BOILING SPRINGS – Sam Fulginiti (Matthews, N.C. / Charlotte Christian HS) belted a two-run home run in the sixth to give Gardner-Webb the lead for good in a 6-3 win over Buffalo, which gave head coach Rusty Stroupe the 700th win of his career.
Stroupe, who is in his 25th season as a college head coach, improved to 700-542-2 with stops at North Greenville, Brevard, Lander and Gardner-Webb. The Cherryville, N.C., native is in his 14th season with the Runnin' Bulldogs.
"Right after the game I found myself thinking back to the guys who helped with the first win and the second, and all of the players who have made this possible since then" said Stroupe. "Those first guys are in their 40s now. I've really been blessed to coach baseball for a long time with many great players who were excellent people.
"I'm proud of our team today, in this game, for fighting back and showing great poise. This was a good Buffalo team we saw this weekend."
Gardner-Webb (3-1) trailed 3-0 after three and a half innings, but got a lift from Ryan Hodge with one out in the bottom of the fourth. The Matthews, N.C., senior hammered a 2-2 fastball over the fence in right – squaring up the seventh pitch of a great at bat.
Matt Simmons hammered another fastball off the base of the wall in right center for a double two batters later, but was stranded. Still, the Runnin' Bulldogs had seized a sizable chunk of momentum from the visitors – who controlled the early innings.
Buffalo (0-3) took advantage of a pair of bloop singles and a fielding error to spark a three-run rally in the second inning. Bobby Sheppard found green grass in right field with a one-out bleeder, then moved all the way to third on an error that allowed Chris Kwitzer to reach.
Kyle Brennan roped an RBI single to left for a 1-0 lead and Mitchell Machi followed suit with an RBI single to left for a 2-0 edge. Nick Sinay kept the rally alive, blooping a two-out single in front of the GWU outfield in right center, plating Brennan for a 3-0 lead.
Blair Huggins cut down Sinay on a steal attempt at second base to end the inning, and Gardner-Webb starter Jeremy Walker settled down from that point on.
Buffalo right hander Brent Cleland mystified Gardner-Webb's bats early in his first career mound start. The Canadian freshman mixed pitches well to get through the first two innings with ease, not allowing a hit and striking out a pair.
Scott Johnson broke through for Gardner-Webb in the bottom of the third, leading off with a triple to right center, but was left standing on second as Cleland recovered with two consecutive strikeouts and a ground ball to end the inning.
Walker mowed down the Bulls with two strikeouts in the fourth and recorded two more strikeouts in the fifth to get out of brief trouble and strand two Buffalo men on base – and Mitch Warner worked out of a jam to leave the bases full of Bulls after a walk and hit batter in the sixth.
That allowed for Gardner-Webb's game-changing rally. Tyler Best coaxed a one-out walk and Hodge followed with a walk on four pitches to chase Cleland from the game.
Righty Anthony McGovney came on for Buffalo and got a ground ball out – but Best and Hodge each scurried into scoring position with two outs. Simmons came through with a clutch hit, slicing a two-run single up the middle to tie the game – and Fulginiti followed with his blast two pitches later, taking a 1-0 fastball over the fence deep into the trees in left center for a 5-3 lead.
Warner cruised from there, striking out three Buffalo batters and getting two ground balls over the next two innings – and Fulginiti delivered again in the eighth when he swatted an RBI double deep into the gap in left center to drive in Simmons for a 6-3 lead.
Buffalo would mount a threat in the top of the ninth, loading the bases with two outs after a single from Brian Dudek to right, an infield bunt single from Nick Sinay and a five-pitch walk to Mike Abrunzo.
Andrew Massey came on for the save, however, striking out Vinny Mallaro to end the game.
Warner (1-1) hurled 3.0 scoreless innings for the relief win, allowing just one hit and fanning three batters. Walker was solid in his first start of the season, working 5.0 innings with six strikeouts and no earned runs allowed. All five hits by Walker were singles.
Gardner-Webb managed eight hits Sunday, with Fulginiti (2-for-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI), Simmons (2-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 runs) and Johnson (2-for-4, 3B) doing much of the damage. Hodge (1-for-3, HR, RBI, 2 runs) and Will Canady (1-for-3) also had hits for GWU.
Magovney (0-2) was tagged with the loss out of the pen, allowing two runs on two hits in 0.2 innings pitched. Cleland allowed three runs on three hits in 5.1 innings of work (seven strikeouts) in a no decision start.
The Bulls also had eight hits, with Sinay (2-for-4, RBI) and Dudek (2-for-3) collecting half of that total.
Gardner-Webb will host North Carolina Central on Wednesday afternoon, February 18, at 4:00. The game is scheduled to air live on The Big South Network (bigsouthsports.com).
