SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Though ETSU jumped out to a 10-0 lead midway through the third inning Sunday afternoon, the Wofford baseball team displayed unparalleled grit to battle back and ultimately claim an 18-14 triumph on Senior Day at Russell C. King Field. The dramatic contest was aided by a nine-run fourth inning featuring two homers by Marshall Toole with the game capped by senior Dixon Black's walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 10^th inning. Wofford improves to 33-16 (10-7 SoCon) with the result as ETSU drops to 32-17 (13-8 SoCon).
 
"That's just a testament to all of our guys staying in the game no matter what's going on," said Marshall Toole of the comeback victory. "I think everybody went up to the plate with the same mindset, whether it was an even 0-0 ballgame or a 10-0 ballgame."
 
The victory is Wofford's third extra-innings triumph of the campaign. The 10-run comeback is the largest by the Terriers this season. This is Wofford's fifth total walk-off win of the season and the third non-run-rule walk-off. Dixon Black's walk-off grand slam marks the first walk-off homer by a Terrier since Black himself launched a two-run game-ending big fly against Samford on April 22, 2023, also in the 10^th inning.
 
This afternoon's game was Senior Day for Wofford. The 11 senior Terriers were honored pregame and capped their careers at Russell C. King Field with one final victory. The seniors honored prior to first pitch were Dixon Black, Andrew Calhoun, Mike Eggert, Gunnar Johnson, Dom Marcoccio, Brice Martinez, Jack Renwick, Devon Sharts, Sam Stratton, Aaron Thomas and Holden Wilder.
 
"It's awesome," said Renwick of capping Senior Day with a walk-off win in extra innings. "To go out here and get a win like this in extras with a walk-off, it's really special. It's everything you could ask for."
 
"I am just so proud of that group," added head coach J.J. Edwards of his senior class getting a win on Senior Day. "Of that group, there's a lot of guys who have been here for four (years), some great additions that transferred into our program, but to be honest I was just so happy. That is an example of how hard those guys played for four years and never quitting, never taking a day for granted. And I'm just happy that on Senior Day, they put that product out there so that everybody got a chance to see how hard those guys played for four years in one tiny sample."
 
Champ Davis (2-0) picked up the win as the final of four Terriers to take the mound. Davis hurled a scoreless 10^th inning, allowing one hit and one walk and working out of a bases-loaded jam by inducing a double play ball to keep the contest tied. Alec Bouchard started, pitching 2.0 innings with six runs allowed. Kenny Michaels hurled one of his best outings, tossing 6.2 innings with four runs allowed on seven hits. He walked three but struck out a career-high eight batters.
 
"That just gets everybody fired up, and then going out there and striking out two – that just builds momentum for the rest of the game," said Michaels of his outing after getting a nine-run inning to take the lead.  
 
Owen Kovacs (2-1) was tagged with the loss for ETSU after pitching the final 6.1 innings for the Buccaneers. He surrendered 12 runs (six earned) on 12 hits and four walks.
 
Wofford recorded 21 hits in the contest, the most base knocks for the Terriers since tallying 22 at Charleston Southern on April 2 earlier this season. All nine batters in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit, and seven of the nine picked up at least one RBI. Eight of the nine scored at least once.
 
Marshall Toole paced the offense with four hits and six RBI. Both marks match his career highs, and the hits serve as his third-career four-hit affair. All four of his hits went for extra bases with two doubles and a pair of homers. Those two long balls mark his first-career multi-homer game and the fifth by a Terrier this season. Both big flies came in the same frame – the nine-run fourth. He is just the fourth Terrier ever with two home runs in the same inning and the first since Adam Kearney on Feb. 23, 2008, against St. Peters. He is the first of those four to do so against a Southern Conference opponent. Toole added a walk to reach base five total times in the game.
 
Tyler Hare joined Toole with four hits, matching his career high as well. Hare added an RBI with one hit being a double, and he also drew a walk to reach five times. Dixon Black recorded three hits with four RBI, all four of which came on his clutch walk-off grand slam. He added a double as well.
 
