Presbyterian College, which for a day (April 5) was atop the Big South standings, lost the first two of a three-game baseball series in Radford, Va.

The Blue Hose have dropped four games in a row.
Entering Saturday’s games, PC now trails High Point (27-12, 11-3) by three games and USC Upstate (20-19, 8-4) by one.

Two eighth-inning runs were the deciding factor in Radford’s 3-2 victory over Presbyterian on Thursday in the first game at the Highlanders’ Sherman Carter Memorial Stadium.

Radford (broke on top with a run in the bottom of the second inning.

Breckin Nace, Eli Hudgins and Tyler Sparrer each had two hits for Radford.

For PC, Trey Fenderson went 2/5. Ryan Ouzts tied the game in the sixth with an RBI double, and Amman Dewberry homered in the eighth, pulling the Blue Hose (16-20, 8-5) to within a run. Rhogue Wallace swiped three bases.

Tyrell Williams started and pitched 6-1/3 innings, allowing only a run, but the loss went to Sean Hollister (4-3).

Drew Stanley (3-3) was the winner in relief. Starter Nace held PC to a run in seven innings, leaving with the score tied.

Friday evening provided quite the contrast as a three-run homer by Radford’s James Ward gave the Highlanders (19-19, 7-7) at 15-12 victory.

This after PC (16-21, 8-6) erased a seven-run deficit to tie the game in the top of the ninth inning.

Center fielder Rhogue Wallace went 4/5, with a double and a homer, three runs scored and three driven in.

The teams combined for 27 runs, 32 hits and three errors, all by the Blue Hose.

Presbyterian erupted for six runs in the sixth inning. Brody Linker singled in a run, Wallace followed with an RBI double and Aaron Hobson drove in a run with a pinch single. Amman Dewberry tripled to right and scored on a Jack Randolph sacrifice fly.

Wallace’s fourth hit tied it in the top of the ninth.

Radford’s Ward was 4/6 with five RBI and four runs scored. Tyler Sparrer was 4/4 with four RBI.

Eleven pitchers served time on the mound, and only two of them failed to allow a run. Trey Ludy (2-2) closed out for the Highlanders. Jacob Fields (2-1), likewise, took the loss.

It was Radford’s fifth straight victory.

Laurens High played baseball games on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and the Raiders finally ran out of gas, losing the third, 11-2, at Hillcrest.

First baseman Logan Martin collected two of the Raiders’ four hits and drove in a run, but the Rams (11-9) pulled ahead quickly with two runs in the second inning, three in the third and five in the fourth.

DH Garrett Shipman went 2/4 with a double for Hillcrest. Left fielder Carver Youngblood was 2/2, scoring three runs.

Hayden Thurston was the winning pitcher in relief of Austin Hester. Elijah Doll and Harrison Ward also worked shifts on the hill.

Five – Noah Hughes (L), Ryland Paxton, Connor Rice, Coleman Coker and Hunter Richardson – pitched for Laurens (11-9).

Tristan Buzbee stole three bases for the Raiders.

Longwood is the top seed in the Big South Men’s Golf Championship, which opens on Sunday at Ocean Creek Golf Course on Fripp Island.

Presbyterian is the eighth seed behind, in order, Longwood, High Point, Winthrop, USC Upstate, Gardner-Webb, Radford and Charleston Southern.

High Point’s Anna Howerton is Big South Women’s Golfer of the Year, and teammate Anais Arafi is Freshman of the Year.

The only PC honors representative is Taylor Reaves, who made the academic team.

The PC women’s tennis team (6-17, 2-3) concluded its season with a 4-0 setback to Charleston Southern (16-4, 5-0) on Friday afternoon in the semifinals of the Big South Championship at Lexington County Tennis Complex.
The Buccaneers secured the doubles point with wins at the top two positions, then added singles victories at the numbers six, four, and one spots to clinch the match.

I just heard about a lake in Anderson County being “refurbirated.” It’ll probably be in dictionary in six months. All week long, a local meteorologist has been calling the weather “seasonable.”

Against all odds, I’m reading a book about soccer, or as it is referred to in The Miracle of Castel di Sangro, il calcio. It is a non-fiction adventure of sorts written by the distinguished American author Joe McGinniss (Fatal Vision, among others) in 1999.

As I have said many times, I like soccer. I just like other sports better. I get great enjoyment out of the World Cup. I have no idea how I acquired this book. During the NASCAR years, I often pored over discount tables at book stores and now have many books I’ve never read.

So this is one. It has sufficiently inspired me that I now have a Premier League match on TV.

What can I do to get you to sample my fiction? How about a cheap sample of short stories, Longer Songs? The stories all originated in songs I’ve written. It’s been a few years since I published it. Not too long ago, I read it – before that, I merely wrote it – and, amazingly, I still thought it was pretty good. Then again, most people don’t write crap on purpose.

Almost all my books are available on Amazon. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is about a group of people who get themselves unwittingly entangled in a dangerous conspiracy of politicians, businessmen (I didn’t write business persons because the ones in the novel are all men), law-enforcement personnel and the intelligence community.

Two of my novels, Lightning in a Bottle and Cowboys Come Home, are available in audio versions.