College of Charleston
Elon
@CofCBaseball Claims Fourth Straight Series with 8-3 Win
4/12/2015 9:37:00 PM | Baseball
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – College of Charleston baseball downed Elon, 8-3, in a Sunday afternoon rubber game to claim their fourth straight Colonial Athletic Association series at Patriots Point.
Charleston (24-8, 11-1 CAA) bounced back from an arduous offensive outing on Saturday with eight runs on 12 hits in the series finale, the Cougars' seventh game with 10 hits or better in eight tries.
The Cougars, winners of 10 of their last 11 games, got seven of their 12 hits out of Nick Pappas (4-for-5) and Champ Rowland (3-for-3 with a sacrifice). Morgan Phillips went for multiple hits as well, his 15th time doing so which ties for the team high with Blake Butler, who was 1-for-4 with two RBIs Sunday.
Carter Love (3-0) earned the win after coming on to pitch out of a jam in the sixth inning, and pitching 2.1 scoreless innings with just one hit allowed. Starter Wade Arduini offered a strong performance but was one out shy of a quality start, pitching 5.2 innings and giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits. Chase Henry closed down the game in the ninth.
“We threw the ball very well today with no walks and only two earned runs,” said head coach Monte Lee. “We scored early. When this team finds a way to score early, we find a way to win ball games, and that's what we did today. We scored three in the first before they got right back into it and tied the game up, and then a misplayed ball in the outfield led to two runs and we wound up scoring five runs in the inning and won the game.
“We threw the ball well; we defended the field extremely well; and we swung the bats well. It was a complete game on our part, and we played very well in a situation where we had to win the series with the rubber game.”
The Cougars mounted an early lead with an immediate rally in the first inning. Ryan Brown drew a leadoff walk, and Alex Pastorius sent an RBI double to left center which scored Brown all the way from first. Pastorius advanced to third on a single by Carl Wise and scored on a sacrifice fly by Blake Butler, and Wise eventually scored on an RBI fielder's choice from Bradley Jones.
The Phoenix chipped away with a run after a triple by Ryan Cooper in the second, and tied the score on three hits and a Cougar error in the sixth. Love came out of the bullpen with two outs and runners on second and third, and fanned a batter with a momentous strikeout which prevented the Cougars from falling in a potential hole.
The score wouldn't stay tied long, as the Cougars sparked the go-ahead rally in the bottom half of the inning with five runs on three hits and a costly Elon error. Erven Roper and Pastorius walked to give the Cougars two base runners, and Wise skied a ball to shallow center with two outs, but a swirling wind caused a lapse between the shortstop and center fielder, and the ball fell between them which allowed both runs to score. Butler singled up the middle; Pappas tripled to the wall in left, and Phillips singled to left to push the score to 8-3.
Love pitched the Cougars through the eighth, and Elon wen three-up, three-down against Henry in the ninth to solidify the win.
The Cougars take to the road to face in-state rival Coastal Carolina on Tuesday, April 14, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
“We know Coastal Carolina is a program that we rival with and compete with on the field and in recruiting,” said Lee. “We've had some battles with those guys over the years, and we have a lot of respect for their program. We are expecting an NCAA Regional type environment with their new ballpark and a great crowd, and what should be a great game on Tuesday.”
POSTGAME NOTES
Charleston entered the weekend ranked No. 33 in the first release of the NCAA RPI. The Cougars were ranked 26th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Poll and 30th in the Collegiate Baseball Poll, while receiving votes in the D1Baseball Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll.
The Cougars have scored in the first inning in over half of their games and are outscoring their opponents 48-12 in the opening frame. CofC is 16-1 when scoring in the first inning.
Charleston improves to 21-0 when leading after the sixth inning and 22-0 when leading after the seventh.
Blake Butler has reached base successfully* in 30 straight games going all the way back to opening weekend. On the season, Butler has at least one base hit in 28 of CofC's 32 games.
Carl Wise has reached base* in 18 consecutive games.
As the Cougar leadoff to start the game, Ryan Brown has reached base successfully* (in the first inning alone) in 10 of the last 11 games.
*A reached-base streak includes base hits, walks, and hit by pitches. Reaching on an error or fielder's choice does not extend a reached-base streak.
