College of Charleston
Indiana
Indiana Evens Series with CofC Baseball
3/1/2015 1:03:00 AM | Baseball
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – College of Charleston baseball suffered a lopsided, 15-1 defeat to Indiana in game two of a three-game series on a drizzly, benumbed Saturday afternoon at Patriots Point, evening the series at a game apiece with a decisive game three scheduled for Sunday at 12 p.m.
Charleston (5-3) was more competitive than the final score indicated, up until the Cougars surrendered back-to-back five-run frames in the eighth and ninth innings which blew the margin out of proportion.
“Tomorrow is going to be very pivotal for us as a team,” said head coach Monte Lee. “I'm very excited to see how our guys respond. We go beat soundly today. They out-hit us; they out-pitched us; they out-played us. That's going to happen from time to time, but the big thing is how we respond.
“Are we going to be able to come out tomorrow (Sunday) and compete? Are we going to be able to put this behind us and find a way to win the series? The bright spot is that it's still a 1-1 series, and we have a chance to win it, but we're going to have to go out and play better baseball if we expect to do that.”
The Hoosiers efficiently strung hits together to plate runs – particularly in the eighth and ninth innings – producing a .458 average (11-for-24) with runners on base and .563 clip (9-for16) with runners in scoring position. The Cougars were just 1-for-9 (.111) and 1-for-8 (.125), respectively, in those timely-hitting departments.
CofC also failed to end innings defensively when they had the opportunity, surrendering six two-out hits to the Hoosier bats, while two costly fielding errors led to seven unearned runs. The Hoosiers scored seven of their 15 runs with two outs in innings.
The game moved quietly and unassumingly though the opening innings, with both starting pitchers only facing one-more-than the minimum through the first three innings.
CofC starter Eric Bauer (1-2) yielded to the Hoosiers for the first time in the fourth inning, after a walk and back-to-back, two-out doubles plated the game's first runs.
The Hoosiers tacked on two more in the top of the fifth, after a single, RBI triple, and sacrifice fly stretched the lead to 4-0.
The Cougars reinserted themselves into the game in their half of the fifth, with Tommy Richter leading off with a double, taking third on a flyout to right by Erven Roper, and scoring on an RBI groundout by Champ Rowland.
Indiana took the run back with a manufactured run in the seventh after a walk, sacrifice bunt, and RBI single to right pushed the lead back to four runs, 5-1.
Bauer was tagged with the loss after going 7.0 innings and allowing five runs on seven hits while punching out four.
The Cougars doomed themselves in the final innings, snapping a 23-inning errorless streak with errors in both the eighth and ninth innings, allowing Indiana to plate 10 runs on seven hits and undo any hopes of a comeback.
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. Tommy Richter (DH) | 7. Bradley Jones (RF) | 8. Erven Roper (C) | 9. Champ Rowland (SS), as the Cougars worked against right-handed Hoosier starter Christian Morris. Between games one and two, Richter and Roper switched places in the 6 and 8 holes of the lineup.
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.
Two of true-freshman Tommy Richter's three career hits have gone for extra bases, producing a .455 slugging percentage.
Champ Rowland, Nick Pappas and Morgan Phillips have reached base successfully in all eight games this season.
