Cougars' Ninth-Inning Rally Fall Short In Sunday Setback To Georgia

Sunday, February 19

Athens, GA

1:00 PM

College of Charleston

2-1

Georgia

1-2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Col. of Charleston	0	1	0	1	0	3	0	2	1	8	14	0
Georgia	0	4	0	2	0	2	1	0	X	9	14	0

Photo by: Michael Wiser

Cougars' Ninth-Inning Rally Fall Short In Sunday Setback To Georgia

2/19/2017 6:31:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

ATHENS, Ga. --- Logan McRae (Florence, S.C.) continued his torrid start to the season with a home run and three RBIs, and Bradley Dixon (Greenwood, S.C.) and Tommy Richter (Wayne, Pa.) added three hits, as the College of Charleston baseball team's ninth-inning rally fell just short in a 9-8 setback to the University of Georgia on Sunday afternoon. The Cougars took the series, two games to one, with wins of 9-3 on Friday and 15-6 on Saturday.

The College of Charleston (2-1) plated eight runs on 14 base knocks – including six extra-base hits – while Georgia (1-2) scored nine times on 14 hits. Dixon and Richter each tallied three hits, as Dixon's first-inning single extended his reached safely streak to 20 games. McRae went 2-for-3 with a single, three RBIs and his second home run of the season, and pushed his season totals to two long balls and nine runs batted in – both career-highs.

Joey Mundy (Huntington, W.Va.) tallied two hits, including his first home run at The College, while Dixon, Danny Wondrack (Wall, N.J.), Ari Sechopoulos (Windsor, Ontario, Canada), and Luke Manzo (Marietta, Ga.) each drove in a run.

Max McKinley (Tallahassee, Fla.) went three innings in his first collegiate start with a pair of strikeouts, and took the loss. Will Detwiler (Camden, S.C.) tossed two and one-third innings of relief, while Jakob Frishmuth (Myrtle Beach, S.C.), Justin Baker (Huntersville, N.C.), and Nathan Ocker (Middletown, Pa.) combined to allow one run on five hits in two and two-thirds frames down the stretch.

Aaron Schunk and Keegan McGovern paced the Bulldogs with three hits each, as Schunk drove in five runs. Austin Biggar went 2-for-3 with three runs scored, three RBIs and a home run.

Chase Adkins got the nod and allowed five runs on nine hits in five innings of work to earn the win. Zac Kristofak tossed two scoreless innings out of the bullpen, while Blake Cairnes, Tucker Bradley, and Christian Ryder combined for the final two frames. Ryder recorded the final out to earn the save.

The College struck first with a run in the top of the second, taking an early 1-0 lead when Sechopoulos ripped a two-out double down the right-field line to score Richter from first. Georgia answered with four runs in the home inning, highlighted by a three-run shot to right field by Biggar. An RBI single by Adam Sasser two batters later gave the Bulldogs a 4-1 advantage.

Mundy pulled one back for the Cougars in the top of the fourth, ringing one off the scoreboard in right for his first home run at The College, and trimming the margin to 4-2. A two-run double by Schunk in the home half of the fourth pushed the Georgia lead to 6-2, before the Cougars began to rally once again in the sixth.

After Mundy led off the inning with an infield single, Wondrack lined a double to deep center to plate Mundy and cut the lead to 6-3. Richter followed with a single to right, moving Wondrack to third before McRae lofted a sacrifice fly to left to score Wondrack. Manzo cut the lead to 6-5 two batters later with an RBI single to right, scoring Richter from second before being thrown out trying to move to second.

The Bulldogs answered with two in the sixth, and one in the seventh to stretch the lead to 8-5 on an RBI double by McGovern.

McRae pulled two back for the Cougars in the eighth, launching a two-run bomb to the alley in left center to score Richter and cut the advantage to 9-7. The Cougars kept the pressure on in the ninth, drawing back-to-back walks to lead off the inning. Dixon followed with a double to the gap in left, scoring Hart to halve the margin to 9-8; the trailing runner was tagged out at home on the play for the first out with Dixon advancing to third on the throw.

Bradley settled down moments later, retiring the next batter via strikeout before exiting in favor of Ryder with two outs. Ryder would strike out the only hitter he faced, catching the inside corner for the third and final out to quell the rally and earn the save.

The College returns to the diamond on Wednesday, when the Cougars travel to Conway, S.C. to take on defending national champion Coastal Carolina at 4:00 pm.