Box Score GREENVILLE, S.C. – UNCG Baseball got a clutch relief appearance from sophomore Chad Sykes (Creedmoor, N.C./Voyager Academy) in a 9-6 victory over the Wofford Terriers on Thursday afternoon at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. Sykes came on in relief in the top of the fourth inning and struck out a career-high nine batters to help secure the win.
The Spartans eliminated Wofford with the win and improve to 38-20 on the season. Wofford falls to 30-28 and is eliminated from the Southern Conference Tournament. The win marks the first in the SoCon Tournament under Head Coach Link Jarrett, and the first since the 2008 season.
“I'm very proud of our team and the amount of energy we played with today.” Coach Jarrett said, “The guys brought their A game today. Wofford did a great job with their short game in the fourth inning. We wanted to avoid a big inning there, so we brought (Chad) Sykes in. He commanded his fastball really well and used his breaking ball to get some strikeouts. The seventh inning he was probably as good as he's been all year. Collin (Woody) is a very competitive kid and he has no problem with taking the ball and going. The seventh inning, that string of at bats really enabled us to break it open a little bit. The long ball will help and it'll put some runs on the board quickly. It helped a lot to have L.J. (Kalawaia) in the middle of the lineup, spraying balls all over the diamond. He's really been on it lately. I'm pleased with the way the guys played today with the quick turnaround.”
UNCG got hits from all nine starters in the contest, being led by L.J. Kalawaia (Wailuku, Hawai'i/Ohlone College). Kalawaia finished a perfect 4-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, two RBI, and a run scored. Cesar Trejo (Greensboro, N.C./Ragsdale), Ryne Sigmon (Danville, Va./Danville CC) and Jake Kusz (Durham, N.C./Riverside) each collected three hits.
Trejo finished with a pair of runs scored, an RBI and a home run. Sigmon and Kusz each drove in a run and scored once. Ben Spitznagel (Cincinnati, Ohio/Wabash Valley CC) added a multi-hit contest, finishing with 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
Dillon Stewart (Dunn, N.C./Brunswick CC) hit his team-leading 13th home run, scored twice and drove in a pair. Collin Woody (Tampa, Fla./College of Central Florida) added a hit, a run scored and an RBI. Tripp Shelton (Winston-Salem, N.C./West Forsyth) and Michael Goss (Cartersville, Ga./Chattanooga St. CC) both added hits.
Matt Frisbee (Candler, N.C./Enka) started on the mound, and worked the first 3.2 innings. Frisbee surrendered seven hits and four earned runs before being lifted for Sykes. Sykes (5-2) worked the next 5.0 innings, allowing just two hits, no runs struck out a career-high nine batters, and earned the win.
Woody made an appearance in the ninth inning. The senior allowed two hits and secured the victory.
Wofford took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first frame. After a lead off single from Alec Paradowski, Derek Hirsch also singled. After a sacrifice bunt moved runners into scoring position, McClain Bradley ground out to second base to score Paradowski and give the Terriers a 1-0 lead.
UNCG took the lead in the top of the fourth inning. After a lead off single from Trejo, Kalawaia tripled down the right field line to bring in the tying run. After Kalawaia was thrown out on a fielder's choice, Sigmon doubled down the first base line to score Stewart and put UNCG up 2-1.
The Terriers regained their lead in the bottom of the frame. After a walk and two singles scored one run, Demetrius Jennings laid down a sacrifice bunt that UNCG couldn't handle, scoring another run with no outs. After two more sacrifice bunts, Wofford pushed another run across to go ahead 4-2.
The Spartans tied the game up in the top of the fifth, scoring a pair of runs. Kusz led off with a single, moved to second after a sacrifice bunt and took third on a wild pitch. Spitznagel singled to left field to bring in one, before scoring on a Kalawaia single to center.
UNCG took the lead in the top of the seventh inning. Trejo led off with a home run over the monster in left field. Kalawaia followed with a double and scored on a Woody chopper over the third baseman's head. Stewart the connected for his first home run of the tournament to push the lead to 8-4, Spartans.
Wofford made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth inning, as they were able to score a pair of runs and put the tying run to the on deck circle before Woody induced a fly out to right to retire the Terriers.
UNCG is back in action on Friday, May 27th at 7:00 p.m. and will take on the loser of the Furman and Mercer contest being played later Thursday evening.
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