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STATESBORO, Ga. – The Wofford College baseball team scored six runs in the eighth and ninth innings, but the comeback fell short and the Terriers were defeated 11-9 by Georgia Southern on Friday evening at Clements Stadium. The Eagles scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to build an 11-3 lead, but the Terriers answered with five in the eighth and one in the ninth to pull within two runs.
Wofford is 17-30 on the season and 7-20 in the Southern Conference. Georgia Southern is 36-15 overall and 18-8 in the conference. The Terriers were led by Kyle Behrendt with three hits, including two doubles, while James Foster had two RBIs. The Eagles were lead by A.J. Wirnsberger with four hits, including a home run, and three RBIs. Kyle Blackburn also had four hits and three RBIs with a home run.
The Terriers had a double in the first by Kyle Behrendt and singles in the second from Josh McKinney and Mac Doyle. Georgia Southern had two singles and a walk to load the bases in the bottom of the second. Brian Pierce hit a sacrifice fly to score one run and the inning ended with a 1-0 lead for the Eagles.
David Roney led off the top of the third with a single. A double by Kyle Behrendt moved Roney to third. Michael Gilmartin then reached on an error by the first baseman and allowed both runners to score and Wofford had a 2-1 lead.
In the bottom of the third, a fielder’s choice, single and walk loaded the bases with one out. A walk to Kyle Blackburn scored one run and a single by A.J. Wirnsberger added two runs for a 4-2 lead.
For Georgia Southern in the bottom of the fourth, back-to-back walks followed by a sacrifice bunt gave the Eagles runners at second and third. A ground-out scored one run and a single by Phillip Porter gave Georgia Southern a 6-2 lead. Kyle Blackburn hit a two-run homer and a solo shot by the next batter, A.J. Wirnsberger, extended the lead to 9-2. The Eagles added one more run on a single by Roman Grimaldi for a 10-2 advantage.
Wofford got one run back in the top of the fifth as Neil Robinette doubled and a double from James Foster drove in the run. The Eagles answered in the bottom of the sixth with three singles and a sacrifice fly from Roman Grimaldi drove in one run for an 11-3 score.
Neither team scored in the seventh. In the top of the eighth, Wofford loaded the bases with one out on a double from Michael Gilmartin, a walk to Konstantine Diamaduros and a single by Jake Williams. Josh McKinney then singled to right field to score one run and a walk to Mac Doyle brought in another run for an 11-5 score. Neil Robinette then added a single as well to bring in Jake Williams and a walk to James Foster added a run to make it an 11-7 game. A single from Kyle Behrendt drove in a fifth run in the inning to cut the lead to 11-8, but the Terriers left the bases loaded to end the inning.
The Eagles left one on base in the bottom of the eighth. In the top of the ninth, Konstantine Diamaduros led off with a home run to cut the lead to two, but the Terriers could not get closer and the Eagles took the 11-9 win.
Wofford starter Scott Summers (3-5) went 3.2 innings with nine hits and ten runs allowed without a strikeout. Bobby DeLuria threw 4.1 innings with one run allowed on eight hits with one strikeout.
Georgia Southern starter Chris Mederos (10-1) went seven innings and gave up seven hits and three runs with eleven strikeouts. Michael Hester lasted a third of an inning and gave up three hits and four runs with one strikeout. Charles Matthews went a third of an inning with one hit and one run allowed. Dexter Bobo added a third of an inning and allowed two hits and one run with a strikeout. Kyle Kamppi entered the game in the ninth and recorded the final three outs without a hit for his eighth save of the season.
Wofford and Georgia Southern will continue the series on Saturday at 2:30 pm and Sunday at 1:30 pm, with the Sunday contest airing on CSS. With the loss the Terriers have been eliminated from the Southern Conference Tournament.
