College of Charleston
Georgia Southern
@CofCBaseball Wins on Four-Run Ninth Inning
4/22/2015 3:12:00 AM | Baseball
STATESBORO, Ga. – College of Charleston baseball plated four runs in the ninth inning, erasing a 6-3 deficit to down Georgia Southern, 7-6, on Tuesday night at J.I. Clements Stadium.
Charleston (28-9) was held to three runs on seven hits through the first eight innings, but triggered the big inning in the eleventh hour, eventually plating the tying and go-ahead runs on an RBI double by Nick Pappas, the Cougars' fifth hit of the inning.
Pappas was one of three Cougars with both multiple hits and multiple RBIs in the game, joining Ryan Brown and Carl Wise. The Cougars finished with 12 hits by eight different batters, as every hitter in the lineup picked up a hit or scored a run.
Carter Love (4-0) became the pitcher of record and earned the win on 2.2 innings of work, before handing the ball over to Taylor Clarke, who earned his first save with three strikeouts in the bottom of the ninth.
Starter Hayden McCutcheon was impressive in his first start of the season, holding GSU to two runs on seven hits over 5.0 innings, while striking out five without issuing a walk.
“Our offense is predicated on getting the big inning, and that came together in the top of the ninth tonight,” said head coach Monte Lee. “We pieced together some hits to chip away, and then Pappas gets a pitch that was away from him and he drives it into left center. The big thing for us was staying patient and finding our big inning, and it just happened to be the ninth inning.
“Hayden McCutcheon gave us everything we could have asked for in his first start of the season. He did his job, and our bullpen did well to secure the win. It wasn't always pretty; it wasn't our best game, but we found a way to piece together some quality at bats and win the game.”
GSU claimed the game's first run on a one-out solo home run by Kody Adams in the third inning. Adams finished the day 3-for-5 with three RBIs for the Eagles.
The Cougars put a runner in scoring position in each of the first three innings, but were kept off the board until the fifth. Rowland doubled with one out, took third on a wild pitch, and scored when Tommy Richter beat out an RBI infield single to tie the game.
The Eagles got back out front with an opportunistic four-run sixth inning which was aided by a Cougar fielding error and bolstered by three GSU hits. The Eagles loaded the bases twice in the inning, and cashed in both times with a pair of two-RBI singles back up the middle, mounting a 5-1 lead.
Charleston promptly cut the lead in half in the next half inning, with back-to-back walks to Bradley Jones and Erven Roper, before Brown drove a ball over the head of the right fielder to score both runs and cut the deficit to 5-3.
The Eagles took one of the runs back in the bottom of the seventh after a two-out double by Ryan Cleveland for a 6-3 lead.
Roper led off the Cougar ninth with a single through the right side, followed by Brown's second double of the game which brought the tying run into the batter's box. With two outs and runners on second and third, Wise singled to score both runners, and Blake Butler followed with a single to put the go-ahead run on base. The comeback effort came to fruition with Pappas's two-out, two-RBI double, which came on an 0-1 pitch and tailed away from the center fielder into the gap in left center.
Clarke came out of the bullpen in the ninth, and after a leadoff single, closed the game on three consecutive strikeouts.
The Cougars face a quick turnaround before playing host to No. 25 Coastal Carolina on Wednesday, April 22 with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. at Patriots Point.
“We have to be ready for another great ball club and what should be another competitive game tomorrow,” said Lee. “We know they're one of the top-25 teams in the country and that they're going to come in and play hard and compete. We feel pretty good being back at home, and hopefully we take some momentum from tonight's win and find a way to play a good ball game against a great club tomorrow.”
POSTGAME NOTES
The Cougars entered the week ranked in all polls, reaching No. 20 in both the Baseball America College Top 25 and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Poll, No. 22 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, No. 23 in the D1Baseball Top 25, and No. 27 in the Collegiate Baseball Poll.
The Cougars staved off back-to-back losses, which they haven't suffered since opening weekend at South Carolina.
Charleston batted 6-for-15 (.400) with two outs and scored five of their seven runs on two-out base hits.
Blake Butler is now on an eight-game hitting streak, and has reached base successfully* in 35 straight games going all the way back to opening weekend. On the season, Butler has at least one base hit in 33 of CofC's 37 games.
Carl Wise has reached base* in 23 consecutive games. Nick Pappas has reached base* in 16 consecutive 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.
