GREENVILLE, S.C.- The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) baseball team with play for the 2022 Southern Conference Championship for the first time since 2017 after defeating No. 2 Mercer Bears, 16-4, and the No. 3 Samford Bulldogs, 8-2, on Saturday.
 
For the first time this season, the Spartans had 20+ hits in a single game with 24 in the win over Mercer. They followed with 15 hits for a total of 39 hits for the day.
 
The 20+ hits weren't the only season first today. Pres Cavenaugh hit the season's first grand slam in the second inning against the Bears.
 
PRICE KING ON HIS PERFORMANCE
"It was a good feeling to walk across the mound and get six innings. I went in and did my best trying to fill up the zone and let my defense work behind me, but Coach Godwin has been saying since the beginning of the year that you play for the five days in May and this is the time to do it. I was just trying to go in there and throw as many strikes as I could and be competitive."
 
King pitched 8.0 innings, allowed five hits and one run.
 
Sam Murchison earned his eighth start of the year in the first game. He pitched 6.0 innings and struck out seven batters and allowed six hits.
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED VS. MERCER

• The Bears struck first, scoring two runs in the first inning.
• Seven of the nine Spartans batters got a hit in the second inning, scoring six unearned runs.
• Four runs were scored on a grand slam from Pres Cavenaugh.
• RBI singles from GC Jarman and Kennedy Jones scored the first two runs.
• Jones added two more RBIs to his season total with a single through the right-side to bring Zack Budzik and Jarman home in the third inning.
• Mercer scored two runs in the bottom of the third to make it an 8-4 game.
• Three more runs were added in the fourth by UNCG.
• Two came from a two-RBI double from Budzik, while the third came off a fly out error by the Bears center-fielder for Budzik to score.
• UNCG was held scoreless until the seventh inning when Mitchell Smith and Greg Hardison had RBIs to give the Spartans the 13-4 lead.
• Jones hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning.
• The Spartan's final run was a RBI double from Hardison for Windish to score.
• Mercer added a run in the eighth, but UNCG would advance with a 16-4 final.

 
RECORDS
UNCG: 31-28
Mercer: 40-18


 
HOW IT HAPPENED VS SAMFORD

• UNCG continued the hot bats into the second game and took the early lead.
• Back-to-back doubles from Jones and Windish scored the first run of the game.
• Smith grounded out but Windish crossed the plate to give UNCG the early 2-0 lead.
• UNCG's next run came in the fourth inning on a throwing error by Samford.
• An RBI single from Smith scored the Spartan's fourth run in the fifth inning.
• UNCG added two more in the six inning to take the 6-0 lead.
• Jones and Hardison had RBI singles.
• In the seventh inning, UNCG added two more runs.
• Budzik doubled for Jarman to score.
• Budzik was brought home on an RBI single from Jones.
• Samford scored a run in the eighth and a run in the ninth to break the shutout.

 
RECORDS
UNCG: 32-28
Samford: 28-29
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• The team finished the day with a combined 24 runs on 39 hits.
• They hit 11 doubles, six against Samford and five against Mercer.
• UNCG pitching struck out 16 batters.
• The Spartans outhit their opponents 39-15.

 
FINAL WORDS FROM COACH GODWIN
"I kept telling these guys all year that we had a good club and something clicked the Samford weekend at home and we've played well down the stretch. Then we come here and do this but we still have work left to do. To beat the two and three seed today back-to-back games for a long day says a lot about our kids and how they compete and how resilient they are and how tough they are."
 
UPCOMING
UNCG will play for its first SoCon Championship since 2017 tomorrow at 12 p.m. against the No. 1 seed Wofford. The Spartans need to win two games in order to be crowned the 2022 Southern Conference Champions.