Box Score / Play by Play
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TALLAHASSEE, FLA. – Sophomore Nick Pappas homered twice to account for all of No. 15 College of Charleston baseball's runs as the two-seed Cougars moved past three-seed Auburn, 3-2, to advance to the championship round of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship Tallahassee Regional on Sunday at Dick Howser Stadium.
The win propels Charleston (45-14) to the finals of the Regional, setting up a rematch with top-seed and Regional host Florida State on Monday at 2 p.m. The Cougars are required to beat the Seminoles twice, and a win would force a second game to follow immediately afterwards.
After a weather delay of six hours and 21 minutes, Pappas homered to right center to put the Cougars up 1-0 in the second inning. Auburn responded with runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but Pappas homered to a virtually-identical location in the seventh with Blake Butler on board, putting the Cougars on top for good.
Pappas finished the day 3-for-4 to account for three of CofC's four hits, with Ryan Brown adding a hit for the fourth consecutive game.
Starter Nathan Helvey grinded out 5.0 innings which spanned seven-plus hours, limiting the Tigers to two runs on five hits to keep the Cougars in a position to win. Chase Henry ultimately earned the win (3-1), as he pitched 2.1 scoreless innings with only one hit allowed, and became the pitcher of record after Pappas's momentous homer. Carter Love pitched 1.2 nearly-flawless innings to earn his fourth save, with a hit batsman accounting for the only baserunner he allowed.
“There weren't a lot of free passes in this ball game; they only walked one batter all game, so it was hard to take advantage of anything, but thankfully we have Nick Pappas in our lineup,” said head coach Monte Lee. “He hit a two-run homer and that was enough for us to hang on and win the ball game.
“We were very good defensively tonight. Helvey threw well; he was very gutsy today. Chase (Henry) and the true-freshman Carter Love came in and did a heck of a job. It was a great effort on our part in a game that could have gone either way. There wasn't a lot of offense on either side, outside of Pappas. He is one of the best pure hitters I have ever coached, and I tell him that on a weekly basis. I have a lot of confidence in him and think the world of him. Big time players step up in big time games, and he did that tonight. You have to give him a lot of credit, along with our pitching staff and our defense.”
Both starting pitchers dealt three-up, three-down innings in the first, but a storm cell moved into the area and delayed the game before the start of the second inning.
After the restart, Pappas was the second hitter to step into the box and seized a 1-0 pitch, sending a colossal homerun over the 30-feet-tall fence in right center for the first run of the game.
Auburn, true to form, manufactured the tying run in the bottom of the fourth. Daniel Robert drew a one-out walk, and was moving on the ensuing pitch to prevent a potential double play on a ground out to third base. With two outs, Anfernee Greer placed an RBI single into left center to tie the game, but was thrown out at second attempting to stretch it into a double which ended the inning.
After the Cougars went quietly in the top of the fifth, Auburn plated another run in the bottom half. Helvey punched out the first two hitters on strikes, but leadoff man Jackson Burgreen drew a walk and stole second, putting himself in scoring position for when Jordan Ebert flared an RBI single into shallow left field.
Henry entered the game to start the sixth, and issued a leadoff walk before pitching Grier into a 6-4-3 double play, and receiving defensive support from Alex Pastorius in the form of a leaping catch against the wall in right to end the inning.
Butler drew a four-pitch walk to start the seventh, and Pappas jumped on the first pitch he saw, resulting in his second homer of the game and third of the Regional, again eclipsing the wall in right center.
Henry dealt a 1-2-3 seventh, before handing the ball over to Love after a leadoff single in the eighth. With one out and one on, Love forced back-to-back groundouts to neutralize the inning.
Love struck out the leadoff hitter in the ninth, and a back-handed gem by Butler behind second base moved the Cougars one out away from advancement. A hit batsman boarded the potential tying run, but centerfielder Morgan Phillips tracked down a ball in left center to secure the win, Charleston's 45th of the season which is the program's fourth-most all time and best under Lee.
FSU is scheduled to start righty Drew Carlton in the first of two potential championship games on Monday, with CofC's starter TBA. The game(s) will be broadcast on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN App.
“It's a very tough task ahead of us, but this is what you play for,” said Lee. “This is what you work for all year long. We are in a position to make some noise tomorrow. If we win game one, we have as good of a shot as they do.”
POSTGAME NOTES
For the sixth week in a row, the Cougars are ranked in all five polls recognized by the NCAA. The Cougars are currently ranked No. 15 by both the NCBWA and D1Baseball, No. 16 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, No. 18 according to Baseball America, and No. 25 by Collegiate Baseball.
CofC improves to 14-13 across seven postseason appearances. Charleston is 8-7 in four postseason appearances under Monte Lee.
The Tallahassee Regional has seen nine homeruns, seven of which have been supplied by the Cougars and three by Pappas.
Freshman Ryan Brown has recorded a hit in all three games of the Regional.
Freshman Carter Love has not allowed a hit across two appearances and 3.2 innings pitched in the Regional. The only base runner he has allowed was the hit batter in the ninth.
The Cougars achieved 45 wins for the fourth time in program history and first time since 2006. The program mark for victories was set at 48 in 2005.
