College of Charleston
High Point
@CofCBaseball Drops Series Finale to High Point
3/15/2015 9:18:00 PM | Baseball
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – College of Charleston dropped the decisive game of a three-game series to High Point, 6-5 at Patriots Point on Sunday afternoon, despite eclipsing double-digit hits for the fourth time in five games.
Charleston (10-6) benefitted the Panthers a six-run cushion in the early going, but chipped away at the lead over the remaining innings, ultimately putting the winning run on base in the ninth before the comeback effort was cut short.
The Cougars outhit the Panthers, 12-7, but lacked timely hitting and left 10 runners stranded in the game. The Cougars batted .211 (4-for-19) with runners on base and .222 (2-for-9) with runners in scoring position.
Cougar starter Nathan Helvey (2-3) was tagged with the loss despite offering a quality start for the Cougars, going 6.0 innings with only two earned runs allowed, but a Cougar error led to four unearned runs in a five-run third inning.
Wade Arduini pitched perfectly from the seventh inning on, retiring all nine hitters he faced and striking out three.
Ryan Brown and Champ Rowland led the Cougars with three hits apiece, while Carl Wise drove in a pair of runs for his seventh multiple-RBI game of the season. Morgan Phillips continued to swing a hot bat as well with two hits and a run scored.
The Panthers wasted no time getting on the board, plating a run in their second plate appearance with an RBI double by Josh Spano.
HPU loaded the bases in the third, and a fielding error squandered Charleston's chance to minimize the damage. HPU punished the error with two more singles, ultimately plating five runs, four of which were unearned.
The Cougars began the comeback effort in the next half inning, loading the bases on singles by Rowland, Brown, and Tommy Richter, before Wise plateed a run with an RBI fielder's choice.
The College chipped away further in the fourth, once again loading the bases with a Phillips double and back-to-back walks by Alex Pastorius and Erven Roper. Rowland singled to center to plate one run, and Brown followed with what would have been a one-out RBI bloop single, but Roper was thrown out at third after being caught in no-man's land waiting to see if the ball would drop in safely. Pastorius scored on the play, but the luckless putout at third doomed the rally.
The Panthers put their first two hitters aboard in the top of the fifth, but Roper alertly threw out the lead runner on a failed sacrifice bunt, and Helvey picked a runner off at second base to neutralize the situation.
Wise led off the fifth with a solo jack to left, his sixth of the season, which cut the score to 6-4.
Helvey retired the side in order in the sixth, and Arduini followed with three perfect innings which kept the comeback task manageable.
Charleston nearly brought the comeback to fruition in the ninth, sparked by a leadoff triple by Brown who scored easily on a sacrifice fly by Richter. Wise walked and Blake Butler singled to put the potential winning run on base, but the rally ended there.
Charleston takes to the road for a midweek game at Campbell on Tuesday, March 17, before returning home to open Colonial Athletic Association play against Towson at Patriots Point next weekend.
POSTGAME NOTES
For the fourth 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 Scot Hoffman.
Blake Butler's ninth inning single extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
Champ Rowland has reached base in 14 out of the Cougars' 15 games this season.
Morgan Phillips racked up his eighth multiple-hit game of the season and finished the series batting .417 (5-for-12) with five RBIs, a double, and two homeruns.
