Box Score I Play-by-Play

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Senior right-hander Matt Harris pitched eight strong innings to lead the Eastern Kentucky University baseball team past host Wofford, 8-3, on Friday evening in game one of this weekend’s series at King Field.

The win is EKU’s second straight, and it improves the Colonels’ record to 5-8. The loss drops Wofford to 7-7 on the season.

Harris (1-2) found his groove for the first time this spring as he tossed eight innings, allowing three runs on nine hits while striking out seven batters and walking just one. Sophomore right-hander Brent Cobb retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth to close out the Terriers.

Right-hander Alex Wilson (1-1) picked up the loss for Wofford as he surrendered the decisive two-run home run to sophomore Bryan Soloman in the top of the seventh inning.

Senior Dustin Dunlop led EKU offensively, going 4-for-6 with three runs scored. Senior #A.J. Jamison and junior Austin Grisham# also had big days at the plate, collecting three hits apiece.

Konstantine Diamaduros paced the Wofford offense, batting 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and a pair of runs scored.

The Colonels took an early lead when senior Jacob Daniel scored Dunlop with an RBI single in the top of the first, but the Terriers tied it with a run of their own in the bottom of the fourth.

EKU retook the lead in the top of the fifth as Daniel plated Jamison with an RBI groundout before Grisham singled home Dunlop to make the score 3-1. Wofford, however, matched EKU again in the home half of that inning as the Terriers pushed across a pair of runs to tie the score.

The game remained tied until the top of the seventh, when Soloman crushed a one-out, two-run homer to left center that scored Grisham and gave the Colonels a lead they would not relinquish. It was Soloman’s first home run since EKU’s second game of the season at East Tennessee State.

The Colonels added an insurance run in the top of the eighth and then plated two more in the top of the ninth before turning to Cobb, who continued to his strong start to the season by mowing down the Terriers in order in the bottom of the ninth to secure the win.

EKU and Wofford face off in game two of this weekend’s series tomorrow at 3:00 p.m.