SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Towson University baseball team mounted a furious comeback in the ninth inning to tie the game before falling to the Wofford Terriers in the home half on a walk-off wild pitch 12-11 Friday evening at Russell C. King Field in Spartanburg, S.C.
Wofford (1-0, 0-0 SoCon) got off to a quick start in the first, posting four runs on three hits. Towson (0-1, 0-0 CAA) cut the deficit in half in the second on a pair of RBI doubles. Heckelman's home run in the third cut the deficit to one. The Tigers took an 8-5 lead on a couple of singles in the fifth before the Terriers cut the lead to one in the home half. Wofford tied the game on a fielder's choice. A home run and balk in the eighth gave the Terriers an 11-8 lead headed to the ninth. Dickerson and Heckelman doubles followed by a single up the middle from
Jordan Peyton tied the game heading to the home half. With a runner on second, a sacrifice bunt moved him to third before a wild pitch allowed the run to score for a 12-11 Terrier win.
Key Stats:
- The Tigers outhit the Terriers 16 to 13, with six Tigers collecting multi-hit games.
- Luis Rivera took the loss in 0.1 innings of relief, allowing one earned run on one hit through two batters.
- Morgan Lunceford recorded the win for the Terriers in 4.2 IP, allowing three runs on six hits with three strikeouts and two walks.
How it Happened:
- Wofford got out to a 1-0 lead on a triple and single to start the first. Following two hit batters, three more scored on a Tyler Hare single to right field.
- In the top of the second, The Tigers cut the deficit in half on back-to-back doubles by Jordan Peyton and Jack Lawrence with a runner on second.
- In the home half, Dixon Black's single with a runner on second made it a 5-2 game.
- In the third, Brian Heckelman hit a two-run homer to left to cut the deficit to one.
- With the bases loaded in the fifth, Dickerson scored on a wild pitch to tie it up, advancing both the runners on. Peyton's single up the middle gave the Tigers a 7-5 lead. Ryan Williamson's single to short scored Peyton to make it an 8-5 game.
- In the bottom half, a double to right center cut the lead to two. The Terriers got one more across in the fifth to make it an 8-7 game.
- With the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, a double play groundout tied the game at eight.
- In the eight, the Terriers knocked home two on a home run before a balk scored another later in the inning.
- Towson tied the game in the ninth, starting with a Wagner single and Dickerson double to score the first. Heckelman's double to center two batters later made it a one-run game. Peyton knocked in the tying run two batters later to send it to the bottom of the ninth.
- With a runner on second, a sacrifice bunt pushed him to third before scoring on a wild pitch to walk it off.
Inside the Numbers:
- Peyton had a career day at the plate with a career high four RBI on three hits. His three hits tied his career-high mark with three games from last season and one from 2022.
- Heckelman picked up his second three-hit game of his career (3/8/23 against GW). The sophomore catcher also picked up three RBI, which is tied with three games from last season for his career high.
- Dickerson batted 3-for-5 with one RBI and 2 runs scored with two doubles and a single. His first multi-hit game last season came in the Tigers' eighth contest.
On Deck:
The Tigers return to Russell C. King Field tomorrow to face the Bucknell Bison at noon.
-TowsonTigers.com-