CINCINNATI, Ohio –The Wofford baseball team grabbed the series win against Xavier after a tight 8-5 win on Sunday afternoon at Hayden Field. The Terriers (16-9) were down after two innings to the Musketeers but came away with the win in a deciding eight inning.
Austin Laughlin made the start on the mound for the Terriers, with
Branton Little coming in during the first inning. Little (2-1) pitched for five innings, giving up four hits and two runs, while striking out two batters.
Champ Davis closed it out for Wofford, pitching for four innings. Davis earned his third save of the season, striking out four batters in the process.
Cade Collins led the Terriers with a two-run home run.
Brady Gold followed with one run on two hits and two RBI.
Cade Collins walked to start for Wofford to start the game. With two outs,
Ben Timblin doubled to right field to put Collins in scoring position. A two-RBI single from
Marc Quarrie put the Terriers on the board with a 2-0 lead. Xavier was quick to answer back with runs of their own in the first. The Musketeers scored off a single to right field and a fielder's choice to tie the game 2-2 after one inning.
The Musketeers retired the Terriers in a quick 1-2-3 inning in the second. With two outs and one runner on base, A double by Xavier drove in one run to take the lead 3-2 over Wofford. The ball game would remain scoreless for the next two innings before the Terriers returned in the fifth to regain the lead. With two outs,
Cade Collins on a 1-1 count homered out of the park in right field to drive in two runs to take a 4-3 lead. Singles from
Niko Brini and
Logan Tribble and a walk to
Ben Timblin loaded the bases for the Terriers, but a ground out ended the scoring chance. The Musketeers quickly answered back once again to tie the game 4-4 in the fifth.
The sixth inning started in the Terriers' favor when
Hunter Herndon walked and
Tanner Hardin singled to right field.
Brady Gold hit a two-RBI single to push the Terriers above Xavier for a 6-4 edge. Wofford, with the momentum, would go into the eighth looking to extend their lead.
Lucas Manning singled to right field to drive in
James Layman for a 7-4 edge. The hits kept coming for the Terriers as
Brady Gold earned his second hit of the day on a single to left field to advance Manning to second. A double by
Niko Brini drove Manning home to push the Terriers' lead to 8-4 over the Musketeers. Xavier answered back in the bottom of the eight with a single and a double, with a sacrifice fly to center field cutting the lead to 8-5.
Champ Davis would hold off the Musketeers in the ninth as they stranded two runners, clinching the series finale for the Terriers.
Quick Hits:
The Terriers will return to Russell C. King Field to start conference play in a weekend series against UNC-Greensboro, starting on Friday, March 27, at 2:00 p.m., streaming on ESPN +.
