2012 PBC Baseball Team Notes - May 1

	Armstrong Atlantic State (36-12, 20-10) -- Armstrong captured its fourth Peach Belt Conference regular season title by splitting Saturday's doublehaeder at Georgia College, winning 8-7. The Pirates finished the regular season with a 20-10 league mark, tying the 2003 squad for the most Peach Belt wins in school history ... Armstrong also won the league's regular season title in 1991 and 1992 ... Chandler Hall notched the win and Ethan Bader retired the Bobcats in the ninth for his second save of the season ... Richie Anderson went 4-for-5 with a season-high five RBIs, including a home run, in the win ... The Pirates will be the top seed from the East Division in the upcoming 2012 Peach Belt Conference baseball tournament in Columbus on May 9-12 ... Armstrong captured the 2007 PBC Tournament ... The Pirates will tune up for the tournament by taking on Conference Carolinas Tournament finalist Erskine on Friday, May 4, in its regular season finale ... Armstrong was ranked first in the first NCAA Southeast Region rankings, released Wednesday. The Pirates are looking to make the NCAA Championships for the 13th time in the last 23 seasons.
	Augusta State (13-36, 4-26) -- ASU was off this past week...Justin Appel enjoyed a 5-for-12 three-game stretch, including a 3-for-5 outburst against North Georgia two weekends ago on Saturday with an RBI and a run scored…Jeff Rice had two multi-hit games, and Curtis Parker had a 3-for-5 game with two runs scored…Dylan Wall hurled six innings, allowing just one unearned run in a 2-1 loss against North Georgia...Senior Caleb Saggus swiped two more bases, building his school record for steals in a career to 83…He sits sixthin the Peach Belt in steals and walks, and 13th in fielding percentage (.994)…Rice is 13th with six home runs, while Parker sits 19th with five…Seth Foster is 12th in triples and 18th in on-base percentage, along with a .988 fielding percentage that puts him 21st…Josh Barks leads the team with four quality starts, including a complete-game gem against Georgia Southwestern where he allowed five hits and one earned run...The Jaguars close out their season Tuesday, May 1 in a single game with Erskine at 3:00 p.m.
	Columbus State (29-21, 15-15) -- Notes not submitted.
	Flagler (27-22, 13-17) -- Flagler wrapped up its season by taking three of four games last week. Brett Moreland led the Saints with a .500 batting average. He led the team with nine hits, four runs batted in and tied for the team-lead with four runs scored. Devon Hellett collected five singles and batted .417 while Will Percy singled five times and had a pair of sacrifice hits. The Saints defeated SCAD Savannah 6-5 in 10 innings on a walk-off wild pitch. Percy tied his career high with four hits in the game. Flagler followed by taking two of three against Columbus State over the weekend at Drysdale Field. Flagler split Saturday’s doubleheader with Columbus State. The Saints won the opener 6-5 as Nate Fudala scored on a wild pitch from Cougar reliever Chase Gilreath in the eighth inning. Baseball personality Domingo Ayala was on hand to throw out the first pitch and sign autographs on Saturday. On Sunday, Moreland belted a solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to break a 2-all tie and helped Flagler to a 4-2 win on “Senior Day.” The Saints recognized its 11 seniors before the game as well as hand out team awards.
	Francis Marion (33-14, 19-10) -- FMU did not play last week due to exams....FMU will play host to the CIAA champs Winston-Salem State on May 5 at 6 pm prior to traveling to the PBC Tournament....Currently ranked #8, the Patriots were ranked #1 in two preseason national polls and #2 in a third poll....FMU has won 21 of its last 26 games....FMU is 13-4 against nationally ranked opponents this year.....Senior SS Brock McCallister (.345) was named the team’s MVP, as he has 38 RBIs (team-high 17 coming with 2 outs).....Junior OF Jarrod Reed leads FMU with a .365 average....Senior CF Buddy Sosnoskie has a .360 average and leads with 43 RBIs. He has hit in 17 of his last 19 games (with 11 multi-hit games) and recorded an RBI in 13 of the last 19 (with 8 multi-RBI games). He has hit in 62 of his last 77 contests dating back to last season, and has safety reached base in 96 of his 104 contests as a Patriot.....Senior LHP Matt Broderick (7-2) has a 2.58 ERA and is 5-1 in PBC starts....Junior 1B Luke Tollison is 11 for his last 27....Junior 1B-3B Stephen Tarkenton, a relative of former NFL quarterback Fran Tarkenton, has a .312 season average and 33 RBIs.....Sophomore RHP Jeffrey Stoner (5-3) has a career record of 14-3 in 31 appearances. He has five saves in the last 8 games....Senior RHP Jarrott Hooks is 6-0 this season with 4 saves....Junior RHP Spencer Jordan (8-3) has 81 strikeouts in 79.2 innings...Since the beginning of 2009, FMU is 127-3 when leading after six innings....FMU was 33-4 last year when scoring first, and 28-3 this season.
