Box Score / Play by Play
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – College of Charleston baseball cruised past Georgia Southern, 11-0, to win its eighth straight game in midweek action at Patriots Point on Tuesday evening.
Charleston (22-7) outhit GSU, 12-3, eclipsing double-digit hits for the fifth consecutive game, while the pitching platoon dominated the Eagle hitters to the tune of nine strikeouts against three hits – only one of which left the infield – and one walk.
Junior Carl Wise led the Cougars offensively with another prolific day at the plate, going 4-for-5 with three doubles, two RBIs, and three runs scored. Alex Pastorius went for multiple RBIs as well, with a two-run homerun which ignited the Cougars in the first inning. Champ Rowland went 3-for-4 and scored twice in the affair.
Junior Nathan Helvey (4-3) earned the win after going 3.0 innings with a predetermined pitch cap. Helvey allowed just one hit and one walk in the split-decision outing. Freshmen Will Detwiler and Carter Love followed on the mound, with Detwiler limiting the Eagles to one hit in 3.1 innings, and Love striking out all five hitters he saw in 1.2 innings. Chase Henry dealt the ninth, and solidified the Cougars' third shutout in five games.
“It was a great effort for our club tonight,” said head coach Monte Lee. “I think our pitching was outstanding today. All four guys pitched exceptionally well for us. We only gave up one walk and punched out nine guys on strikes. From behind the plate, I think Erven Roper caught what was possibly the best game he's caught all season. We got another shutout, so we pitched extremely well.
“We swung the bats well too. We jumped on them early and put pressure on them all game. It was just an overall, solid effort from our guys to get the midweek win and hopefully give us some momentum moving into the weekend.”
The Cougars seized the lead early, with Ryan Brown beating out a single to shortstop, and Pastorius homering down the leftfield line with a 2-1 count as the second Cougar hitter of the game. Wise doubled to right center to continue the rally, and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Morgan Phillips.
The lead held at 3-0 as GSU starter Matt Geiger (1-4) settled in, but Wise led off the sixth inning with a double to left center, and from there seven different Eagle pitchers would come out of the bullpen, only two of whom managed to record more than one out before being chased.
Wise would tag up and score on a sacrifice fly by Nick Pappas in sixth, but the real damage was done in the seventh when the Cougars blew the game open with five runs on three hits and four walks. Rowland started the rally with a single to right, and Ryan Brown tripled down the right field line to score Rowland all the way from first. Pastorius walked; Wise singled; and Blake Butler walked to load the bases, and four wild pitches eventually equated to four more Cougar runs.
The College tacked two more on in the eighth, with Rowland and Pastorius boarding the bases on a single and walk, respectively, and scoring on a two-RBI double by Wise.
The Cougars return to Colonial Athletic Association play with a three-game series against Elon at Patriots Point April 10-12. Game one is set for a 6 p.m. start on Friday, April 10.
“They're a very competitive program,” said Lee. “They always have been and they always will be. They always play us tough, so we have to play our best baseball if we expect to win that series.”
POSTGAME NOTES
The Cougars entered the game ranked 11th in the nation in batting average (.312 before Tuesday), and improved upon their average yet again by hitting .353 (12-for-34). The Cougars are now batting .314 on the season.
The College has homered at least once in five consecutive games and in 16 of their last 19.
Charleston scored in the first inning for the fifth consecutive game, improving to 14-1 when scoring in the first inning. The Cougars are outscoring the opposition 38-12 in the first inning this season.
As the Cougar leadoff to start the game, Ryan Brown has reached base successfully* (in the first inning) in eight straight games and nine of the last 10. Brown has reached successfully* in 15 straight games overall.
Carl Wise has reached base* in 15 consecutive games as well. The game was his 13th with multiple RBIs.
Blake Butler has reached base successfully* in 27 straight games going all the way back to opening weekend. On the season, Butler has at least one base hit in 25 of CofC's 28 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.
