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How SWEEP it Is!! — The Niners completed a 4 -game sweep over FAU at the Hayes this past weekend. It was a very exciting series that went back and forth, and the Niners coming away with four straight wins. Three of the wins were 1-run games and the two Saturday games both featured 49er walk-offs.
It was the first 49er C-USA sweep since sweeping Marshall in three games at the Hayes in May of 2018.
Walk It Off- What a Saturday of baseball at the Hayes this weekend!! In the first game the Niners jumped out to a 7-1 lead, only to see FAU jump back and take an 8-7 lead into the bottom of the 6th. Todd Elwood got the Niners going with a single and then advanced to 2nd on a passed ball. Carson Johnson drove in Elwood to tie the game at 8-8. After exchanging zeros and going to extras, Carson Johnson once again stepped up with the winning run, Jack Dragum, in scoring position. Johnson comes through, driving a ball deep over the center fielder’s head to score Dragum easily, the Niners celebrate for the first time on Saturday, as Carson’s teammates bombarded him at second base. Here’s a look at our view of the play.
In game 2, the Niners trailed 4-3 in the 6th when Todd Elwood drove in Hunter Baker to tied everything up at 4. No extras were needed in this one as the Niners won it in the 7th. Will Butcher got it going with a 2-out walk. Dominic Pilolli then pinch ran for Butch and stole second base to put him in scoring position. Dragum followed with a walk and the Craig Keuchel laced a shot down the left field line to score Pilolli easily. The Niner celebrate again on the field as Craig was attacked by his teammates. Here’s a link to our view.
Players on the way back – The Niners are starting to get some players back after several have missed time recently. Todd Elwood and Carson Johnson returned full time to the line-up this weekend, while we saw Dominic Pilolli and David McCabe easing back in to the line-up. Both came off the bench to contribute this past weekend as pinch hitters and pinch runners.
Top Performers
- Carson Johnson – 9 for 15, 7 RBI, 6 Runs, HR, Double- Was named one of the National Players of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper
- Austin Knight– 6 for 17, 2 Doubles, 2 HR, 6 RBI; Leads NCAA in Doubles, Top 10 in RBI.
- Todd Elwood – 6 for 8, 6 Runs, 2 SBs, 4 RBI
- Gino Groover -1st career walk, 5 Hits
- Bryce McGowan– 6.0 IP, 4 K, W
- Andrew Lindsey– 4.2 IP in relief, 7 Ks, 3 ER
- Jackson Boss– 3 Innings of no-hit ball for the Save on Friday, 4 Ks
- Spencer Giesting – 3.2 IP in relief, 0 H, 0 R, 6 Ks
Tracking the Enemy
Here’s a look at how Charlotte’s (18-9, 28 RPI) Non-Conference opponents fared this past week:
This Week in C-USA
C-USA presently sits at 7 in the RPI ratings, just behind the AAC for 6th, and just ahead of the Missouri Valley in 8th. The overall out of conference record is 122-95
Up Next
The Niners jump back on the road this weekend for their first plane ride of the season as they head down to Miami to take on FIU. FIU is coming in at 12-15 overall and 4-4 in C-USA. They took 3 of 4 from WKU last week and lost 3 of 4 to ODU the week prior. The Panthers traveled to Miami this week and lost 8-3 to the Hurricanes.
The four game series begins Friday at 7:00, continues with a double-header (7 innings) on Saturday starting at 2:30, and concludes with a 12:00 start on Sunday. The games Friday and Sunday will be televised on CUSA-TV. All games of the series will be on the radio via CUSA-TV.
For a ‘bird’s eye view’ of the match-up this weekend, let’s take a look at where these teams sit in these Conference USA stats:
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