N. CHARLESTON, S.C. – Redshirt-junior 3B Matt Leeds (Boca Raton, Fla.) hit a career-high three home runs and added six RBIs as the College of Charleston held on for a 10-9 win over Charleston Southern Tuesday afternoon at CSU Ballpark. Leeds homered in the first, third and eighth innings to give him 11 on the season, while his six RBIs on the afternoon tied a career-high and give him 51 to lead the country. The Cougars improve to 22-11 overall, while CSU falls to 19-17 on the season. The two teams meet tomorrow evening at Patriots Point with a 6:00 p.m. first pitch.
The Cougars jumped to an early 3-0 lead in the opening frame as senior CF Cole Rakar (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) singled to left center and advanced to second on a fielding error by CSU LF Matt Still. Redshirt-junior DH Rob Kral (Randolph, N.J.) followed up with a RBI double to left center that plated Rakar and Leeds deposited a 2-2 pitch over the wall in right center for his first round-tripper of the game and a three-run advantage.
Charleston extended the lead to 8-0 with five runs in the third, chasing CSU starter Tyler Vick to the bench. Junior 1B Marty Gantt (N. Augusta, S.C.) led off the inning with a four-pitch walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Rakar. Kral drew a base on balls and Gantt and Kral moved to scoring position after a passed ball by CSU C Blake Hunt. Leeds connected on a 2-1 pitch from Vick for his second home run of the afternoon and 10th of the season for a 6-0 lead. After a walk to redshirt-freshman LF Daniel Aldrich (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) by Vick, CSU pulled the starter for RHP Anthony Markham, who had his second pitch hit over the fence in left by redshirt-junior LF Jose Rodriguez (Hialeah, Fla.) for a two-run homer, his seventh of the year.
Charleston Southern cut the Cougars' lead to 8-3 in the bottom of the third on a RBI fielder's choice by Nick Chinners and a two-run homer to left center by Derek Smith. After a RBI single by Rodriguez scored Kral from second in the top of the sixth, the Bucs plated three more runs in the bottom of the frame to make the score 9-6. A single by Jaren Sustar put a runner on base for Walt Quattlebaum, who homered to left center, while a RBI double by Brantley Meier scored the other CSU run.
Leeds capped his career day with his third home run of the game, a solo shot to straightaway center field in the eighth to give the Cougars a 10-6 lead. However, CSU would not go away quietly, scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth off junior reliever Kyle Owings (Gilbert, S.C.) to make things interesting. A fielding error by junior 2B Rob Harding (Columbia, S.C.), a walk and a hit by pitch loaded the bases with one out and Sustar lined a RBI single to left, cutting the margin to 10-7. A RBI single to left by Quattlebaum made the score 10-8 and a wild pitch by Owings brought home another run before getting a fielder's choice and a fly out to end the game.
Senior RHP Casey Lucchese (Lexington, Ky.) had a solid outing in his first start since his sophomore season. Lucchese scattered five runs and allowed three runs in four innings. Sophomore RHP Matt Pegler (Greenville, S.C.) earned the win for the Cougars, tossing two innings, allowing three runs on five hits, while Owings picked up his seventh save.
Rodriguez joined Leeds with three hits for the Cougars, who were out-hit 12-9 by CSU. Gantt tied a career-high with four walks and Kral collected three free passes, giving him 41 on the season.