Jack Renwick notched three hits with a double and one RBI. Brice Martinez and Daniel Jackson each added two hits, driving home two runs and one run, respectively. Martinez notched a double, as did David Wiley for his lone hit, and he added an RBI. Despite recording just one hit, Lucas Manning reached base four times with two walks and a hit by pitch.
 
ETSU opened the game in the driver's seat, plating three runs in each of the first two innings. The Bucs then added four more in the third to lead 10-0 just two-and-a-half innings into the contest.
 
But the Terriers remained steadfast and began to chip away. After the first two batters reached base, Brice Martinez singled back up the middle to plate Marshall Toole for Wofford's first run. Back-to-back singles set the stage for David Wiley with the bases loaded, and he lifted a sacrifice fly to make the score 10-2.
 
Kenny Michaels forced the first zero on the board for ETSU in the top of the fourth, setting up his offense to continue a comeback quest, of which they did and then some. Jack Renwick was hit with a pitch to begin the inning, and Marshall Toole then connected on a pitch that he launched into the trees beyond the left field fence for a two-run blast. Later in the frame, Daniel Jackson lifted a sacrifice fly to score Dixon Black from third. Lucas Manning drew a two-out walk later in the frame to load the bases. An error by the Buccaneer third baseman allowed the inning to continue with two more runs racing home. Renwick, in his second plate appearance of the inning, singled to right to bring in another run. With two on, two out and the Terriers down two, Toole again blasted a big fly, this time for three runs, to straightaway centerfield. The no-doubt clout flipped the score and pushed the Terriers ahead 11-10.
 
For the first time all day, pitching settled in for both teams as each club went down in order in the fifth before again more zeroes in the sixth.
 
Michaels forced a third-straight ETSU zero in the top of the seventh before receiving some insurance runs in the bottom of the inning. Black doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch, where Martinez lifted the third sacrifice fly of the day for the Terriers to score his fellow senior. Jackson then recorded an infield single and moved over to third when a pick-off throw to first was off target. From there, Tyler Hare singled him home, making the score 13-10.
 
But the pendulum would continue to swing, this time back in the favor of ETSU. A lead-off solo homer was eventually followed by a single. Another single placed two runners on, and a three-run home run pushed the Bucs back in front, 14-13.
 
Ever resilient, the Terriers were not deterred. With Renwick on third after doubling earlier in the inning, Toole again came through by going the other way, lacing a double of his own down the left field line. Renwick scurried home to tie the contest once more, this time at 14-all.
 
Michaels was back out for another inning of work in the ninth, recording a strikeout and groundout to kick off the frame. After intentionally walking the top Buccaneer slugger, a batter was hit by a pitch to put two on. But Michaels clamped down, striking out the following batter to give his bats a chance.
 
But a scoreless Terrier ninth forced extra innings, and Champ Davis emerged from the bullpen looking to keep the contest tied. After a groundout, a single, error and walk loaded the bases for the Bucs. But Davis held firm, inducing a grounder to Martinez who scooped it up, tagged second and fired a rocket to first for the double play, keeping the contest square at 14-14.
 
Looking for a walk-off, the Terriers opened things with a single by Manning. Haber put down a sacrifice bunt to move the potential winning run to second. Renwick laced a single to the shortstop that was scooped on a dive, preventing Manning from scoring. Toole worked a walk, loading the bases for the senior, Dixon Black. He wasted no time in giving the Terriers a win, blasting the first pitch he saw over the right field fence. The no-doubt walk-off grand slam sealed the comeback 18-14 triumph for Wofford, who claims the series 2-1 over ETSU.
 
"Honestly, credit to all of the guys in front of me," said Black of his walk-off. "Credit to Champ [Davis] for keeping us there, and credit to Brice [Martinez] with the big play in the top of the inning. I was just fortunate enough that it got to me, and I was able to do something with the opportunity."
 
Wofford hits the road for its final three regular season games this weekend, traveling to Birmingham, Ala., to face Samford. Game one of the three-game series is set for 5:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 16. Games two and three will follow on Friday and Saturday, respectively.