College of Charleston
Furman
@CofCBaseball Picks up 30th Win
4/25/2015 2:47:00 AM | Baseball
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – College of Charleston baseball picked up its 30th win of the season behind another productive night offensively and a shutdown performance by junior ace Taylor Clarke, downing Furman 9-2 in the first of a three-game series on Friday night at Patriots Point.
Game two of the series has been moved up four hours from its originally scheduled time due to forecasted weather conditions. First pitch is now scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday.
The Cougars (30-9), clad in turn-of-the-century style throwback uniforms, achieved double-digit hits for the eighth consecutive game and 14th time in 15 tries.
Clarke (9-1), who was just included on the College Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher of the Year watch list, went 7.0 innings and allowed just one run on three hits, while putting nine down on strikes without issuing a walk. Aided by catcher Erven Roper ousting two stolen base attempts, Clarke faced the minimum through four innings.
Roper was a bright spot both offensively and defensively, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs at the plate, and gunning down the only two runners who attempted to steal on him in the game.
Morgan Phillips homered off the batter's eye in straight-away center to plate the game's first run, and the Cougars also got RBIs out of Champ Rowland, Bradley Jones and Carl Wise.
Phillips jumped the yard for the sixth time this year with a 1-2 count in the second inning to put the Cougars up early.
The Cougars blew the game open in the third, plating five runs on three hits and punishing the Paladins for an error and two walks. A walk to Ryan Brown and fielding error on a potential double-play ball benefitted the Cougars two runners with no outs, and Wise forced a single through the left side of the infield to score Brown. An infield single by Blake Butler loaded the bases, and Bradley Jones drew a two-out RBI walk to plate a run. Roper cleared the bases with a two-out, opposite-field double into the corner in left, driving CofC's lead to 6-0.
The Paladins plated their first run in the top of the fifth, capitalizing on a one-out double from Jordan Simpson with an RBI single to left by Sky Overton. Brown tracked the ball down in the corner and threw Overton out at second base to end the inning.
Jones led off the seventh with a walk, and a Roper single put runners on the corners with no outs. Rowland executed a squeeze bunt to perfection, splitting the pitcher and first baseman for an RBI bunt single and a 7-1 Cougar lead.
The Cougars added a run in the seventh with a double by Nick Pappas and RBI single by Roper, and another in the eight when Alex Pastorius was hit by a pitch and came around to score on three wild pitches.
The Paladins plated a run in the ninth on a hit and a walk, but never threatened as Will Detwiler preserved the win over his 2.0-inning appearance.
“We played well tonight,” said head coach Monte Lee. “We pitched extremely well tonight; Clarke was outstanding again and Detwiler was strong out of the bullpen. Offensively, we took advantage of some walks and some of their miscues, and we found a way to step up with big-time, two-out hits. We were good in two-out situations with runners in scoring position, but I think we needed to do a better job of executing with less than two outs and runners on third. We found a way to score nine runs, we got great pitching, and we won game one.”
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 (NCBWA) 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 improve to 19-2 when getting on the board before their opponent, and 26-0 when leading after the sixth inning.
Every hitter in the lineup either recorded a hit or scored a run. Charleston's 7-8-9 hitters combined for five hits, six RBIs, and two runs scored.
In Charleston's 30 wins this season, The College has rallied for innings of three or more runs 39 times. In their nine losses, the Cougars have produced just one inning of three runs or more.
Nick Pappas entered the game ranked seventh in the country in doubles, and picked up his 19th two-bagger of the year.
Erven Roper and Morgan Phillips have opened hitting streaks of seven and eight games, respectively. Roper has reached base successfully* in 15 straight games.
Blake Butler extended his reached base streak * to 37 games which goes all the way back to opening weekend. On the season, Butler has at least one base hit in 34 of CofC's 39 games.
Carl Wise has reached base* in 25 consecutive games. Nick Pappas has reached base* in 18 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.