	Georgia College (29-19, 19-10) -- The Bobcats finished the week 2-1, dropping their only game Sunday afternoon against No. 5 Armstrong, 8-7 ... GC started off the series against Armstrong with an offensive barrage scoring 19 unanswered runs for the 19-2 victory Saturday evening ... Lost in the offense was a gem by lefty starter Mike Guinane ... The junior (3-6) recorded his second complete game of the year, fanning 11 and allowing just two runs on six hits ... Five Bobcat batters recorded three hits each, as the 5-6-7 starters in the order went a combined 12-for-17 with five RBI and 10 runs ... Catcher Benton Yaun was 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs, while first baseman Clay Ardeeser mimicked the hitting numbers, adding three runs and an RBI ... Rightfielder Bryce Williams continued a torrid pace with a 3-for-3 day, including three runs and an RBI triple ... Senior Matt Kaplan went eight strong innings in game two of GC's doubleheader Sunday to give them the 5-2 victory after an 8-7 loss ... Kaplan went eight innings surrendering just a pair of runs on five hits while striking out six to pick up his first victory of the season ... The Bobcats now await their seeding and matchup for this weekend's PBC Tournament in Columbus, Ga.
	Georgia Southwestern (13-34, 9-20) -- The Hurricanes went 1-1 last week after splitting a two-game weekend series with Carson-Newman to wrap up the 2012 season…GSW hitters combined for a .314 batting average over the week with two doubles. Michel Coffey led Hurricane batters with a .556 batting average (5-for-9) and a .667 slugging percentage. Les Cromer went 3-for-7 in the series with two walks to hit .429 and post a .556 on-base percentage…GSW hurlers finished the week with a 2.50 ERA. Carson-Newman hit .194 against the ‘Canes…Matt Weaver earned a win in his start after tossing 6 1/3 innings in the series opener. He struck out six. Tyler Daniel threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief and struck out four in his lone appearance…Despite early-season struggles, Southwestern ended the 2012 campaign winning four of its last seven games and the pitching staff had some NCAA-era season-bests, including: most strikeouts per nine innings (6.96), most strikeouts looking (113) and fewest home runs allowed (12)…The Hurricane family wishes all the best to seniors Weaver, Daniel, Trent Franzago, Gray Carden, Cameron Blinn, Beau Parker and Andrew Archer and thanks each of them for their dedication and contributions to the program.
	Lander (34-16, 18-12) -- Lander set a school-record for wins in a season on Monday when it defeated North Georgia, 16-10, for the 34th win of the year. Three teams -- 1991, 2001 and 2004 -- are tied at 33 victories. The 18 PBC victories ties the 1999 and 2001 teams with the most league wins in a season. Also on Monday, Lander re-entered the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper national rankings at No. 30. In its only games played last week, the Bearcats swept North Georgia on the road, 10-5, 17-0, and 16-10. The 17-run win in Game 2 was the biggest win margin and most runs scored by the Bearcats this season. The series sweep was the third PBC sweep this season with Columbus State and Georgia Southwestern being the other two. During the week, Colby Painter batted .600 (9-15) with two homers, two doubles and three RBI, while Jordan Owens batted .538 (7-13) with three homers, two doubles and six RBI. On the mound, last week's PBC Pitcher of the Week Chris Thomas posted the Bearcats’ biggest win when he tossed a two-hit, complete-game shutout (17-0) with 10 strikeouts and two walks.
