Behind strong rounds from Travis Roe and Brandon Neals, Savannah State moved into second place in the second round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference golf tournament Saturday at Crosswinds Golf Club.
Neals shot a 70 to drop to 1 under par for the tournament after opening with a 73 on Friday. Neals is in third in the individual race, behind Bethune-Cookman’s Ryan and Leon Fricker.
Roe improved his first-round 75 to a 69 on day two, moving to even for the tournament. He’s tied for fourth place overall with Florida A&M’s Kevin Parker. Roe eagled the sixth hole and concluded the day with a birdie on 18.
The Tigers as a team shot 285 in the second round moving into second place behind Bethune-Cookman with a 585 team score. Bethune Cookman shot 285 and is at 576.
SSU’s Scott Rogers improved in the second round as well, finishing with a 72. Trevor Podner and Joseph Barrows each took two strokes off their first round scores, shooting a 74 on Saturday.
Ryan and Leon lead the individual race, each having shot a 69 in both the first and second rounds.
Florida A&M’s Justin Stills shot the low score on Saturday, a 66, after shooting an 80 on day one. The Crosswinds course record is 63. Stills’ exceptional play on Saturday carried his team into third place.
The Rattlers have a two-round team score of 588. North Carolina Central dropped out of the running with a tough second day. The team dropped to a second-round score of 308, after opening the championship with a 299.
Hampton University sits in fifth place with a 636, followed by Maryland Eastern Shore in sixth with a 670.
The winner of the MEAC Championship will receive an automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Regional Tournament May 15-17.
Team--1. Bethune-Cookman 576, 2. Savannah State 585, 3. Florida A&M 588, 4. N.C. Central 607, 5. Hampton 636, Maryland-Eastern Shore 670.
SSU (585)--Brandon Neals 73-70--143 (3); Travis Roe 75-69--144 (T4); Scott Rogers 78-72--150; Trevor Podner 76-74--150; Joseph Barrows 76-74--150
BASEBALL
LANDER 8-10,
ARMSTRONG 7-4
GREENWOOD, S.C. — Lander swept a doubleheader from Armstrong Atlantic State, winning 7-6 in 10 innings and 10-4.
The sweep clinched the Peach Belt Conference regular-season title for the Bearcats, 24-6 (43-6 overall).
Armstrong is 15-15 in the PBC, 25-18 overall, and earned the sixth seed for the upcoming PBC tournament.
In the first game, the Pirates struck for a go-ahead run in the top of the 10th, but Lander came back with two runs in the bottom of the inning for the win.
Joey Lupus scored on a single by Tyler Avera to put the Pirates up 7-6, but Lander struck back with an RBI triple by Erik Lunde and Thomas Berry’s RBI single.
Avera had three hits and two RBIs for the Pirates and Clayton Miller had three hits. Cody Sherlin, Zach Lance, Matt Wisniewski and Lupos had two hits each.
The Bearcats scored three runs in the bottom of the third in the second game broke open a 5-4 game with four runs in the seventh.
Mason Hart led the Pirates with two of Armstrong’s five hits and an RBI.
Starter Justin Adkins (3-2) was tagged with the loss, giving up five runs on four hits over five innings.
Lunde had two home runs for Lander and drove in four runs.
WOFFORD 6,
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 4
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Wofford scored two runs in the seventh and held on to beat Georgia Southern at Russell C. King Field.
A pair of hits from Matt Ramsay and James Plaisted led off the seventh inning for Wofford (23-20, 5-11), and Eric Alonzo walked two more before a fielding error by the catcher Chase Griffin on a failed putout attempt let to two runs and broke a 4-4 tie.
The runs handed Eric Eck his first win of the season. Eck (1-2) allowed three runs on three hits and surrendered a 4-1 lead in the seventh inning.
Both teams finished with nine hits, but the Eagles 27-18, 9-11) committed five errors which led to five unearned runs. Ben Morgan led GSU with three hits, while Garren Palmer finished with a pair of doubles. Conor Clancey went 3 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored for Wofford.
SAVANNAH STATE 17-2,
N.C. A&T 7-1
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Savannah State pounded out 19 hits in a 17-7 runaway win in the first game and came back for a close 2-1 win in the second in sweeping a doubleheader from North Carolina A&T.
In the first game, SSU (17-26, 8-11 MEAC) scored in every inning but the seventh in a game shortened to eight innings.
Charles Sikes led the slugfest with three hits and five RBIs. He had a double and a home run. Mike McHugh and Kevin Herlihy also had three hits each.
Todd Hagen, David Richards, Parker Nix and Zachary Brigham had two hits each.
Starter Austin Denney (5-2) went six innings for the win.
In game two, the Tigers scored two runs in the top of the sixth to erase a 1-0 deficit. In the key inning, Hagen singled, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Sikes. Sikes scored on a single by Aaron Hoffer.
Starter Brandon Whitmore went five innings for the win, scattering five hits, walking two and striking out three.
SOFTBALL
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 3-1,
CHATTANOOGA 1-2
STATESBORO — Georgia Southern split a doubleheader with Chattanooga, winning the opener 3-1 before falling 2-1 in the finale. With the doubleheader split, the Eagles continue to lead Chattanooga and Furman in the race for the SoCon regular season championship by 2 1/2 games entering the final four games of the season. The Eagles are 31-17 on the season with a 13-4 mark in league play. Chattanooga is 27-18 overall and 10-6 in the SoCon.
In the first game, Sarah Purvis earned the victory to improve to 17-10 on the season. She scattered three hits and the one run with seven strikeouts on the afternoon.
In game two, Chattanooga got two runs in the fourth inning on a throwing error and an RBI double.
GSU’s Brooke Red (12-5) suffered the loss, allowing two runs on four hits with five strikeouts.
BETHUNE-COOKMAN 3-5,
SAVANNAH STATE 2-1
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Savannah State dropped a doubleheader to Bethune-Cookman, losing 3-2 and 5-1.
In the first game, Alexis Singleton led the Tigers, going 3 for 4 at the plate and scoring a run, and India Morgan had two hits and an RBI.
Amanda McDowell absorbed the loss. She went 6 2/3 innings, striking out eight, walking eight and giving up three hits.
In the second game, Singleton and Kylie Tierce had two hits each for the Tigers (21-19, 5-6 MEAC).