College of Charleston
Davidson
Davidson Hands Baseball 8-3 Defeat
3/12/2011 11:22:00 PM | Baseball
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Davidson College used a three-run fifth inning to pull away from #21 College of Charleston and hand the Cougars an 8-3 loss in Southern Conference action Saturday afternoon at Wilson Field. Charleston falls to 13-3 on the season and sees its conference mark even up at 1-1. Davidson improves to 7-8, 2-2 in the SoCon.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Seth Freeman led off with a double to left and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Freeman would later score during a 6-4-3 double play. Charleston knotted the score at 1-1 in the top of the second on a solo home run down the right-field line by redshirt-freshman Daniel Aldrich (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.).
Davidson scored single runs in the third and fourth to take a 3-1 lead before pulling away with the three run effort in the fifth. RBI singles by Forrest Brandt and James Cerbie provided the solo runs, while a RBI single to left by Freeman and a two-run single by Andrew Barna gave the Wildcats a 6-1 lead after five innings.
The Cougars' offense sprang to life in the sixth, scoring a pair of runs to cut the deficit to 6-3. Back-to-back singles by junior RF Marty Gantt (N. Augusta, S.C.) and senior CF Cole Rakar (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) put runners at second and third after a throwing error by the Davidson shortstop advanced Rakar to second. Redshirt-junior 3B Matt Leeds (Boca Raton, Fla.) roped a two-run single to right, raising his team-high RBI total to 31 on the season.
Davidson pushed across a run in the sixth and the eighth to stifle the Cougars' rally attempt and seal its first win over the College since May 18, 2007, a span of 10 straight wins for the Cougars.
Senior RHP Josh Salay (Rock Hill, S.C.) took the loss for the Cougars, allowing three runs on four hits in 3-1/3 innings with two strikeouts and three walks. Charleston managed only six hits in the loss and committed three errors in the field. Davidson starter Ian Horkley picked up his second win of the season, scattering five hits in 5-1/3 innings. The right-hander struck out five and allowed three runs and walked one.
The Cougars and Davidson return to Wilson Field for the rubber match of the series Friday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
