College of Charleston
UNC Greensboro
Kral?s Career Day Gives Baseball a 14-10 win over UNC Greensboro
3/20/2010 2:00:00 AM | Baseball
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Junior DH Rob Kral (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) had a career day at the plate, hitting three home runs with five RBI and junior LF Jose Rodriguez (Hialeah, Fla./Broward College) added a pair of round-trippers as College of Charleston pounded 18 hits in a 14-10 victory over UNC Greensboro Friday night in Southern Conference action. The Cougars improve to 15-5 on the season, 2-2 in SoCon play, while UNCG falls to 11-6, 0-1 in the conference.
Kral's three home run output ties the program's record for home runs in a game with current head coach Monte Lee (1999), Lee Curtis (2002), Michael Harrington (2008) and fellow Cougar junior CF Cole Rakar (Mt. Pleasant, S.C./Wando).
Rodriguez put the Cougars on the board in the top of the second with a solo home run to left, his fifth round-tripper of the season. Junior SS Jamie Holler (Rock Hill, S.C./USC Sumter JC) brought home another run, scoring junior 2B Jesse Mesa (Miramar, Fla./Central Florida JC) on a RBI groundout to short.
Rakar led off the third inning with a walk and Kral followed up with a two-run homer to right center to give CofC a 4-0 lead. Back-to-back singles by sophomore 3B Matt Leeds (Boca Raton, Fla./American Heritage) and Rodriguez gave Charleston runners at the corners and Mesa singled up the middle to score Leeds. The fifth-straight hit of the inning came off the bat of senior 1B Greg Blake (Westerly, R.I./Lake City CC), a RBI double down the right-field line that scored Rodriguez. Mesa would give Charleston a 7-0 lead, coming home on a wild pitch by Greg Smith.
UNCG would break through with three runs in the bottom of the third, scoring on a RBI single up the middle by Ray Quinones and a two-run single to center by Harry Slade, cutting the Cougars lead to 7-3.
Charleston dialed in the long ball again in the top of the sixth, scoring three runs on back-to-back home runs by Kral and Leeds, restoring the Cougars' seven-run advantage. But the Spartans mounted a comeback in the bottom half of the frame, tallying five runs to cut the CofC lead to 10-8. A RBI single by Chris Barker was followed by a pair of bases-loaded walks and Lloyd Enzor's two-run single to right as UNCG batted around the order.
The Cougars got a run back in the seventh, plating a run on a fielding error by Quinones, but Charleston offense picked up again in the eighth with three runs on a pair of round-trippers. Kral's third of the game was a solo shot over the scoreboard in right center, while Rodriguez's two-run shot cleared the fence in left center for his second of the game. The Spartans added a pair of late runs in the ninth to complete the scoring.
Freshman RHP Christian Powell (Greenwood, S.C./Greenwood) earned the victory, tossing 5.1 innings and allowing seven runs on nine hits with seven strikeouts to improve to 4-1 on the season. UNCG starter Blake Hassebrock took the loss, giving up six runs on seven hits in two innings.
Charleston and UNCG return to the field for game two of the series Saturday afternoon. First pitch is set for 2:00 p.m.
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