GREENSBORO, N.C. – To close the regular season, the Wofford College baseball team defeated UNCG 14-5 on Saturday afternoon at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. The Terriers scored five runs in the first inning and added four in the ninth inning as they never trailed in the contest. The Terriers won the series against UNCG for the second time in the last three years.
 
Wofford is 33-23 on the season and 14-9 in the Southern Conference. The Terriers finish second in the league, the highest finish in school history. UNCG is 33-18 overall and 14-10 in league play. The Terriers were led by Mike Brown with four hits and two RBIs, while Lawson Hill and Nolen Hester each had three hits and two RBIs. Overall Wofford had 19 hits in the game and took advantage of four Spartan errors. UNCG had 15 hits in the contest, including three each by Greg Hardison and Austin Embler.
 
Mike Brown opened the game with a triple and he scored on a double by Brett Rodriguez. Hudson Byorick reached on an error with Rodriguez scoring for a 2-0 lead. Lawson Hill singled and John Dempsey reached on an error which prompted the Spartans to make a pitching change. Colin Davis reached on an error that scored a run and Nolen Hester was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in a run for a 4-0 lead. Reed Massey grounded out to score a run and Mike Brown walked to load the bases before a line out ended the top of the first with the Terriers leading 5-0.
 
The Spartans opened the bottom of the first with back-to-back singles. Another single drove in a run and the Spartans had runners on the corners. A ground out plated a run for a 5-2 score at the end of the first inning.  With two outs in the top of the second, John Dempsey doubled and an RBI single by Colin Davis made it a 6-2 game. UNCG had two outs in the bottom of the second when a single was followed by a double, but both were stranded.
 
Andrew Orzel singled to start the third inning and Reed Massey followed with a walk. A walk with one out by Brett Rodriguez loaded the bases and a sacrifice fly by Hudson Byorick added a run. A walk to Lawson Hill loaded the bases again, but a strikeout ended the scoring chance. The Spartans left one runner on base in the bottom of the third after a single.
 
With one out in the top of the fourth inning, Nolen Hester singled and Andrew Orzel walked. A double play ended the top of the frame. The Spartans had one out in the bottom of the fourth when a pair of singles had runners on the corners. An RBI single cut the lead to 7-3 and two runners were stranded at the end of the inning. Wofford had two outs in the top of the fifth when Hudson Byorick doubled and Lawson Hill walked. On a hit by John Dempsey, Hill was out on the play when the ball hit him to end the top half.  
 
In the bottom of the fifth inning the Spartans had an infield single with two outs before a strikeout ended the inning. The Terriers had one out in the top of the sixth when Nolen Hester singled and Andrew Orzel was hit by a pitch for the 13^th time this season. On a fielder's choice a base running mistake resulted in the third out. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, the Spartans had a walk before a ground out ended the inning.
 
Mike Brown and Brett Rodriguez had back-to-back singles to begin the seventh inning. A sacrifice bunt advanced the runners and a single by Lawson Hill drove in both for a 9-3 lead. Back-to-back singles opened the bottom of the seventh for the Spartans. The runners advanced on a wild pitch and a single with one out scored both runners to make it a 9-5 game. A strikeout and ground out left two runners on base to end the seventh inning.
 
Nolen Hester walked to lead-off the eighth inning and he moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs a double by Mike Brown scored Hester for a 10-5 lead. Brett Rodriguez reached on an error which allowed Brown to move to third. Rodriguez stole second base before a fly ball ended the top half. The Spartans were retired in order in the bottom of the eighth. Lawson Hill singled to start the ninth inning. With two outs and Hill on third base, an RBI triple by Nolen Hester and an RBI double by Andrew Orzel pushed the lead to 12-5. A single by Reed Massey drove in Orzel and a double by Mike Brown scored Massey for a 14-5 lead. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Spartans had a pair of singles before a ground out ended the game.
 
Cameron Bloodworth started for the Terriers and went four innings with three runs allowed on nine hits. Jake Hershman (2-3) threw four innings with two runs allowed on four hits, along with four strikeouts. Rasesh Pandya had two strikeouts and two hits allowed in the ninth inning.
 
UNCG starter Jake Mayhew (3-1) allowed five runs on three hits. Corey Jackson went 2.2 innings with two runs allowed on three hits and a strikeout. Jack Voight worked 3.1 innings without allowing a run on four hits and a strikeout. Jeremiah Triplett worked a third of an inning with two runs allowed on three hits. Chad Sykes threw 1.2 innings with one run allowed on one hit and two strikeouts. The earned run allowed by Sykes was only his fifth in 52 innings this season. Austin Parsley gave up four runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning. Colin Best gave up one hit and had a strikeout in the final third of an inning.
 
Wofford will open play in the 2019 Southern Conference Tournament on Wednesday, May 22 at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. against #7 seed VMI at 7:30 p.m.