Bucs Finish Game with Falcons, Drop Heartbreaker

CHARLESTON, SC-  The Buccaneers and Falcons took the field to complete  their suspended game from February 28, but even after a dramatic turn coming back to tie the game at 15 runs apiece, the Bucs dropped the game 18-16.  The loss moves the Bucs to 10-14 on the season, while the Falcons move to 7-13 on the season. 

The entirety of the game saw 11 pitchers on the mound, five from the Falcons and six from the Bucs.  The Falcons’ Michael Ruvolo would take the win in just 0.2 innings of work, while teammate Aaron Kurcz would tally his fourth save of the season.  The Bucs’ Corey Deighan would tally the loss in 1.0 innings of work.

The game saw a total of 88 at-bats, 34 runs, and 43 hits.  The 43 combined hits are only two shy of the Bucs’ all-time combined hits in a game set in 2008 against Winthrop.  The Bucs outscored the Falcons in the second half 10-6, but the Falcons early lead would be enough to push them to the victory. 

The Bucs’ and Falcons’ game started back on February 28 but was postponed due to continuing rain at Buccaneer Ballpark, and was resumed this afternoon in the top of the fifth inning.  The Bucs had allowed the Falcons to score a total of 12 runs in the first three innings of the game before getting on the board themselves with three runs in the bottom of the third.  The Bucs first two runs would come off a two run homer from senior Kory Morian to also drive home Scotty Radabaugh.  Tyler Thornburg would tally the RBI for the third of first half of the game to cross Patrick Dolan over home plate. 

The Bucs would hold the Falcons in top of the fourth while adding three more of their own in the bottom of the inning for a 12-6 score when the game was called at the top of the fifth inning.  Radabaugh would hit a long double before advancing to third on a Falcon throw, while driving home Tom Burkett and Branltey Meier.  With rain taking over the field, the Bucs’ last run would result from a wild pitch allowing Radabaugh to cross the plate. 

The Falcons would go to the dugout before their first batter, Matt Alexander, would be stalled in a 2-2 count to suspend the game.  Alexander returned to the plate nearly three weeks later to finish his at-bat on a fly-out to left field for the first out of the fifth inning.  The Falcons would tally a single run in the end of the fifth to make their lead 13-6.  But the Bucs were a different team this time around and would battle back hard.  The Bucs’ started their recovery in the bottom of the fifth scoring three runs on four hits.  The Bucs first run of the inning came on a bases load walk to Morian bringing home Obuchowski from third.  After a Falcon pitching change, Patrick Dolan would add another run on an RBI single to cross Christmas, followed by a sacrifice fly from Nick Chinners to bring home Radabaugh.  All-in-all, Radabaugh, along with Blake Hunt, lead the Bucs with four runs apiece at the finish of the game; the two accounted for half of the total Buccaneer runs.

The Falcons added another run in the sixth and seventh innings to lead 15-9, but that lead would not lat long as the  Bucs would dropped two three-run homers to tie the game at 15 runs.  Dolan would record his fifth homer of his freshman campaign as the fourth batter, while teammate Blake Hunt would tally his fourth homer of the season, also for three runs and 3RBI, to tie it at 15.

The Falcons’ however, determined not to loose after their lead would add two runs in the eighth and one in the ninth for their 18 total runs.  The Bucs would work, but fall short by two in the end, but not until tallying another homer from Nick Chinners.  Chinners would gather his second of the season on a walk off first pitch, but would be followed by three outs to finish the game 18-16. 

The Bucs are back in action for their four home game in four days to host the Keydets of the Virginia Military Institute for the first of a three game series.  Originally scheduled for a double header on Saturday, the games have been split for single games on Saturday and Sunday, but foreseen weather is being watched closely as it may cause the Bucs and Keydets schedule to change.  The first pitch for tomorrow’s game is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.  Keep up to date with schedule changes due to weather on the Baseball page of CSUSports.com.