Spartanburg, S.C. (March 10, 2007)-- Brandon Waring drove in eight runs and Michael Gilmartin earned a pair of saves as Wofford swept Manhattan in a baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Russell C. King Field.
Waring hit a pair of home runs and a triple and drove in six runs in the opener. He had a solo homer and an RBI single in the nightcap.
In the opener, the Terriers took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first on Waring's three-run homer. The Jaspers cut the lead to 3-2 in the second on three walks, an infield single and an infield error.
The Terriers went up 5-2 in the third on an RBI triple by Waring and a run-scoring single by John Brandt. Manhattan added two runs in the third to pull within one on an RBI double by Ruben Perez and a run-scoring single by Rene Ruiz.
The Jaspers took a 6-5 lead in the top of the fourth when Eric Nieto led off the frame with a solo homer and Marc Giordano singled to score Kevin Nieto.
The Terriers won the game with three runs in the fifth. Gilmartin reached second when Manhattan's rightfielder dropped a fly ball. Shane Kirkley doubled to score Gilmartin and Waring then drove in Kirkley with a home run to left center.
Lance Player earned the win with 2.1 innings of scoreless relief. Gilmartin pitched the last inning and one-third and did not allow a base runner to earn his third save of the year.
In the nightcap, the Terriers overcame an early 2-0 deficit. Manhattan pieced together five hits in the top of the first, scoring one run on a wild pitch and another on a double by Matt Rizzotti. Wofford countered with two in the bottom of the first as Kirkley drove in one run with an infield ground out and Kyle Behrendt knocked in another with a fielder's choice.
The Terriers added a solo run in the third when Adam Kearney walked and scored on a single by Gilmartin. Waring gave the Terriers to a 4-2 lead with a solo homer in the third and John Brandt drove in another run with an RBI double.
Wofford extended its lead to 7-2 with a pair of runs in the fourth. Sterling Dye and Gilmartin opened the inning with singles. Kirkley knocked in a run with an infield single and Waring followed with another single.
The Jaspers pulled within 7-4 in the sixth on a two-run homer by Rizzotti. Gilmartin entered the game with a runner on first and nobody out and induced Giordano to hit into a double play before retiring Kevin Nieto on an infield pop out.
The Jaspers made it interesting in the seventh. With Nunzio Franzese on first, Ruiz doubled and Eric Nieto followed with an ground ball in the infield that was ruled an error that drove in Franzese to make the scored 7-5. Mike Garcia followed with a single to score Ruiz and make it a one-run game. But Gilmartin got Rizzotti to ground into a fielder's choice and Nick Derba took a called third strike to end the game.
Ben Austin became Wofford's first pitcher to win five games, improving to 5-1. He went five innings and scattered seven hits while striking out six and walking two.
Wofford has now won five straight games and is 14-3 on the season. The Jaspers are 1-7.
The two teams will conclude the series with a single game at noon on Sunday at King Field.
