SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford baseball team picked up an emphatic game one win Friday evening at Russell C. King Field, toppling Villanova 11-1 in seven innings. The Terriers were powered by Branton Little going the distance on the mound with all nine batters contributing in the lineup. Wofford improves to 16-7 as the Wildcats fall to 11-9.
 
Branton Little (3-2) went the distance for Wofford, hurling all 7.0 innings to secure the win. Little allowed only one run on four hits and a walk while striking out five. He was efficient, needing only 75 pitches.
 
"Fastball got in the zone, and I was able to get the cutter off of that," said Little. "I was really just attacking those guys and not giving them anything for free."
 
Villanova used six different pitchers with starter Bobby Olsen (1-2) suffering the loss. He allowed seven runs on seven hits and four walks with one strikeout.
 
"That was big, especially with us having a double midweek and using a lot of our guys pretty extensively," said associate head coach Pat Brown of using one pitcher compared to Villanova's six. "It was good to save the bullpen and have them lined up well for Saturday and Sunday."
 
The Terriers were rolling offensively, and it was a total team effort. All nine batters in the lineup recorded at least one hit, RBI, and run. Tyler Hare and Adam Haber each tallied two hits with Hare's double the lone extra-base knock for the Terriers. Hare added two RBI to pace the squad. David Wiley and Andrew Mannelly each scored a team-high two runs. The Terriers worked eight walks in the contest with Mannelly tallying a team-best two. With four more batters getting hit by a pitch, Wofford was granted 12 free bases compared to its 11 hits.
 
"It's very impressive," said Hare of all nine Terriers owning a hit, run, and RBI. "That's a good Villanova team, and if we can come out quick, score a lot of runs, get a lot of people on base, we'll be just fine."
 
Wofford swiped four bases in the game with Haber, James Layman, Mannelly, and Niko Brini all grabbing one.
 
After a scoreless first frame, the Terriers got on the board first in the bottom of the second. Tanner Hardin led off with an infield single, and James Layman's bunt single followed. After a sacrifice bunt by Lucas Manning, Andrew Mannelly's sacrifice fly brought Hardin home for the 1-0 edge.
 
The game unraveled for the Wildcats in the bottom of the third when Wofford plated six. Tyler Hare and David Wiley opened the inning with back-to-back singles. Adam Haber added a third in a row to push across the first run of the frame. After a sacrifice bunt, Layman's sacrifice fly pushed across one more. Manning then singled in a run, and Mannelly walked. That kicked off a merry-go-round of five consecutive walks drawn by the Terriers, which brought home three more runs. Ryan Wynn, Hare, and Wiley each recorded an RBI in the process as Wofford batted around and lifted its lead to 7-0.
 
The fourth went by quietly, and Villanova cracked through with a solo home run in the top of the fifth to pull within 7-1. Wofford had an answer, however, with two runs in the bottom of the frame. Two singles and a hit batter loaded the bases for Hardin, whose sacrifice fly brought in a run with Wiley advancing to third. With runners on the corners, Haber swiped second, and the catcher's throw sailed into center to allow Wiley to score for a 9-1 lead.
 
Wofford tacked on two more in the bottom of the sixth to reach the 10-run margin. A pair of walks set up a double steal by Layman and Mannelly. Niko Brini had runners on second and third, delivering a single to right to score Layman. After he stole second, Wynn was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Hare. He was then plunked, pushing across a run for the 11-1 advantage.
 
Bronton Little would ice the game in the top of the seventh, inducing three-straight groundouts to Layman to secure the 11-1 triumph.
 
Game two of the series is set for tomorrow afternoon with first pitch at 2:00 p.m.