Cougars Walk Off Phoenix in CAA Opener
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MT PLEASANT, S.C. – Junior
Payton Frehner hit a walk off home run in the bottom of the eighth as College of Charleston baseball run ruled Elon, 12-2, Friday evening at Patriots Point.
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The Cougars improve to 13-7 and 1-0 in the CAA while the Phoenix slip to 8-13 and 0-1 in the league.
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Junior
Jake Brink tossed 6.0 innings in the win before redshirt junior
Alex Lyon tossed the final two frames, striking out three batters.
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CRITICAL POINTS AGAINST ELON:
- Charleston opened the scoring in the bottom of the first courtesy of an RBI single off the bat.
- The teams traded a pair of runs in the third, the start of 11 unanswered runs for the Cougars.
- Redshirt junior Ethan Plyler went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI in the win.
- Senior Dariyan Pendergrass scored a career-best four times on Friday as the outfielder finished the night 3-for-4 with four runs, a triple, walk, RBI and two stolen bases.
- In the nine-hole, sophomore Brent Gibbs helped spark-plugged the offense, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored to go with a double and triple.
- Junior Payton Frehner hit a walk-off solo shot in the bottom of the eighth, his third long ball of the year, to give the Cougars their fourth run-rule victory of the year.
- Seven of Charleston's 12 RBI on Friday came with two outs.Â
- The Cougars batted .500 (6-for-12) with two outs and .533 (8-for-15) with runners in scoring position.
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OF NOTE:
- Charleston improves to 45-32 all-time and 21-16 against Elon. The Cougars have won five of the last seven games and have plated at least 12 runs in four of the five victories.
- CofC is 85-4 under head coach Chad Holbrook when scoring 10-plus runs.
- Lyon appeared in his 59th career game out of the bullpen, tying him for sixth all-time in program history with Sam Moore (1992-95) and Brett Davey (1999-01).
- Frehner's 413-foot homer is the longest hit by a Charleston batter this season.
- The Cougars have collected double-digit hits in five of the last six ballgames.
- Pendergrass' 18 stolen bases are the most by a Cougars since 2019. Bradley Dixon swiped 22 bags and Dupree Hart stole 40.
- Lyon has recorded at least six outs in seven of his 12 appearances out of the bullpen.
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UP NEXT:
Charleston continues its conference opening weekend against Elon on Saturday, Elon 22. First pitch from Patriots Point is scheduled for 2 p.m.
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