Xavier Baseball Homers Five Times in Sunday Win at Charlotte, 7-5

Sunday, March 5

Charlotte, N.C.

1 p.m.

Xavier University

5-6

Charlotte

9-3

Xavier

Charlotte

Xavier Baseball Homers Five Times in Sunday Win at Charlotte, 7-5

03.05.17 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Season Stats (PDF)

Joe Gellenbeck left the yard twice as XU salvaged a win in the series finale

By: Brendan Bergen, Xavier Athletics Communication

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Xavier baseball launched five home runs and collected a season-high 13 hits to salvage a 7-6 win in its weekend finale against Charlotte at Hayes Field on Sunday.

The Musketeers avoided a sweep and improved to 5-6 with the win, moving on to continue a 10-day spring break trip at Georgia on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the midweek matchup.

Charlotte dropped to 9-3 with the loss, snapping a seven-game win streak.

XU AT THE PLATE

• Xavier had a season-high 13 hits, getting the bats going after being held to one run in each of the first two games of the series.
• Joe Gellenbeck homered twice for the third time in his Xavier career, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI.
• Gellenbeck's homers were his first two of the season and give him 15 in his Xavier career.
• Gellenbeck also extended his team-best hitting streak to eight games.
• Gellenbeck's previous two-homer games came against Villanova (5/21/16) and at Illinois State (4/1/16).
• Rylan Bannon (2-for-4, R, RBI), Nate Soria (2-for-2, 2 R, RBI) and Blaine Griffiths (1-for-1, R, 2 RBI) all left the yard as well for XU.
• Griffiths' homer, a two-run pinch hit shot in the eighth, gave the Musketeers the lead for good. It was his first homer of the season and second of his career.
• Bannon's homer was his team-best third of the season and 11th of his Xavier career.
• Soria's homer was his second of the season and eighth of his Xavier career.
• The five home runs were the most by Xavier since the Musketeers connected for six against St. John's on April 23, 2016. XU has hit four or more home runs in a game on five separate occasions since the 2015 season.
• Matt Fallon (2-for-5, R) also produced a multi-hit game in the leadoff spot.
• Conor Grammes (1-for-5), Nate Monastra (1-for-4), Sam Flamini (1-for-3) and Mitch Gallagher (1-for-3) each collected hits as well for XU.
• Gellenbeck and Soria have both reached base in all 11 games this season for XU.

XU ON THE MOUND

• Greg Jacknewitz lasted three innings in his start, allowing five hits and two earned runs while walking three.
• Conor Grammes then came up with two big innings in relief, tossing two scoreless frames while striking out two.
• Matt Kent followed with another scoreless outing, working around two hits in two innings to pick up the win.
• Taylor Williams struck out the first four batters he faced before holding on in the ninth, stranding two after allowing a run and earning his second career save.

HOW XU SCORED

FIRST INNING: Matt Fallon led off with a double to left center and came around to score on a homer down the right field line by Joe Gellenbeck.
SECOND INNING: Nate Soria homered to left to lead off inning.
THIRD INNING: Joe Gellenbeck homered to left center to lead off the inning.
SEVENTH INNING: Rylan Bannon smacked a two out solo shot to left field.
EIGHTH INNING: Nate Soria worked a leadoff walk before back-to-back strikeouts brough pinch hitter Blaine Griffiths to the plate. Griffiths connected on a 2-0 pitch, homering to right to give XU the lead for good.

UP NEXT

• Xavier continues its spring break road trip with a two-game series at Georgia, beginning on Tuesday, March 7 at 6 p.m. ET.