Late Offense Sends ETSU Past Baseball in SoCon Tournament
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) baseball team lost 10-7 to the No. 3 seed East Tennessee State (ETSU) Buccaneers on Friday afternoon to fall out of The Southern Conference (SoCon) Tournament at Fluor Field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UNCG opened the scoring in the bottom of the sixth inning when Jacob Dilley singled up the middle to bring Jake Ogden around to score from second.
The Spartans then piled on five more runs to make it a six-run game in the seventh. The rally started when Cam Murphy came home to score following a throwing error. Then with two outs, Luke Holland sent a no-doubt grand slam over the fence in left-center to make it 6-0.
The Buccaneers stormed back into the game in the next half inning, scoring seven runs on five hits. It started with Ryan McCarthy scoring on a passed ball. Nick Iannantone then scored via a bases-loaded walk. In the next at bat, Blake Jacklin singled up the middle to score a pair. The seven-run inning was capped with Ashton King hitting a three-run home run out to center, which made it 7-6 Buccaneers.
ETSU tacked on three more runs in the ninth with a solo homer by McCarthy as well as sacrifice flies hit to right by Cody Miller and Noah Gent. UNCG mounted a comeback effort in the ninth, which saw Murphy score on a double to left-center by Caleb Cozart. Cozart's two-bagger in the ninth marked his 73rd RBI of the season, tying him for UNCG's single-season record with Kennedy Jones from the 2022 season. However, the Spartans were held in check as the Buccaneers prevailed for a 10-7 victory.
NOTES:
- Cozart matched a single-season program record with 73 RBI.
- Julien Peissel carried a shutout into the eighth, pitching 7.1 innings with seven strikeouts.
- Holland hit his eighth home run of the season, a grand slam in the seventh.
- Dilley got the scoring started with one RBI in the sixth.
- Ogden and Murphy each scored twice.
- Aidan Brewer, Dilley and Murphy each had two hits.
PITCHING RECORDS:
Andrew Ronne: W, 5-5
Grant Aycock: L, 3-1
RECORDS:
UNCG: 33-21, 15-6 SoCon
ETSU: 35-19, 13-8 SoCon
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With an overall record of 33-21, the Spartans posted their 19th 30-win campaign this year in the program's 34-season history. Additionally, UNCG captured its third regular season SoCon championship behind a conference record of 15-6.
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