College of Charleston
High Point
@CofCBaseball Suffers Series Opening Loss to High Point
3/14/2015 2:19:00 AM | Baseball
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – College of Charleston baseball was tagged with a 6-1 loss to High Point in the first game of a three-game series at Patriots Point on Friday night.
The Cougars will look to even the series on Saturday at 3 p.m., and force a rubber game scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. The loss marked the Cougars' first loss in a series opener this season, with Charleston falling to 3-1 on Friday nights.
CofC (9-5 overall) struggled to string hits together, going 0-for-12 with runners on base and 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Morgan Phillips became the seventh Cougar to homer this season, driving his first of the year and seventh of his career out to left in the fifth inning.
Taylor Clarke was tagged with his first loss, falling to 3-1 on the year, despite pitching effectively and offering his third straight quality start. The reigning National Player of the Week scattered five hits across 7.0 innings, but two of them left the ballpark off the bat of Panther centerfielder Josh Greene. Clarke fanned 10 hitters, eclipsing double digits for his third consecutive outing.
Greene homered to virtually the same spot in right field in the second and fourth innings, giving High Point a 2-0 lead before Phillips cut it in half with a solo shot to left in the fifth.
The score was static until the eighth when HPU's Josh Spano sent an RBI double to left center, marking the first base hit with a runner on base for either team. Spano found his way to third and scored after a balk, pushing the score to 4-1.
The Panthers plated another pair on three more hits in the top of the ninth, and the Cougars had no answer for the 6-1 deficit in the bottom half.
“We didn't get a lot of pitches to drive, and you have to give their pitcher credit for that,” said head coach Monte Lee. “Their starting pitcher did a good job of throwing sliders away from our hitters. He did a good job of locating his pitches and keeping everything down. He just didn't give us a lot to hit. They just outplayed us. Their guy in the middle of the order hit two homers on two fastballs, which is going to happen from time to time.
“We competed, but just couldn't get anything going offensively. We just have to find a way to bounce back and hit the ball better tomorrow.”
The Cougars will hand the ball to lefty Eric Bauer on Saturday, and face off against Panther righty Tyler Britton. Charleston has not lost back-to-back games since opening weekend at South Carolina.
POSTGAME NOTES
For the second game in a row, 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 Panther starter John McGilllicuddy.
Champ Rowland drew a third inning walk and has still reached base successfully in every game this season by either a base hit, walk, or hit by pitch (on-base percentage boosting at-bats). Reaching on an error or fielders' choice does not extend a reached-base streak.
Blake Butler was one of five Cougars with a hit, extending his hitting streak to 10 games. He, along with Nick Pappas and Morgan Phillips have reached base according to the above-mentioned parameters in 12 of 13 games this season.
