GREENVILLE, S.C. – Alec Bouchard and Carter Rasmussen combined for 17 strikeouts against No. 6 UNCG as the No. 7 Wofford baseball team secured a 4-2 victory in the Southern Conference Championship presented by Holston Gases at Fluor Field. Wofford improves to 32-25 as it advances to the double-elimination portion of the bracket. UNCG drops to 21-33 to conclude its season after the loss in the single-elimination play-in game.
 
Only two Terriers were needed on the bump as Alec Bouchard (4-1) pitched the first 6.1 innings to earn the win. He was charged with two runs on nine hits with one walk, posting a career-best 10 punchouts. He is the second Terrier to reach 10 this season after Cullen Condon also hit the mark against Army West Point in February. Carter Rasmussen (4) secured the save after hurling the last 2.2 innings of action. He did not give up a run while only surrendering three hits and a walk. Of the eight outs he recorded, seven came via the strikeout to tie his career high. The 17 combined punchouts are two shy of Wofford's single-game program record and the most by the team since also recording 17 against Lafayette last season.
 
Danny Thompson, Jr. (2-4) suffered the loss for UNCG as the starter, pitching 5.1 innings with four runs allowed on five hits and two walks.
 
The Terriers were outhit 12-7 in the contest but were much more clutch than the Spartans, who left 13 runners on base compared to the four stranded by Wofford. Niko Brini led the way for Wofford with two hits and an RBI. One of his knocks was a solo homer, and Cade Collins added his first-career long ball. Tanner Hardin collected a team-high two RBI with his one hit. He also added a steal.
 
After two scoreless innings, Cade Collins broke through for Wofford in the top of the third by clubbing his first-career home run, a 402-foot shot to right field. The scoring continued when after back-to-back singles by Niko Brini and Ryan Wynn, Tanner Hardin ripped another to right center that brought them both home. Wofford led 3-0.
 
UNCG threatened with two runners on with two outs in the fourth, but Alec Bouchard clamped down with a clutch strikeout to keep the Spartans off the board.
 
The following inning, the Terriers added one more when Brini lifted a solo homer 382 feet to right, pushing the lead to 4-0.
 
The lead held firm until the bottom of the seventh when UNCG broke through with a pair of runs. An RBI triple preceded an RBI single, halving the margin to 4-2, still in Wofford's favor.
 
After a scoreless eighth, the game came down to the bottom of the ninth with UNCG looking to come back. A walk and hit batter opened the inning to bring the potential winning run to the plate with no outs, but Carter Rasmussen clutched up. After an infield fly, the second-team all-conference hurler struck out the next two batters to close the door and ice the 4-2 Terrier triumph.
 
The Terriers will play No. 3 seed The Citadel tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m.