All Spring Championship Recaps

Mars Hill 2, Lenoir-Rhyne 1

Carson-Newman 4, Presbyterian 1

Tusculum 8, Wingate 7

Catawba 14, Newberry 6

Mars Hill 2, Lenoir-Rhyne 1 Box Score
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - Fourth-seeded Mars Hill posted a 2-1 victory over fifth-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne in the opening game of the 2006 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament, hosted Thursday at Pioneer Park.

Mars Hill improves to 30-25 and will face the winner of the game between top-seeded Catawba and eighth-seeded Newberry on Friday at 12:45 p.m. at Pioneer Park. Lenoir-Rhyne moves to 23-27 and will face the loser of the Catawba/Newberry game on Friday at 12:45 at Carson-Newman.

Matt Russell (Chapel Hill, N.C.) led the Lions, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Clarke Rollins(Mechanicsville, Md.) went 1-for-4 at the plate and drove in one run.

Nick Tracy (Herndon, Va.) recorded the win for Mars Hill, allowing one earned run on two hits and four walks over 7.0 innings. He struck out two batters. Charlie Harrison (Granite Falls, N.C.) picked up his 11th save of the season, holding L-R hitless and striking out one over 2.0 innings.

Taylor MacCurdy (Charlotte, N.C.) led Lenoir-Rhyne at the plate, going 1-for-4 with an RBI. Jesse Jordan (Englewood, Fla.) took the loss, surrendering two earned runs on 10 hits and one walk over 8.0 innings. He struck out two.

Mars Hill scored first in the bottom of the third inning when Rollins belted a double to the wall in left center field, scoring Billy Britt (Asheville, N.C.) from second base. The Lions extended their lead to 2-0 on an RBI single by Russell, which scored Rollins.

Lenoir-Rhyne cut its deficit to 2-1 in the top of the sixth. Brian Minor (Elon, N.C.) drew a lead-off walk and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Billy Doyle (Delray Beach, Fla.). MacCurdy singled down the left field line, driving in Minor for what proved to be the Bears' lone run of the contest.

Carson-Newman 4, Presbyterian 1 Box Score
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - Third-seeded Carson-Newman defeated sixth-seeded Presbyterian 4-1 in the 2006 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament, hosted Thursday at Pioneer Park.

Carson-Newman improves to 34-18 and will next face the winner of the game between No. 2 Tusculum and No. 7 Wingate on Friday at 9 a.m. at Pioneer Park. Presbyterian, which falls to 18-39, will face the loser of the Tusculum/Wingate game at 9 a.m. Friday at Carson-Newman.

Nick Achberger (Anderson, S.C.) led Carson-Newman at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBI. Jonathan Mary (Maryville, Tenn.) was 1-for-4 with one RBI.

Derrick Calkin (Maryville, Tenn.) went the distance to record the win, allowing no earned runs on six hits and no walks. He struck out four.

Six different Presbyterian players collected one hit each. Russell Robinson (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) was credited with the only Blue Hose RBI, which came on a sacrifice.

Eric Tatum (Buford, Ga.) recorded the loss for PC, surrendering four earned runs on 11 hits and three walks over 8.0 innings. He notched two strikeouts.

Carson-Newman took an early 3-0 lead in the bottom half of the first inning. Both of the Eagles' first two batters reached on singles, and Charlie Munroe (Newton, N.J.) drove in leadoff hitter Langdon Potts (Jefferson City, Tenn.) for the first run of the contest. Mary singled to center, driving in Brandon Burchfield (Maryville, Tenn.) to give C-N a 2-0 advantage. Achberger generated the third run of the inning with an RBI single that scored Adam Kefauver (Madisonville, Tenn.).

Presbyterian sliced its deficit to 3-1 in the top of the third, as Robinson (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) drove in Cory Lyda (Simpsonville, S.C.) with an RBI sacrifice fly.

C-N extended its lead to 4-1 in the fifth. Calkin singled to lead off the bottom half of the inning and was brought home on a single by Achberger.

Tusculum 8, Wingate 7 Box Score
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. -- Josh Wolff hit a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead second-seeded Tusculum to an 8-7 win over seventh-seeded Wingate in the 2006 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament, hosted at Pioneer Park.

With the win, Tusculum improves to 37-12-1 and will face No. 3 Carson-Newman on Friday at 9 a.m. at Pioneer Park. Wingate falls to 16-37 and will meet No. 6 Presbyterian on Friday at 9 a.m. at Carson-Newman.

The game was a slugfest, with a number of players from both squads posting multiple hits. Wolff (Louisville, Ky.) led TC at the plate, going 3-for-5 with two RBI. Adam Beacham (Atlanta, Ga.) was 2-for-3 with two RBI. Jake Corley (Champaign, Ill.) was 4-for-5 with two runs scored.

Wes Hill (Stuarts Draft, Va.) was credited with the pitching victory, allowing no hits or walks in the final 1.2 innings of the contest.

