ATHENS, Ga. --- The College of Charleston baseball team poured it on early with 12 runs in the fourth and fifth innings, as the Cougars slugged their way to a 15-6 win over the University of Georgia on Saturday afternoon to secure the program's first regular season series win over the Bulldogs.
The 15-run total is the program's highest since the Cougars' 15-2 win over Delaware on March 26, 2016. The College of Charleston (2-0) scored 15 runs on 10 hits will drawing 11 walks, as the Cougar pitching staff allowed six runs on 12 hits for Georgia (0-2).
Dupree Hart (Rock Hill, S.C.) paced the Cougars with three hits and three runs scored, while
Erven Roper (Easley, S.C.) went 2-for-5 with two RBIs.
Danny Wondrack (Wall, N.J.) drove in three runs with a three-run home run, while
Logan McRae (Florence, S.C.) continued his hot start with a 1-for-2 afternoon that included two runs scored, three RBIs and his second career home run.
Junior
Carter Love (Charlotte, N.C.) got the nod for his first career start, and allowed one run on four hits in four and one-third innings of work.
Kris Kuhn (Summerville, S.C.) tossed two and two-thirds innings of one-run relief to pick up the win, as
Trent Rider (Warfordsburg, Pa.) and
Griffin McLarty (Buckner, Ky.) combined to log the final two frames.
Adam Sasser led the Bulldogs with a 3-for-4 effort – including two home runs – and scored a team-high three runs. Tucker Bradley and Mitchell Webb each picked up two hits.
Freshman Tony Locey took the loss for Georgia with seven earned runs on five hits in three innings of work. Ryan Avidano lasted one and two-thirds innings in relief, and surrendered eight runs on four base knocks. Shaefer Shephard, Tim Elliott, and Justin Glover combined for four shutout innings to cap the night.
The Cougar offense picked up right where it left off on Friday, taking an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second when McRae launched a two-run homer over the wall in left to score
Riley Knudsen (Caobt, Ark.). Roper would extend the advantage to 3-0 with an RBI single in the third following a one-out double by Hart, before a solo home run by Sasser cut the margin to 3-1 in the home half.
Charleston broke the game open with a seven-run fourth, pushing the lead to 5-1 on a two-run double by
Luke Manzo (Marietta, Ga.) before
Tommy Richter (Wayne, Pa.) scampered home on a wild pitch moments later. Manzo came around to score on the next play, as his heads up base running allowed Hart to reach before the throw from third sailed high of first, which let Manzo trot in from third.
Wondrack put an exclamation point on the inning three batters later, when he sent a line drive over the wall in left for a three-run homer to extend the lead to 10-1. The Cougars pushed the advantage to 15-1 with five runs in the fifth, a frame that included back-to-back RBI singles by Hart and Roper, as well as a bases-loaded walk to Knudsen and a hit-by-pitch for McRae in the next at-bat.
The Bulldogs pulled one back in the seventh with a run-scoring double by Austin Biggar, before Michael Curry launched a two-run homer to left in the eight to trim the margin further to 15-4. Georgia added two runs in the bottom of the ninth on a two-run shot to center by Sasser, before McLarty fanned Trey Logan to close out the win.
The Cougars and Bulldogs will finish out the three-game set on Sunday afternoon, with Charleston freshman
Max McKinley (Tallahassee, Fla.) making his first collegiate start opposite Georgia junior transfer Chase Adkins. First pitch is slated for 1:02 pm from Foley Field.
