 "Photo: N/A")
The Davidson baseball team won all three games they played against UNC-Greensboro this weekend at Wilson Field. The Wildcats seemed to feed off the stellar North Carolina weather and the “spring frolics” atmosphere that pervaded campus to put together a great weekend performance.
Playing games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the Wildcats beat UNC-G 5-4, 4-2, and 5-4 respectively. The Wildcats have won four straight, catapulting their SoCon record above .500 to a respectable 11-10 mark. The win streak also brings the team’s overall record to 17-21 on the season.
Mike Frongello ’11 was sensational in the series, garnering SoCon Baseball Pitcher of the Week for his performance in the games from April 20-26. Frongello earned two wins and logged 11 and 2/3 innings of scoreless relief work over the week and was an integral contributor in their sweep of UNC-G.
In Friday’s game, Frongello’s three shutout relief innings, combined with Chase Fitzpatrick’s ’09 two home runs, propelled Davidson to a 5-4 victory. Fitzpatrick went 2 for 4 with 3RBIs and two home runs, one of them the game-winner in the sixth inning. Fitzpatrick now leads the team with 12 home runs on the year. Danny Weis ’11 began the game with a pop, belting a two-run home run to right field in the bottom of the first inning. Fitzpatrick’s pair of dingers was all Davidson needed after that to hold on to the 5-4 victory. Frongello’s three shutout innings earned him the win and Matt Webb ’09 came in and mowed down UNC-G with a one-two-three ninth to secure the save.
Davidson continued to live by the long-ball on Saturday. The Wildcats beat UNC-G 4-2, fueled primarily by Drew Gadaire’s ’12 three-run home run in the eighth inning. Chris Lamb ’12 gave Davidson a great chance to win with his pitching performance. Lamb struck out eight over 5 and 1/3 innings while surrendering only two unearned runs. Frongello and Webb combined again to finish off the Spartan’s with three and 2/3 innings of yet-again scoreless relief. Webb came on in the ninth to close the game. After giving up a lead-off single, he struck out the next three UNC-G hitters to end the game. Danny Weiss continued to swing a great bat in the game, going a perfect 3-3 with one run and Seth Freeman ’12 went 2-4; they were the only two Davidson players who provided a multi-hit performance on Saturday.
Sunday, the Wildcats demonstrated some timely hitting, coming back from a 3-1 deficit to start the bottom of the seventh to eventually win 5-4 in an impressive 11th inning rally. Graham Chapman ’09 tied the score in the seventh with his two-run home run. Brett Shore ’09 began the 11th inning rally with a single to the left, going to 3-5 on the day. Chapman then popped up to the catcher and Zach Kayne ’09 followed up with a walk after Shore advanced to second on a wild pitch. Kayne then moved to second and into scoring position with Drew Gadaire’s fielder’s choice that eliminated Shore at third. With the score tied at three and two on and two-out Weiss sent his third hit of the day in front of the center fielder to score Kayne and win the game for the Wildcats.
Frongello was the only Davidson pitcher not to give up a run, pitching three innings of one-hit baseball. It was Frongello’s third straight day withough yeilding a run; he ended up giving up only three hits over 8 and 2/3 innings in the series against UNC-G batters.
Tuesday, April 28, the Wildcats had their four-game winning streak snapped as they lost 11-3 to the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest University. The out-of-conference defeat should serve as a wake-up call as the ’Cats prepare for the final stretch of conference play.
Davidson travels to Charleston, S.C. to face conference foe, College of Charleston, this weekend in a three game series. The Wildcats will look to ride this wave of timely hitting and stifling relief to improve upon their 11-10 record in the Southern Conference.
Be the first to comment on this article!