Diamond 'Dogs Win Third Straight With 9-8 Rally Past Furman
April 25, 2007 | Baseball
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Jay McConnell hammered his second
double of the day off the fence in right center, driving home the
winning run in the bottom of the ninth to lift Gardner-Webb to a
9-8 win over Furman.
The win was the third in a row for Gardner-Webb (17-27), with all
three of those wins coming in close games.
Gardner-Webb tied the game, 8-8, on a bunt single by Matt Rizzuto
two batters before McConnell, and had runners at first and third
with two outs when McConnell (Mt. Holly, N.C. / East Gaston HS)
stepped to the plate.
The preseason All-Atlantic Sun selection worked a 2-0 count against
reliever Ian Parry, fouled off a pitch and pulverized a 2-1
offering to the opposite field, nearly leaving the park in right
center.
Furman (13-28) saw an early 6-1 lead evaporate in the middle and
late innings. The Paladins went on top early, loading the bases
with a walk to leadoff man Connor Lind, a bunt single by Marcus
Rose and a looping hit to left by Bobby Hubbard in the top of the
first.
GWU starter Devin Campbell recovered to get a pop up for the first
out, but the Paladins got a high chopper from Tony Maccani to plate
Lind on a groundout for a 1-0 lead. Campbell seemed to have worked
his way out of the inning with another fly ball to center, but the
Bulldogs' centerfielder dropped the ball and saw it scoot past,
allowing two to score unearned and putting Will Stembridge at third
base. Campbell worked out of the inning without further damage, but
the Bulldogs still trailed, 3-0.
Campbell worked out of a slight jam in the second after allowing a
leadoff single to Spence Gibbs and seeing him move to third on a
failed pickoff attempt at second with one out. The Bulldog righty
got two ground balls to get out of the frame, however, and GWU got
on the board in the bottom half – using a double from Nate
MacDonald and a Justin Loyd sacrifice fly to trim the lead to
3-1.
The score remained the same until the fifth, when Campbell got into
trouble. Three-straight one-out hits – the final a three-run
bomb off the bat of Stembridge – pushed the Paladins lead to
6-1. Campbell got GWU back into the dugout without any more
scoring, and his team would rally.
Gardner-Webb got a two-run double from Daniel Cooke and an RBI
single from Jeremiah Lokken to trim the lead to 6-4 in the bottom
of the fifth, but Furman got an RBI single from Jay Jackson to push
its lead back to three runs, 7-4, in the sixth.
Gardner-Webb responded with two more runs in the sixth, trimming
the Paladins' lead to 7-6, and tied the score on an RBI knock by
Rizzuto with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
Furman used some good fortune to go back on top in the eighth. With
one out in that frame, Rose skied a pop fly to shallow left that
two GWU fielders apparently lost against the backdrop of the
clouds, as it fell in for a 100-foot double. With two outs, Jackson
hit a jam shot that fell softly through the right side for an 8-7
Furman advantage. Lokken, who came out to pitch after serving as
the team's designated hitter, would get out of the unfortunate jam
and leave GWU within striking distance.
GWU had the tying run in scoring position in the eighth, and the go
ahead run at first, but stranded both men and still trailed 8-7
going into the final inning. MacDonald switched places with Lokken
to pitch the top of the ninth for GWU, and worked around a leadoff
single and two hit batters to keep his ‘Dogs within a run
going into their final at bat.
After Cooke flied out to deep center leading off the inning against
Parry – who was the man responsible for stranding the Bulldogs
in the eighth – Lokken came through with a towering double to
center. A single by MacDonald got through the left side, but wasn't
deep enough to score Lokken, who wisely stopped at third.
Rizzuto then placed a nice bunt past Parry's glove and outran the
defense, driving in Lokken to tie the game. A fielder's choice by
pinch hitter Joey Testa erased Rizzuto, but left runners at the
corner for McConnell's heroics. Pinch runner Ty Boyles was the man
who scored the winning run.
MacDonald (3-2) picked up the pitching win in relief, allowing one
hit in the top of the ninth. Campbell (ND) worked a career-best 5.0
innings, scattered nine hits and allowed four earned runs.
McConnell (3-for-4, two 2B, RBI), Lokken (3-for-5, 2B, RBI) and
MacDonald (3-for-5, two 2B, run) collected more than half of
Gardner-Webb's 17 hits in the game, with Rizzuto (2-for-2, two
RBI), Miller (2-for-2, 3B, two RBI) and Cooke (2-for-5, 2B, two
RBI, run) also collecting multiple hits.
Rose (3-for-5, three runs) and Jackson (3-for-5, two RBI) each had
three of Furman's 15 hits, with Stembridge (2-for-5, HR, three
RBI), Ortenzo (2-for-4) and Maccani (2-for-5, run, RBI) picking up
a pair each.
Parry (3-3) allowed six hits and two earned runs in 1.2 innings to
pick up the loss. Furman starter J.P. Goldsberry was touched for
four runs and seven hits in 4.2 innings of work.
Gardner-Webb travels to Campbell on Friday for a crucial Atlantic
Sun Conference road series. The two teams will play a twilight
doubleheader beginning at 4 pm ET in Buies Creek.
| GAME BOX: GWU 9, Furman 8 |
