College of Charleston
Jacksonville
Leeds? 5-RBI Night Lifts Cougars Past Jacksonville 8-4
3/17/2011 12:29:00 AM | Baseball
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – Redshirt-junior 3B Matt Leeds (Boca Raton, Fla.) had two home runs and five RBIs, including a three-run home run in the second inning and senior RHP Robert Jeroszko (Greenville, S.C.) struck out a career-high nine batters over eight innings as #20 College of Charleston defeated visiting Jacksonville University 8-4 Wednesday evening at Patriots Point. The Cougars improve to 15-3 on the season and will host the Cougar Invitational this weekend with Southern Mississippi, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Charleston posted five runs in the bottom of the second and never looked back. Redshirt-freshman DH Daniel Aldrich (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) led off the frame with a walk and after a fly out to center, redshirt-junior 1B Ross Hanna (Greer, S.C.) picked up another base on balls to put runners at first and second. Senior SS Jamie Holler (Rock Hill, S.C.) reached on a fielding error by the third baseman that moved Hanna to second and allowed Aldrich to score for a 1-0 lead. After junior RF Marty Gantt (N. Augusta, S.C.) was hit by a pitch, senior CF Cole Rakar (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) knocked a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Hanna. Leeds followed with a blast to left field on a 3-1 pitch that cleared the bases for a 5-0 Charleston lead.
Jacksonville plated a run in the top of the third on a RBI single by Jonathan Murphy and cut the Cougars' lead to 5-2 in the fourth when Adam Brett Walker scored from third on a wild pitch by Jeroszko.
The Cougars got the two runs back in the bottom of the fourth on Leeds' second round-tripper of the game and his eighth of the season. Gantt drew a full-count walk and with two outs, Leeds deposited a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left for his 39th and 40th RBIs of the season and a 7-2 Charleston lead. CofC plated a single run in the fifth on a solo shot to right center by Aldrich, his seventh of the season, to lead off the frame.
The Dolphins tallied a pair of runs in the top of the eighth, scoring on a wild pitch and a throwing error after a dropped third strike.
Jeroszko had another solid outing for the Cougars, improving to 2-1 on the season. The right-hander scattered six hits over eight innings and allowed four runs, three earned, with no walks. Tony Mollica took the loss for Jacksonville, allowing five runs, only one earned, in 1-2/3 innings. The southpaw surrendered one hit and walked four with one strikeout.
The Cougars return to action Friday evening as they host the Cougar Invitational at Patriots Point. Charleston faces Southern Mississippi in the 5:00 p.m. game, while Connecticut and Rhode Island take the field at 1:00 p.m.
