College of Charleston
UNC Wilmington
No. 18 @CofCBaseball Seals UNCW Series with 5-4 Win
5/9/2015 10:34:00 PM | Baseball
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – No. 18 College of Charleston baseball secured a Colonial Athletic Association series victory over UNCW with a back-and-forth, 5-4 victory in game two on Saturday afternoon at Patriots Point.
Charleston (37-10, 18-2 CAA) never trailed, but saw UNCW (33-15, 15-5 CAA) erase two Cougar leads before Alex Pastorius drove the eventual game-winning homerun out to right as rains began to intensify in the seventh inning.
Nathan Helvey (7-3) earned the win from the mound after entering the game at a critical moment in the seventh – inheriting runners on second and third with one out – and getting a strikeout and flyout to neutralize the threat. After the Cougars took the lead on Pastorius' homer in the bottom half, Helvey dealt three-up, three-down innings in the eighth and ninth to seal the win for the Cougars. Helvey finished with three strikeouts, while not allowing a runner to reach base in 2.2 flawless innings.
Offensively, Carl Wise was 3-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs out of the three spot of the lineup, while Ryan Brown continued to display his effectiveness as the Cougar leadoff and table setter, going 2-for-4 and scoring twice.
The Cougars got on the board in the first inning for the 22nd time this season, after Brown led off with an infield single, was advanced to second by Pastorius, and scored on a one-out RBI single to left from Wise.
The College plated an insurance run in the third, with Brown once again triggering the rally with a single, and Pastorius again moving him into scoring position with a ground ball. This time, Brown scored when a two-out RBI single by Blake Butler found its way between the third baseman and shortstop.
Starter Brandon Glazer put together a quality start (6.1 innings pitched, three earned runs, three strikeouts), and cruised through the first three innings, but UNCW led off the fourth and fifth innings with solo homers by Gavin Stupienski and Kennard McDowell, respectively, to tie the game.
The Cougars took the lead back immediately, leading off with a single by Champ Rowland in the bottom of the fifth. Pastorius moved the runner into scoring position yet again, and Rowland scored the go-ahead run on an RBI single by Wise.
Charleston padded the lead in the next inning, as Morgan Phillips walked and stole second before scoring on a two-out RBI single by Bradley Jones, the Cougars' third two-out run of the day.
Down 4-2, UNCW went to work in the seventh and eventually tied the game with two runs on three hits, and punished a Cougar fielding error. After back-to-back one-out singles, Eric Bauer came out of the bullpen and forced a groundball and potential inning-ending double play, but the Cougar defense lapsed temporarily to extend the inning. Stupienksi then drove a double to the corner in right to tie the game for the second time. Helvey then entered with runners on second and third with one out in a newly tied game, and emphatically struck out the Seahawk five-spot hitter and forced a flyout to end the inning.
With one out in the bottom of the inning and a seemingly-horizontal rain riding the wind from left to right, Pastorius drove a 2-1 pitch to opposite field which sliced through the rain and into the woods beyond right field to take back the lead.
After the game's second rain delay, Helvey sat down six straight hitters and ended the game with a strikeout to cap the win.
The Cougars will bid for the sweep in game three on Sunday, and doing so would lock up the CAA regular season crown and No. 1 seed in the upcoming CAA Championship. First pitch Sunday is slated for 1 p.m., with Hayden McCutcheon scheduled to start for the Cougars.
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.
Charleston batted .571 (4-for-7) with runners in scoring position and scored three of five runs with two outs.
The Cougars got on the board in the first inning for the 22nd time this season, and improve to 21-1 when doing so. Charleston is outscoring opponents 55-21 in the first inning.
CofC is 22-2 when getting on the board before an opponent. Charleston is 32-0 when leading after the sixth and 34-0 when leading after the seventh.
Alex Pastorius finished 1-for-4 with the home run, but his other three plate appearances all moved runners into scoring position which led to runs.
The game served as Carl Wise's team-high 17th multiple-RBI game.
