SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford baseball team controlled all nine innings Friday evening against the FDU Knights at Russell C. King Field, thriving offensively to the tune of 16 hits for a 14-1 victory to open the series. Wofford improves to 4-1 with the win while FDU falls to 1-4.
 
"It was just having a good practice yesterday. We're not trying to do too much, just trying to pass the bat off to the next guy and do our one-ninth," said Andrew Mannelly of the offensive bounce-back from two runs Wednesday to this evening's 14-run outpour.
 
Terrier starter Braden Hofmeyer (1-0) earned the win after tossing 5.0 shutout innings with seven punchouts, a new high for a Terrier this season. Hofmeyer allowed just four hits and one walk. Freshman Alec Bouchard relieved him and pitched 2.0 innings. He surrendered one run, unearned, with three strikeouts and only a hit allowed. Mike Eggert and Branton Little each threw an inning with both pitchers owning a pair of punchouts. Eggert's outing was a 1-2-3 inning.
 
FDU starter Jeremy Cheeseman (0-2) suffered the loss after allowing four runs on five hits and four walks in 3.1 innings of work.
 
Wofford out-hit FDU 17-6 in the contest. The Knights recorded only one extra-base hit as opposed to the five of the Terriers, three doubles and two triples.
 
Marshall Toole, Dixon Black and Jack Renwick all tallied three-hit outings. Renwick added a walk to reach four times total. Andrew Mannelly and Gunnar Johnson both added two-hit days, and Mannelly added in a walk. Toole tallied a team-high four RBI in the game. Black, Johnson, Brice Martinez and Tyler Hare all drove home two runs each. Renwick added in one RBI of his own. Martinez and Hare both had a hit and walk to reach twice safely each.
 
With the lopsided nature of the game, 18 position players in all saw action for the Terriers. With four pitchers seeing the mound, 22 total Terriers played.
 
The Terriers struck first in the bottom of the second with a pair of runs by way of back-to-back triples. Adam Haber drew a two-out walk to get on and set up Jack Renwick, who found the gap and raced around to third as Haber trotted home. Up next was Marshall Toole, who lifted a ball that just missed going over, bouncing off the top of the fence as he legged out another three-bagger. Renwick scored to make the initial Terrier lead 2-0.
 
Wofford added three more runs in the fifth. After FDU walked the bases loaded with one out, Toole hit an infield grounder. Though the out at second was recorded, Toole beat the throw to first, and Haber on second base never broke stride rounding third. Two runs scored, and after Toole swiped second, a Dixon Black single plated him to stretch the Terrier advantage to 5-0.
 
In the fifth, Gunnar Johnson added one more with an RBI double, and Tyler Hare drove home another with an RBI groundout. Wofford led 7-0 entering the sixth.
 
In that sixth inning, Wofford truly broke the game open. With five more runs. The scoring began with an RBI infield single by Toole, and a two-run single by Brice Martinez later in the frame gave Wofford double-digits. Another Johnson single added one more, and Hare added a sacrifice fly to plate the fifth run. Wofford owned a 12-0 advantage after six frames of action.
 
"We weren't really satisfied with being up eight," said Johnson of the big inning. "We wanted to break this open and get a couple more runs, so I was staying simple in my spot and playing it as if it was a close game."
 
FDU avoided a shutout by scratching across a run in the top of the seventh. A sacrifice fly gave the Knights their first and only run and made the margin 12-1.
 
But the Terriers would get that run back in the seventh with an RBI single by Black to make the score 13-1.
 
Wofford added another in the eighth when a wild pitch allowed Daniel Jackson to race home for a 14-1 margin.
 
Branton Little held the Knights off the board in the ninth to close out the 14-1 win and a 1-0 series lead.
 
The Terriers and Knights will square off again tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. for game two of the three-game series.