	Montevallo (24-25, 16-14) -- The Falcons closed out the regular season with a three-game series on the road at fourth-ranked Tusculum. The Falcons came away with one victory and a pair of close losses. UM was led by junior Andrew Hill who hit .600 on the week with three runs scored and an RBI. Senior Heath Peterson led the Falcons with five RBI as he went 2-for-11 with a pair of homeruns. Sophomore Will Fulmer was 5-for-14 with a pair of doubles, three RBI and four runs scored. Fulmer continues to lead the Falcons on the year with a .368 batting average and 16 doubles. Peterson is second in batting average with a .345 and leads the team in RBI with 67 and homeruns with 13. The Falcons will now begin to prepare for the Peach Belt Conference Tournament where they will face USC Aiken in the first round. The Pacers took two out of three from the Falcons during the regular season.
	North Georgia (23-26, 13-17) -- Notes not submitted.
	UNC Pembroke (30-19, 14-15) -- UNCP put the lid on its 2012 campaign with a 2-1 victory over Wingate on Wednesday ... The win secured the eighth-straight 30-win season for the Braves ... All-American closer Braxton Lewis matched a school record with his 11th save of the season against the Bulldogs ... Preseason all-American selection Josh Haley notched the 99th and 100th stolen bases of his career by swiping both second and third base in the third inning ... The game marked the final game for 11 seniors as well ... The Braves will return just three position starters in 2012 ... Skipper Paul O'Neil is now 377-264-1 in 12 seasons at the helm of the Braves, including a 131-195 record against league competition.
	USC Aiken (33-16, 18-12) -- The nationally 12th-ranked University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team picked up two impressive wins over then 14th-ranked and currently 19th-ranked Catawba last week at Roberto Hernandez Stadium … USC Aiken claimed a 9-5 win in the first game on Friday, April 27 … One day later on Saturday, April 28, USC Aiken acquired a 6-5 victory … The Pacers, who were tabbed sixth in the inaugural NCAA Division II Southeast Region rankings of 2012, moved up five spots to 12th nationally after the two-game sweep of Catawba … USC Aiken head baseball coach Kenny Thomas announced the addition of Winston-Salem State to the Pacer baseball schedule on Monday, April 30 … USC Aiken will now close out its 2012 regular season with a 7 p.m. game against the Winston-Salem State Rams on Friday, May 4 … Winston-Salem State comes to Aiken with a 34-17 overall record … The Rams will play in the NCAA Division II Tournament after earning their second consecutive CIAA Tournament Championship earlier this month … USC Aiken welcomes Winston-Salem State owning a 33-16 overall record … Winners of their last three, USC Aiken after facing the Rams will participate in the 2012 Peach Belt Conference Baseball Tournament, which will be contested May 9-13 at Golden Park in Columbus, Ga.

Twelfth-year head coach Art Inabinet welcomes back 15 players from last year's 41-16 squad that won the program’s first-ever PBC regular-season championship, equaled the highest win total in the program’s history, earned a bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament (lost in the Southeast Region title game for the second year in a row), and ended the year ranked 9th nationally. The Patriots enter the 2012 campaign ranked first in one NCAA II pre-season poll and second in another. FMU will also open its brand-new Cormell Field at Sparrow Stadium during March. The Patriots return the 2011 Peach Belt Conference Co-Player of the Year in senior centerfielder Buddy Sosnoskie (.396, 10 2Bs, 9 3Bs, 1 HR, 45 RBIs, 9-16 SBs), PBC Pitcher of the Year in junior righty Don Sandifer (11-3, 2.33 ERA), and PBC Freshman of the Year in sophomore third baseman Michael Wilson (.374, 71 runs scored, 7 3Bs, 1 HR, 30 RBIs). Sophomore righty Jeffrey Stoner (9-0, 2.40 ERA), a second-team All-PBC selection in 2011, also returns on the mound. Six position starters return (including the DH) as well as six members of the pitching staff. Top newcomers include right-handed pitcher Gary Ashcraft (a transfer from Southern Union State Community College) and junior infielder Tyler Hibbs (CCBC-Cantonsville). FMU was 22-6 at home last season and is 196-62-1 in its last 259 home games at “The Cliff.” Twenty-one of the 40 Patriot roster members (including redshirts) are South Carolina natives.