GREENSBORO, N.C. – Redshirt junior Trevor Edwards launched his 12th home run in dramatic fashion to help UNCG complete a come-from-behind rally in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extras, where UNCG would win game one, 7-6, in walk-off fashion in the 10th inning thanks to a fielding error. However, Presbyterian would salvage a split with a 5-2 victory in game two of a nonconference doubleheader at UNCG Baseball Stadium on Friday.
Heading into the bottom of the seventh inning of game one, UNCG (16-13) would rally from four runs down with five unanswered runs to win game one 7-6 in 10 innings. Kris Richards and Edwards both connected on no-doubt blasts to ignite the Spartan offense in the late innings.
UNCG would strike first after Cambric Moye continued his recent hot streak with an RBI single down the left field line to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead after two innings of play.
Presbyterian (13-19) responded with single runs in the third and fourth innings to take a 2-1 lead, but UNCG would tie it up at 2 in the bottom of the fourth thanks to an RBI single from Bobby Martin.
The Blue Hose offense would come to life in the sixth inning as it put up four runs. The rally started with back-to-back singles from Kenny Bryant and Brandon Paul. Two batters later, with the bases loaded, Presbyterian strung together three singles in a row to chase Spartan starter Max Povse and take a four-run lead.
Povse would finish the day with a career-high six strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings of work while throwing 100 pitches.
However, UNCG would not go down without a fight as it would put up a three-spot in the bottom of the seventh, highlighted by a towering two-run shot off the bat of Richards to bring the Spartans within one, 6-5.
In the bottom of the ninth, Edwards welcomed Blue Hose closer Gabe Grammer to the game by hitting his third pitch out of the ball park and knotting the game up at 6. UNCG would continue to apply pressure with two more hits in the inning, but Grammer was able to get out of the jam by forcing a fielder's choice to end the threat.
The Spartans' Brennan James got the Blue Hose in order in the top of the 10th to set the table for the bottom of the frame. Martin stole second following a leadoff walk. Two batters later, Lloyd Enzor hit a sharp grounder to second, but a wild throw from Andrew Williams pulled Bryant off the bag as Martin touched home and secured the victory for UNCG.
Williams and Bryant paced the Blue Hose offense going a combined 8-for-16 on the evening as Williams had four hits in the first game. UNCG saw five players have multi-hit games in the front-end of the doubleheader and Richards enjoyed a five-hit day with three of them coming in game two.
James (1-1) picked up the victory for the Spartans, tossing two no-hit innings in relief and striking out one in game one. Grammer (1-2) was tagged with a blown save and the loss as he gave up three hits and two runs in 1 2/3 innings of work.
Game two was a pitchers' duel as both starters pitched into the seventh inning. After allowing a leadoff single to Martin, Presbyterian's Chandler Knox (2-2) settled in by retiring 11 of the next 12 batters and allowing Bryant to work his magic.
Bryant collected four RBI in game two. In the fourth inning, he would drill a two-run triple to center field to give the Blue Hose a 2-0 lead. Bryant struck again by delivering a two-run double to left center in the Blue Hose's three-run seventh inning.
UNCG would crack the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth as Enzor hit a solo home run to bring the score to 2-1 in Presbyterian's favor.
Trailing 5-1 in the bottom of the eighth, UNCG looked as if it was going to rally again as it put runners on the corners with no outs. However, Presbyterian's Chad Sanders got Edwards to hit into a double play as Martin scored the final run of the evening. Sanders pitched three innings in relief of two-hit ball as he secured his first save on the year.
The Spartans' Tyler Hollstegge (3-3) pitched 6 2/3 innings while allowing six runs, but only two of them were earned runs due to a costly UNCG error that led to three unearned runs in the seventh.
The series finale will take place on Saturday at UNCG Baseball Stadium at 1 p.m.
AGATE
UNCG 7, Presbyterian 6 (Apr 06, 2012 at Greensboro, N.C.) (Game 1)
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Presbyterian........ 001 104 000 0 - 6 10 1 (12-19)
UNCG................ 010 100 301 1 - 7 13 1 (16-12)
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Pitchers: Presbyterian - JETER, Bud; RICCHI, Michael(7); MOSTELLER, Buck(7); GRAMMER, Gabe(9)
and SWAB, Robby. UNCG - Max Povse; Jonathan Jones(6); Wes McBride(7); Zach Furl(8);
Brennen James(9) and Cambric Moye.
Win-Brennen James(1-1) Loss-GRAMMER, Gabe(1-2) T-3:27 A-0
HR UNCG - Trevor Edwards; Kris Richards.
Weather: 58 degrees and sunny
Presbyterian 5, UNCG 2 (Apr 06, 2012 at Greensboro, N.C.) (Game 2)
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Presbyterian........ 002 000 300 - 5 12 1 (13-19)
UNCG................ 000 001 010 - 2 7 1 (16-13)
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Pitchers: Presbyterian - KNOX, Chandler; SANDERS, Chad(7) and SWAB, Robby. UNCG -
Tyler Hollstegge; Lee Gilliam(7) and Trevor Edwards.
Win-KNOX, Chandler(2-2) Save-SANDERS, Chad(1) Loss-Tyler Hollstegge(3-3) T-2:30 A-301
HR UNCG - Lloyd Enzor.
Weather: 63 degrees and sunny
KNOX, C. faced 2 batters in the 7th.
- UNCG -
