GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Wofford College baseball team defeated ETSU on Thursday night 2-1 in the 2019 Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases at Fluor Field to advance to the semifinals. The Terriers scored in the fourth inning and the Bucs tied it at one in the sixth inning. A home run by Colin Davis in the seventh inning proved to be the game-winner for Wofford.
 
Wofford, the #2 seed in the tournament, is 35-23 on the season and #6 seed ETSU is 33-20 overall. The Terriers were held to six hits in the contest, with two each from Lawson Hill and Colin Davis. Davis had both RBIs in the game for Wofford. Hayes Heinecke struck out nine batters in seven innings. The Bucs were led by David Beam with two hits.
 
The Terriers were retired in order in the top of the first inning. With two outs in the bottom of the first, the Bucs had a batter reach on an error before a fly ball ended the inning. Wofford's Colin Davis walked with two outs in the top of the second inning. Alec Cargin reached on an error and Davis moved to third base. A fielder's choice stranded both runners. The Bucs were struck out in order in the bottom of the second by Hayes Heinecke. Wofford was struck out in order in the top of the third inning.
 
The Bucs opened the bottom of the third inning with a batter reaching on a fielding error. With two outs, a single to left field marked the first hit of the game. A fielder's choice ended the inning with both runners stranded. Hudson Byorick reached on an error to lead-off the fourth inning. With two outs, a double down the left field line by Colin Davis gave Wofford a 1-0 lead. A ground out ended the top half.
 
In the bottom of the fourth inning the Bucs led off with a single and the runner advanced on a sacrifice bunt. A pair of strikeouts ended the inning. Wofford was retired in order in the top of the fifth inning. The Bucs had a double with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning. A fly ball and ground out ended the frame.
 
Lawson Hill singled with two outs in the top of the sixth inning, but was unable to advance. The Bucs had a single with one out in the bottom of the sixth and a double down the left line tied the game at 1-1. A pair of strikeouts ended the sixth inning. Colin Davis led off the seventh inning with a solo shot over the building in left field – 431 feet – to give Wofford a 2-1 lead. The Bucs were retired in order to close out the seventh inning. With two outs in the eighth, Hudson Byorick singled and moved to second on an error. Lawson Hill followed with a single, but Byorick was out at third on the play.
 
The Bucs led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk and a double to put runners in scoring position. Rasesh Pandya entered the game and struck out three straight batters to strand the runners and send the game to the ninth inning. Colin Davis walked with one out in the top of the ninth inning and Alec Cargin followed with a single. A strikeout and ground out ended the top half. The Bucs were retired in order to end the game.
 
Wofford starter Hayes Heinecke (10-2) threw seven innings with one run allowed on six hits. He issued one walk and had nine strikeouts, bringing his freshman season total to 84. Rasesh Pandya earned his second save of the season by not allowing a hit in the final two innings and striking out three.
 
Landon Knack (9-4) started for ETSU and went eight innings with two runs allowed on five hits, along with eight strikeouts and one walk. Matthew Mercer threw the final inning with one hit allowed and two strikeouts.
 
The Terriers will face #1 seed Samford at noon on Saturday, May 25, in the first semifinal game. It is the first semifinal appearance for Wofford since 2015.