Box Score / Play by Play
CLEMSON, S.C. – No. 18 College of Charleston baseball suffered a 6-3 loss at Clemson on Wednesday evening at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, snapping an eight-game winning streak and taking just their third loss in 24 games.
Charleston (35-10) was outhit, 12-10, for just the 15th time this season, falling to 7-8 on those occasions.
Charleston's offensive production was heavily weighted towards the bottom of the lineup, as Bradley Jones, Erven Roper, and Champ Rowland all had two hits apiece out of the 7-8-9 slots of the batting order. Nick Pappas also had two hits, batting out of the five hole.
Jones erased a 2-0 Clemson lead with a two-run long ball in the top of the fifth, but a three-run Clemson rally in the bottom half proved to be the difference.
“This is something we have to learn from,” said head coach Monte Lee. “We get a big homer in the fifth to tie the ball game up, but you have to give them credit for coming back and hitting the ball around the ball park and responding with a big inning. In the seventh and in the ninth, we had our opportunities with the bases loaded. That was our opportunity to get back in the ball game, and we didn't do it. We didn't play great, but we had two innings where we brought the tying and the winning run up to the plate and we just couldn't come up with the big swing.
“It's frustrating when you don't execute, regardless of who you're playing. When you don't execute, and you're playing a quality program like Clemson, they are not going to give you a lot of opportunities. That's something we'll have to understand. When you're playing quality opponents who do a good job of pounding the strike zone, and catching and throwing the baseball at a high level, we have to be more aggressive offensively and execute our pitches. We've done that for the most part this season, but we didn't do it tonight and Clemson did. You have to give them credit for that.”
In the bottom of the third inning, a two-out hit batsman eventually led to the game's first run, as Eli White was clipped by a pitch to extend the inning. With a full count against Steven Duggar in the ensuing at-bat, White was running on the pitch, allowing him to score all the way from first when Duggar's single went through the left side of the infield.
Clemson followed with another run on a walk and back-to-back singles in the fourth, but the Cougar defense tightened to hold the Tigers to just the single run. Chris Okey scored on a one-out RBI single by Tyler Slaton, but the Cougars threw Slaton out trying to advance to second base for a pivotal second out. Carl Wise ranged away from third base on a softly-hit bouncer and fired accurately to first to end the inning with a runner stranded on third.
The Cougars swiftly tied the game in the fifth, as Morgan Phillips led off with a walk and Jones hammered the first pitch he saw deep into the bleachers in left for his eighth of the year, tying with Pappas and Blake Butler for second on the team behind Wise.
The game wouldn't stay tied long, however, as Clemson rallied for three runs on four hits in bottom of the evening to retake the lead, 5-2. The Tigers registered both their three runs and their four hits in their first five plate appearances, before freshman Carter Love took the mound and alleviated the situation with a strikeout and bounce out.
The Cougars loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh to put the tying run on base, but Clemson's Alex Bostic came out of the bullpen and dealt back-to-back strikeouts and a flyout to neutralize the threat.
Clemson added a run in the eighth inning after a leadoff double by Slaton, who eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Glenn Batson.
The College battled to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth by loading the bases on singles by Jones and Rowland, and a walk to Ryan Brown. The Cougars would cut the lead to 6-3 on an RBI bounce out by Alex Pastorius, but could get no closer.
The Cougars must now shift their focus to a pivotal Colonial Athletic Association weekend series against UNCW May 8-10 at Patriots Point. First pitch for Friday's game one is scheduled for 6 p.m., with just one game separating the first-place Cougars and second-place Seahawks in the CAA standings.
“I feel confident we'll regroup,” said Lee. “This is a good ball club and a veteran ball club. They understand how big this weekend is. It's not up to me; it's up to them. They have to forget about this, move on, learn from it, and be ready for UNCW on Friday.”
POSTGAME NOTES
The Cougars were once again ranked in all five polls recognized by the NCAA, ranking as high as No. 18 according to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and USA Today Coaches Poll. Charleston was ranked No. 19 by both Baseball America and D1Baseball, and No. 20 by Collegiate Baseball.
The loss was only the fourth road loss for the Cougars this season, with the CofC falling to 15-4 in away games.
The Cougars achieved 10 or more hits for the 13th time in 14 games, but batted just 1-for-9 (.111) with runners in scoring position and 0-for-4 with the bases loaded.
The Cougars had rattled off 10 consecutive wins against in-state opponents, and had not lost to a team from South Carolina since opening weekend at then-ranked No. 10 South Carolina.
Erven Roper extended his hitting streak to 13 games and has reached base successfully* in 21 straight games.
Nick Pappas has reached base* in 24 consecutive games and extended his hitting streak to 11 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.
