College of Charleston
Miami (OH)
Renfro and Gantt Lead Baseball to 6-2 Victory Over Miami (Ohio)
2/19/2011 10:39:00 PM | Baseball
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – Junior LHP Josh Renfro (Bradenton, Fla.) tossed five innings to pick up his first win at the College of Charleston and junior RF Marty Gantt (North Augusta, S.C.) added three hits and a pair of RBIs as the #20-ranked Cougars defeated Miami (OH) University 6-2 at Patriots Point Saturday afternoon in the CofC Invitational.
The RedHawks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the opening frame as leadoff man Ryan Brenner singled to right center and proceeded to steal second and third. A sacrifice fly to deep center by Bryce Redeker scored Brenner and Miami (OH) was on the board.
CofC responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to take the 2-1 lead. Redshirt-junior Rob Kral (Randolph, N.J.) doubled down the left-field line and scored on a RBI triple by Gantt to right center. Redshirt-junior 1B Matt Leeds (Boca Raton, Fla.) continued his torrid RBI pace with a sacrifice fly to left to score Gantt. Leeds also added two more RBIs in the third and another in the seventh to give him 10 RBIs on the season.
Miami (OH) knotted the score at 2-2 with a double steal in the third. After Renfro struck out the first two batters, Jon Edgington singled through the left side and stole second. Redeker followed up with a hard single to third on a hit-and-run to put runners at the corners. As Redeker took off for second, Renfro went to first for the pickoff and Edgington slid in under the tag of redshirt-freshman C Jimmy Holton (West Palm Beach, Fla.) at home.
The Cougars pulled ahead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third and in the seventh to close out the game. A bases-loaded single to center by Leeds plated two for a 4-2 lead. In the seventh inning, senior Jamie Holler (Rock Hill, S.C.) reached on a fielding error to lead off and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Holton. Holler moved over to third on a wild pitch by Miami (OH) reliever Brooks Fiala and after Kral reached on a base on balls, scored on a RBI single to left by Gantt. Leeds followed up with a RBI single to right to wrap up the 6-2 victory.
Renfro fanned six RedHawk batters over the five innings, allowing two runs on four hits. Junior RHP Kyle Owings (Gilbert, S.C.) picked up his first save of the season, tossing the final four innings and scattering two hits with two strikeouts. Kral added two hits on the afternoon and scored three times. Shawn Marquart took the loss for Miami (OH), allowing four runs on six hits in five innings.
The Cougars wrap up the CofC Invitational with a 3:00 p.m. contest against Marshall University Sunday afternoon. The first 75 fans through the gate will receive a College of Charleston 2011 baseball schedule t-shirt.
