College of Charleston
Elon
No. 13 CofC Opens Postseason with 9-0 win over Elon
5/22/2015 4:51:00 AM | Baseball
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – CAA Pitcher of the Year Taylor Clarke allowed just three hits over 8.2 shutout innings and struck out 10 to send top-seeded College of Charleston to a 9-0 victory over No. 4 seed Elon in Game 5 of the CAA Baseball Championship on Thursday night at Patriots Point.
The Cougars (42-11) will face No. 2 seed UNCW in a winner's bracket game at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. The Phoenix (25-28) meet No. 5 Delaware in an elimination contest at 10 a.m. on Friday.
Clarke (13-1) set the CofC record for victories in a season and tied the CAA wins mark set by VCU's Chad Berryman in 1998. The senior right-hander gave up only a pair of singles over the first eight frames before being replaced by Will Detwiler following a double with two outs in the ninth.
“I was a little disappointed not to get the final out,” said Clarke, who threw over 68-percent of his 124 pitches for strikes. “Coach told me before I went out in the ninth that I was on a pitch count, but Will did a good job of coming in to get the last guy.”
Clarke didn't issue a walk and increased his school-record strikeout total to 136 on the year. Clarke faced just one more than the minimum through six innings, and dealt five different three-up, three-down frames.
“I noticed early on that I had all three pitches working,” Clarke added, “and that allowed me to work hitters in and out and mix in the offspeed stuff, and my defense made plays behind me.”
The Cougars were equally impressive offensively, registering 12 hits and scoring in six of the eight frames, including five straight from the fourth to the eighth. Freshman outfielder Ryan Brown reached base all five times, going 3-for-3 with a double, homer, two runs scored and two RBIs, in addition to two walks. Morgan Phillips, Erven Roper and Blake Butler had two hits apiece.
CofC got on the board in the first inning for the 25th time this season and took a 1-0 lead after Brown lined a leadoff double to right and scored on a two-out single by Butler, the CAA Player of the Year.
The Cougars tacked on another run in the fourth. With one out, first baseman Nick Pappas doubled down the right field line and then moved to third on a passed ball. Bradley Jones followed with a sacrifice fly to right that brought in Pappas.
CofC used the long ball to take control of the game in the fifth. Phillips opened the frame by lifting his seventh homer of the season over the ivy-covered wall in left. After a Phoenix error, Brown smacked his fifth homer of the year to right, putting the Cougars ahead 5-0.
In the sixth, catcher Erven Roper doubled and came around to score after a throwing error on a Phillips infield single. Phillips later crossed the plate following a wild pitch. CofC extended its advantage to 8-0 in the seventh when Jones' infield single brought in Carl Wise. Champ Rowland scored on a Wise sacrifice fly for the game's final run in the eighth.
“This was one of the best baseball games we played all year,” said head coach Monte Lee. “We really swung the bats well; we played some good defense, and we got really good pitching. We really played a complete game. We put together a lot of quality at bats to throw up a big inning. It was just an overall great game for us.”
POSTGAME NOTES
College of Charleston was ranked in all polls, climbing as high as No. 13 according to the NCBWA for the Cougars' highest ranking since the 2011 season.
Charleston scored in the first inning for the 25th time this season, and improved to 24-1 when doing so. The Cougars outscore opponents 60-26 in the opening frame.
CofC homered more than once for the 21st time, and improve to 20-1 in multi-homerun games.
In Charleston's 42 wins this season, the Cougars have rallied for an inning of three runs or more 54 times.
