After getting swept by Georgia Southern and falling to Presbyterian, the Davidson Wildcats baseball team responded in a big way sweeping Wofford this past weekend.  

With the first game against Georgia Southern postponed, the ’Cats were forced into a doubleheader on April 6th.  In the first game, Ryan Overcash ’12 pitched eight innings giving up six runs, four of which were earned.  His performance was key for the ’Cats, as they needed to spread their bullpen out over two games.  Jake Berman ‘12 who went 2 for 4 with two RBI led the ’Cats offensively.  With the game tied at 3 in the 6th inning, a couple of errors by the Wildcats gave Georgia Southern a one run lead.  They went on to add another run in the eighth before finishing off the Wildcats with a three-run ninth inning to make the score 8-3.

In the second game, the Wildcats got a great start from Henry Sisson ’12 who went 8 innings yielding only 2 runs.  Drew Gadaire ‘12 paced the ’Cats at the plate going 3 for 4 with an RBI.  Down 2-1 in the 7th, pinch-hitter Ben Arkin ’15 singled to score Gadaire.  The ’Cats scored the go–ahead run on second baseman David Daniels’ ’15 grounder that was misplayed by the third baseman.  Sisson left with a 3-2 lead, but Georgia Southern staged a late rally in the top of the 9th to knock off the Cats 6-3.

Georgia Southern scored for the third time in the top of the ninth inning on April 7th, breaking a 6-6 tie and allowing them to pull out another later victory against the ’Cats, winning 7-6.  The game was tied at 5 in the seventh when Jake Berman singled past the shortstop scoring Forrest Brandt ’14 who went 3 for 5 on the day.  Georgia Southern responded with a solo home run in the top of the eighth to even the scoring back up.  With two outs in the top of the ninth, Georgia Southern’s T.D. Davis stroked an RBI single that eventually won the game 7-6.

Between the Georgia Southern and Wofford series, the Wildcats traveled to Clinton, South Carolina on April 10th to face Presbyterian.  The Wildcats were outslugged by Presbyterian and fell 13-5.  The ’Cats were down early in the second inning 5-2 after a solo shot and a three-run homer in the first and an unearned run in the second.  Davidson narrowed the gap in the top of the third with an RBI double from shortstop Michael Zeblo ‘ 13 followed by an RBI groundout by Daniels.  Presbyterian answered with another run in the bottom of the third to push the margin to 6-4.  Gadaire had an RBI in the top of the sixth to pull the ’Cats within one again.  However, Presbyterian answered with a six run inning, which included a grand slam that blew the game open as they took a 12-5 lead.  They added a final run in the eighth to send the Wildcats to their fourth straight loss.  

Returning home to try and end their losing streak, the Wildcats responded in a historic fashion on Friday. Sisson threw a no-hitter and the ’Cats opened the series against Wofford with a 1-0 victory.  The game was the sixth no-hitter in Davidson history and the first since Wes Self pitched one on February 15, 2001. Michael Zeblo provided all the necessary offense for the ’Cats in the bottom of the fifth.  Sisson allowed only four base runners in the game, three reached on walks and the last on an error.  In the top of the ninth with two outs, Sisson relied on a great defensive play to narrowly preserve the feat.  Second baseman James Cerbie ‘15 made a great defensive stop and fired to first, beating the base runner by a step to solidify the no-hitter.  

Following Sisson’s incredible performance, Overcash threw a complete game Saturday allowing only one earned run on five hits to pace the Wildcats to a 2-1 victory.  Down 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth, designated hitter Ryan Lowe ’15 hit a grounder that went under the shortstop’s glove scoring both Brandt and first baseman Calvin Sigelbaum ’12.  Wofford threatened again in the eighth with first baseman Konstantine Diamaduros hitting a deep drive that Gadaire pulled back from over the fence robbing Diamaduros of a home run.  

Riding the momentum from two stellar pitching performances, the Wildcats offense woke up with a four run fifth inning on Sunday and Davidson completed the series sweep of Wofford.  

Down 2-0 in the fifth, third baseman Andrew Barna ’13 got the Wildcats on the board with a single to left scoring Berman.  Cerbie followed with a double, which scored Gadaire to tie the game.  Zeblo singled scoring Barna for the lead and Daniels doubled down the left field line scoring Cerbie to put the ’Cats ahead 4-2.  Wofford answered with a run in the top of the seventh and Davidson added a run of their own in the bottom half of the frame when catcher Daniel Gerow ’14 drew a bases loaded walk.  Wofford added a run in the eighth to make it 5-4, but could not score in the ninth as Zeblo came in from shortstop to earn his second save of the year.  

After these two series and the game against Presbyterian, the ’Cats record stands at 14-19 and 6-12 in conference play.