College of Charleston
Furman
@CofCBaseball Claims Sixth Straight Series
4/26/2015 1:12:00 AM | Baseball
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – College of Charleston baseball rallied from behind and erased an early five-run deficit to take down Furman, 10-8, to secure a sixth-straight series victory on Saturday afternoon at Patriots Point.
Charleston (31-9) fell into an inauspicious 5-0 hole after the first two innings, but clawed away over the fourth and fifth innings before plating five runs in the sixth to seize the lead. The Paladins threatened late, but the Cougars held on to win their 17th game in 19 tries.
Brandon Glazer (8-1) earned the win from the rubber after a quality start of 7.0 innings with just two earned runs against him and three strikeouts. Carter Love earned his second save of the season by preserving the Cougar lead over the eighth and ninth frames. Charleston was plagued by three uncharacteristic fielding errors, which resulted in five unearned runs for the Paladins.
Offensively, the Cougars plated 10 runs on 14 hits, their ninth straight game with 10 or more hits and 15th in 16 outings. Every Cougar in the starting lineup recorded a hit on the day.
Bradley Jones went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, and was a home run short of the cycle as one of three Cougars to hit a triple in the game. Nick Pappas and Morgan Phillips also recorded multiple RBIs in the affair.
The Paladins scored five runs on six hits across the first two innings while benefitting from two Cougar errors. Glazer and his defense settled in from there, as the Cougars held the Paladins scoreless on four hits over Glazer's remaining 5.0 innings.
The Cougars inserted themselves into the game in the fourth, as Blake Butler and Pappas boarded the bases on singles, and Jones delivered them to the plate with a two-out, two-RBI triple to the wall in right center.
Charleston plated another run in the fifth, as Ryan Brown doubled to right center and scored on a triple by Carl Wise, cutting the Furman lead to 5-3.
The Cougars, as they've been known to do, mounted a big inning in the sixth, scoring five runs on six hits to move out in front. The inning began with a single by Pappas, triple by Phillips, double by Jones, single by Erven Roper, and an RBI-bunt single by Champ Rowland on a squeeze play, plating three runs before recording an out. The Paladins committed two run-scoring balks in the inning, and an RBI sacrifice fly to center by Phillips gave the Cougars an 8-5 lead.
Furman went to its closer to keep the deficit at three runs in the eighth, but The College added two more insurance runs on walks to Alex Pastorius and Pappas, as well as RBI singles by Phillips and Jones.
The runs proved critical, as Furman crossed three in the top of the ninth inning and threatened heavily with the tying run on base, but Love bore down and forced a game-ending flyout.
“After being down five runs, Brandon Glazer really did a nice job and kept them off the board for five innings,” said head coach Monte Lee. “He was able to stay out there and find a way to win the ball game, which is a really good sign.
“We just chipped away, and then we rallied for the big inning to go ahead. We had to hold on at the end, but I am proud of my guys for finding a way to win. I thought it was big that they brought in their closer to stay in the ballgame, and we were able to score two runs in the bottom of the eighth and that was difference. We held on, and found a way to win the series after going down five runs. This is a big day for us, and hopefully gives us some more momentum moving forward.”
Game three of the series is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday at Patriots Point, and the Cougars will hand the ball to lefty Wade Arduini, who will go against Furman starter Will Gaddis.
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 entered representing the nation's fifth-best batting average, and improved upon their previous mark by batting .359 (14-for-39) on the day.
The College was ranked ninth in the country in doubles per game (2.39), and also improved upon that mark with three in the ball game.
In Charleston's 31 wins this season, The College has rallied for innings of three or more runs 40 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 20th two-bagger of the year.
Erven Roper and Morgan Phillips extended hitting streaks to eight and nine games, respectively. Roper has reached base successfully* in 16 straight games.
Blake Butler extended his reached base streak * to 38 games which goes all the way back to opening weekend. On the season, Butler has at least one base hit in 35 of CofC's 40 games.
Carl Wise has reached base* in 26 consecutive games. Nick Pappas has reached base* in 19 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.