For Wingate, Bryan Baylis (Pocomoke City, Md.) was 3-for-5 with three RBI. Brent Simpson (Wadesboro, N.C.) went 2-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored.

Wingate opened its half of the first inning with a run. Simpson drew a leadoff walk, and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Shaughn Neal (Matthews, N.C.). Baylis drove a single through the middle to score Simpson, giving the Bulldogs the early 1-0 advantage.

Wingate's second run of the game came in similar fashion to its first. In the top of the third, Simpson drew a walk. He advanced to third when Neal hit a hard single to the shortstop. Baylis again drove Simpson home with a single, placing his second RBI shot into right field.

The Pioneers stormed back to take a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the third. Aaron Hudgins (Kingsport, Tenn.) led off with a single to the shortstop. He stole second, and then advanced to third on a bunt by Corley. Wolff laid down another bunt to score Hudgins. Matt Riggs (Dayton, Tenn.) drove in Corley and Wolff with a single that was consequently mishandled in left field. Riggs plated the fourth run of the inning compliments of a sacrifice fly by Beacham. Kenny Reed Knoxville, Tenn.) added the final tally of the frame with a solo homer over the left field fence.

The Bulldogs climbed back into the thick of things with two fifth-inning runs to close the gap to 5-4. Tim Cottrell (Oxford, N.C.) led off with a double to right center. He moved to third on a Simpson single and scored on yet another RBI single by Baylis. Simpson plated the second run of the stanza on a sacrifice fly by Josh Benton (Gold Hill, N.C.).

Tusculum added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth to extend its lead to 6-4. Tim Brown (Flint, Mich.) launched a sacrifice fly to right center, sending Beacham home for the tally.

Wingate responded with a run in the sixth to pull within 6-5. Simpson generated the run with a single to right that scored Tim Bowman (Winston-Salem, N.C.). Tusculum answered the score with one of its own in the bottom of the inning. Beacham singled up the middle, scoring Corley to put the Pioneers in front 7-5.

The scoring spree continued in the eighth, as the Bulldogs chalked two runs to tie the contest at 7-7. Bowman singled to send Nick Siega-Riz (Clemmons, N.C.) home for the first run, and Cottrell doubled down the left field line to drive in the tying run by Bowman.

Tusculum snapped the tie in the bottom of the ninth when Wolff drove in Brown for the game-winning run.

Catawba 14, Newberry 6 Box Score
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - Top-seeded Catawba defeated eighth-seeded Newberry 14-6 on Thursday in the 2006 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament, hosted at Pioneer Park.

Catawba improves to 41-11 and will face No. 4 Mars Hill on Friday at 12:45 p.m. at Pioneer Park. Newberry falls to 9-41-1 and will play No. 5 Lenoir-Rhyne at 12:45 on Friday at Carson-Newman.

For Catawba, Nick Lefko (Faith, N.C.) was 1-for-2 with four RBI and three runs scored. Jimbo Davis (Salisbury, N.C.) went 2-for-3 with two RBI and three runs. Aaron Rimer (Salisbury, N.C.) was 1-for-3 with two RBI and two runs.

Blake Ketner (Davidson, N.C.) recorded the win for CC, allowing three earned runs on eight hits and two walks over 6.1 innings. He struck our four.

Joel Keefe (Andover, Mass.) led Newberry at the plate, going 1-for-3 with two RBI. Levi Salters (Vincennes, Ind.) was 2-for-4 with one RBI.

Pete Stuppiello (Gilbert, S.C.) took the loss for Newberry, surrendering six earned runs on six hits and two walks over 2.0 innings.

Catawba started the game with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Davis tripled to right field, and then Mark Smith (Brown Summitt, N.C.) drove him home with a single to third base.

Catawba added an insurance run in the second to extend its lead to 2-0. Lefko plated a run compliments of a single to left field by David Thomas (Winston-Salem, N.C.).

CC piled on eight more runs in the third inning to extend its lead to 10-0. The scoring frenzy was highlighted by a two-run blast over the center field fence by Davis.

Newberry's bats came alive in the top of the fourth inning, as the squad tallied three runs to pull within 10-3. The first run came when Brandon Gardner (Gaffney, S.C.), who had singled to reach base, moved from second to third on a wild pitch, and then scored on a throwing error by the Catawba catcher.

Matt Webb (Columbia, S.C.) doubled to left center, sending home Keefe for the second scoring tally. Salters then drove in Webb with a single up the middle.

NC notched two more runs in the fifth to slice its deficit to 10-5. With two outs and two strikes in the count, Keefe singled to center, plating runs by Anthony Dillenger (Gaffney, S.C.) and Gardner.

Newberry continued its comeback bid with another run in the seventh. Casey Faulkenberry (Camden, S.C.) laced a leadoff double down the leftfield line. He crossed home plate when Brandon Manasa (Miami, Fla.) singled up the middle in the next at-bat.

Catawba got back on the scoreboard again in the eighth, posting four runs to stretch its lead to 14-6. Smith tallied the first run on a wild pitch, and then Lefko hit a two-out, three RBI bomb over the left field fence.