College of Charleston
Indiana
No. 32 @CofCBaseball Outdoes No. 41 Indiana
2/28/2015 12:41:00 AM | Baseball
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – College of Charleston baseball took down Indiana, 4-2, after an absolute gem by starting pitcher Taylor Clarke and homeruns by Blake Butler and Bradley Jones in the first of a three-game series between two teams receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll at Patriots Point on Friday night.
Charleston (5-2) got a quality start out of its starting pitcher for the third time in as many days, with the right-handed Clarke going 8.0 innings in which he scattered five hits and struck out a career-high 11 hitters without allowing a run or a walk.
The Cougars were outhit, 11-5, but found efficiency in their power, with two of their five hits leaving the yard and a Carl Wise double plating two runs early on.
“The name of the game tonight was Taylor Clarke,” said head coach Monte Lee. “He was absolutely dominant. He goes eight innings tonight and gets every leadoff out, which is a huge part of minimizing your damage as a pitching staff. He got eight leadoffs out; he didn't walk a soul; and he punched out 11 against a really good club.
“Offensively, we hit a couple solo shots and we had a big first inning where we capitalize on an error and a walk, and Carl Wise came up and did what Carl Wise does a lot: drive in runs with a big double.”
Clarke (2-0) found himself in trouble at times, but retired the leadoff hitter in all eight of his innings in order to prevent any damage, leading to eight stranded Hoosier baserunners.
The Cougars punished the Indiana defense for two free runners in the first, as Butler reached on a throwing error and Nick Pappas walked to put runners on the corners for Wise, who doubled to the wall in left center to plate both runs. Wise, whose 54 RBIs last year ranked in the top 10 amongst all Division I returning players, now has seven RBIs through seven games in 2015.
After Clarke pitched out of a two-runner jam in the second and dealt a blemish-free third, Butler led off the Cougar half of the third inning with his first homer of the season, touching them all for the fifth time in his career.
Indiana put a runner on third base for the first time in the game with one out in the top of the fourth, but back-to-back strikeouts neutralized the threat as quickly as it arose.
Clarke worked around an infield single with three more strikeouts in the fifth, and dealt a clean sixth before Jones went deep in the bottom half, marking the first homer of the season for the sophomore and second of his career.
After Clarke retired seven straight hitters, Will Nolden singled to give the Hoosiers a runner in the top of the seventh, but ventured too far from first base and was gunned down by Cougar catcher Erven Roper to end the inning.
The Hoosiers threatened in their last trip to the plate, ultimately putting the tying run on base and bringing the go-ahead run to the plate after cutting the score to 4-2 on four singles in the ninth, but Chase Henry solidified the win with a strikeout after inheriting a pair of baserunners, earning his second save of the season.
“I am a little disappointed in our execution with runners in scoring position,” said Lee. “There were a couple runs that we let slip away, and that was the message to the team. We probably should have scored six runs, and if we do that, it's a totally different game in the ninth. They don't bring the winning run up to the plate in the ninth.
“We just have to capitalize when we get opportunities to score against a club like Indiana. If we want to play in the postseason, we have to find ways to get runners in when we get them in scoring position. We weren't able to do that tonight, but because Taylor Clarke was so good for us, we won the ball game.”
The College will look to claim the series with game two scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 28 at 3 p.m., with the Cougars scheduled to hand the ball to lefty Eric Bauer, who allowed just one earned run in 6.1 innings against The Citadel in his last outing.
POSTGAME NOTES
The Cougar lineup featured: 1. Ryan Brown (LF) | 2. Blake Butler (2B) | 3. Nick Pappas (1B) | 4. Carl Wise (3B) | 5. Morgan Phillips (CF) | 6. Erven Roper (C) | 7. Bradley Jones (RF) | 8. Tommy Richter (DH) | 9. Champ Rowland (SS), as the Cougars worked against right-handed Hoosier starter Scott Effross.
Entering the weekend, the Cougars were receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll and NCBWA Poll, ranking No. 32 and No. 39, respectively. The College also emerged in the ESPN Power Rankings, appearing at No. 20.
The Cougars did not issue any free bases, as the pitching staff did not allow a base on balls or hit a batter, and the defense did not commit an error.
After Blake Butler's and Bradley Jones' homeruns, five Cougars have now left the yard this season.
Nick Pappas, Morgan Phillips, Champ Rowland and Ryan Brown have now reached base successfully in all seven games this season.
