College of Charleston
USC Upstate
@CofCBaseball Rallies From Behind for 14-7 Win
3/12/2015 2:35:00 AM | Baseball
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – College of Charleston baseball produced its biggest offensive outburst of the season to defeat USC Upstate in come-from-behind fashion, 14-7, in midweek action at Patriots Point on Wednesday night.
After falling in a 7-3 hole, the Cougars scored 11 unanswered runs, ultimately ending the night with 18 hits, the most for The College since the 23-inning William and Mary game last May.
Every Cougar in the lineup either scored or drove in a run against the Spartans, with eight different Cougars producing hits and four different hitters springing for three hits apiece.
Carl Wise went 3-for-3 with a double, home run and four RBIs, while Blake Butler went 3-for-5 and also sprung for a double and homerun. Ryan Brown and Morgan Phillips both went 3-for-5 and scored three times.
Freshman Carter Love made his first career mound appearance and became the pitcher of record when CofC erased the deficit via a nine-run sixth inning. Love was perfect for 1.2 innings to earn his first career win, combining with Hayden McCutcheon, Wade Arduini and Chase Henry to sit down 13 consecutive hitters, denying the Spartans a baserunner from the end of the fifth inning on.
“I'm proud of our guys for the quality of at-bats we had tonight,” said head coach Monte Lee. “We strung a bunch of quality at-bats together and had a lot two-strike hits and hits in big situations. Carl Wise broke it open with the homer in the sixth, but we got production throughout the lineup. Every hitter in our lineup either scored a run or drove a run in.
“Our bullpen was outstanding. From the sixth inning on, we hung up four zeros on them. Carter Love made his first appearance for us out of the pen and offered one of the better relief appearances I've seen this year out of this club. It's awesome to see a true freshman step in and compete at a high level when we needed somebody to come out of the pen. Arduini followed and threw the ball extremely well, and Chase [Henry] looked as good as I've seen him for us in the ninth inning.”
With 14 runs on 18 hits, the Cougars stranded only five runners in the ballgame, batting .500 (11-for-22) with runners on base and .474 (9-for-19) with runners in scoring position. Charleston reached its leadoff hitter in five of its eight offensive innings, advanced a runner in 17-of-24 (.708) chances, and scored all six times the Cougars had a runner on third with less-than two outs. The Cougars were successful in extending innings as well, going 6-for-14 (.429) with two outs and accruing six two-out RBIs.
CofC struck first in the second with a leadoff homerun by Butler, his second of the year, and a Phillips double leading to a 2-0 lead as CofC's first four hits went for extra bases.
The Spartans shifted the tide in the next half inning, however, scoring five runs on four hits and capitalizing on two Cougar errors.
Butler doubled and scored in the bottom half of the inning, cutting the deficit to 5-3.
The score held there until Upstate opened the fifth with three straight singles, and cashed in with a two-out double by Cody Griffin, extending the lead to 7-3. Griffin's double ultimately represented Upstate's final base runner.
The Cougars batted around in the sixth inning, with Tommy Richter leading off and eventually singling and scoring twice in the inning. Before the dust settled, eight different Cougars had base hits in the sixth inning alone. The College put six straight hitters aboard and scored four runs to tie the game before recording an out. After Champ Rowland singled to score Alex Pastorius as the go-ahead run, Richter amassed his second hit of the inning before Wise went deep to left, a three-run shot driving his RBI count to 17 on the year.
The Cougars added two more runs on RBI singles by Phillips and Nick Pappas in the eighth, pushing the score to 14-7, the eventual final.
Charleston stays home and culminates a 10-game home stand with a three-game series against High Point March 13-15. First pitch times at Patriots Point are scheduled for 6 p.m., 3 p.m., and 1 p.m., respectively.
POSTGAME NOTES
The Cougar lineup was: 1. Ryan Brown (RF) | 2. Tommy Richter (DH) | 3. Carl Wise (3B) | 4. Nick Pappas (1B) | 5. Blake Butler (2B) | 6. Morgan Phillips (CF) | 7. Alex Pastorius (LF) | 8. Erven Roper (C) | 9. Champ Rowland (SS), as the Cougars worked against right-handed Spartan starter Zach Mitchell.
CofC's first four hits went for extra bases.
Champ Rowland has reached base successfully in all 13 games this season while Blake Butler has reached base in 11 consecutive games and is riding a nine-game hitting streak.
Morgan Phillips amassed his sixth multi-hit game and second three-hit game.
Carl Wise has now had multiple RBIs in six games.
