CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel baseball team kept things close all game long and had the tying run at the plate in the top of the eighth, but the College of Charleston Cougars were able to make just enough plays to secure a 10-6 win at Patriots Point Tuesday night.
"We knew our game plan for today would be that we would need to throw a lot of different guys and some of them had pretty good outings," said head coach
Tony Skole. "I thought our guys fought pretty well all game long and we were able to get them on the ropes there in the eighth, but their closer is so good and really pounds the zone."
Both teams logged two runs in the first inning with The Citadel (17-29) taking the early lead when
William Kinney scored fellow senior
Jonathan Sabo with a single to left field. Sabo led off the game with a double to left field on just the second pitch of the game.
Ben Peden then drove Kinney home with a double to left-center field, establishing the early 2-0 lead.
After CofC (33-16) tied things up with a two-spot of their own in the bottom of the first, Kinney continued his hot start with a base-clearing double with the bases loaded and two outs on the board. The four RBIs on the night brought Kinney's season total up to 36, tops on the squad.
Clay Martin spurred the scoring drive with a single through the left side on the first pitch he saw. Sabo and
Bryce Leasure followed him up by drawing back-to-back walks.
The Cougars managed to take the lead for the first time in the bottom of the third with four runs off four hits.
Clay Hunt then padded the lead for the Cougars in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out, two-run home run. Charleston then added another two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
In the top of the eighth,
Ryan McCarthy singled with one out and Martin singled with two away. After Sabo drew a walk to load the bases,
Matt Cline came back from being down 0-2 to draw a walk, pushing McCarthy across the plate to score.
With the ever-dangerous Kinney at the plate and the bases loaded, CofC made a pitching change, bringing on
Nathan Ocker to close out the threat. Ocker entered the game with just six walks on the season compared to 49 strikeouts and he ended the threat in the eighth with his 50
th strikeout on the year.
Ocker (S, 9) closed out the game with three strikeouts to earn his ninth save of the season while
Carter Love (W, 7-0) earned the win in six innings of work.
The Citadel utilized eight pitchers Tuesday night with
Ryan Stamler (L, 0-1) accepting the loss in one inning of work.
Hunter Barbee, the final pitcher of the night for the 'Dogs, had two strikeouts while the entire staff fanned six batters.
Sabo, Kinney, Peden and Martin all logged two hits on the night with Sabo scoring a pair of runs while going 2-for-3.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs return home this weekend to begin the final homestand of the campaign with three Southern Conference games against UNCG, currently the top team in the league. The Bulldogs and Spartans will get things started with a 6 p.m. first pitch on Friday, May 11 with the series continuing on Saturday, May 12 at 2 p.m. The series will wrap up on Sunday, May 13 at 1 p.m.
For more information on The Citadel baseball team, please visit CitadelSports.com or follow @CitadelBaseball and @CitadelSports on Twitter.
