed four runs (three earned) and scattered eight hits while striking out three. Davidson's starters threw complete games in the first two games of the series.
In game two, the Wildcats' Drew Gadaire drove in a run with a single up the middle to give Davidson an early 1-0 lead after half-an-inning of play.
Davidson pushed another run across as it got an RBI single from Daniel Gerow in the top of the fourth to make it a 2-0 Wildcat lead.
UNCG would crack the scoreboard in the fifth inning after Martin roped an RBI double down the left field line to plate Cambric Moye.
In the back-end of the sixth inning, UNCG would take a 3-2 lead as Troelstrup roped an RBI single to right. The next batter, Wolfe, plated Richards after an RBI groundout.
Davidson responded with three runs on four hits in the top of the seventh inning. Barna plated the first run after he singled to right field. Two batters later, Daniels delivered a two-run single to left off of Corey Taylor to make it a 5-3 Wildcat lead. Zach Furl struck out Gerow to end a bases loaded threat.
After the seventh-inning stretch, the Spartan offense came to life as it scored five runs off of three hits. Leach drove in Martin, who stole second after walking, for the first run of the inning. With two outs and the bases loaded, Troelstrup continued to torture the Wildcat pitching staff as he drove in two runs with a single to right. Wolfe imitated Troelstrup as he drilled a two-run single to right himself to give the Spartans an 8-5 lead.
The Wildcats' Forrest Brandt made it interesting as he hit an RBI triple to make it an 8-6 contest in the top of the eighth. However, Jonathan Jones buckled down and retired the next two batters to end the threat. Jones pitched a perfect ninth to gather his first save on the year.
Furl (3-0) remained perfect on the year as he went 2/3 of an inning in relief to pick up the win. Matt Saeta (0-1) took the loss as he allowed two runs to score while recording only one out.
Davidson's Brandt enjoyed a four-hit performance as he went 4-for-5 with an RBI in the second game. In both games, all but two starters gathered a hit for the Spartans.
UNCG returns to action on Tuesday evening as it travels to Chapel Hill, N.C., to face North Carolina in a nonconference game. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
AGATE
UNCG 4, Davidson 2 (Apr 21, 2012 at Greensboro, N.C.) (Game 1)
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Davidson............ 000 000 020 - 2 3 2 (16-20, 7-13)
UNCG................ 111 010 00X - 4 8 1 (19-18, 5-12)
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Pitchers: Davidson - Ryan Overcash and Seth Freeman; Daniel Gerow. UNCG - Dylan Hathcock;
Brennen James(8) and Trevor Edwards.
Win-Dylan Hathcock(3-3) Save-Brennen James(4) Loss-Ryan Overcash(3-6) T-2:05 A-0
HR DAV - Jake Berman.
Weather: 70 degrees and partly cloudy
UNCG 8, Davidson 6 (Apr 21, 2012 at Greensboro, N.C.) (Game 2)
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Davidson............ 100 100 310 - 6 10 3 (16-21, 7-14)
UNCG................ 000 012 50X - 8 9 2 (20-18, 6-12)
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Pitchers: Davidson - Clark Beeker; Brian Russell(5); Matt Saeta(7); Ryan Lowe(7);
Danny Mooney(7) and Daniel Gerow. UNCG - Lee Gilliam; Corey Taylor(5); Zach Furl(7);
Jonathan Jones(8) and Cambric Moye.
Win-Zach Furl(3-0) Save-Jonathan Jones(1) Loss-Matt Saeta(0-1) T-3:07 A-332
Weather: 74 degrees and sunny
Gilliam faced 1 batter in the 5th.
Lowe faced 3 batters in the 7th.
- UNCG -
