Errors prove costly as Bucs fall to CofC 12-7

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. – The bats were lit up for the Charleston Southern baseball team in its first road game of the season, but too many errors proved to be the difference as the Buccaneers were defeated by Southern Conference members College of Charleston 12-7 Wednesday night at Patriots Point.

CSU (2-6) outhit the Cougars (8-1) 11-9, but struggled in the field by committing five errors.

Nick Chinners crossed the plate in the top of the first to give the Buccaneers the early lead, but two from CofC in the home half of the first and three in the second put the Cougars out to an early 5-1 lead.

Scotty Radabaugh and Chinners cut the lead in half in the third inning, and Charleston Southern got within one after Tyler Thornburg blasted his team-leading fourth home run of the season in the top of the fifth.

Greg Blake answered for CofC with a homer of his own and College of Charleston tacked on two more in the sixth to push the lead to 8-4.

Chinners scored his third run of the game and Thornburg also crossed home plate in the seventh to again chop the lead in half, but four runs by the Cougars in the eighth was enough to keep Charleston Southern at bay. Tom Burkett hit his first home run of the season in the ninth to post the final score of 12-7.

CofC has now won the last 11 meetings, and is 6-1 this year against members of the Big South Conference (3-0 against Radford, 2-1 against UNC Asheville).

Chinners finished the day 3-of-5 at the plate, while also scoring three runs. Thornburg scored twice and collected a run batted in on his solo home run. Matt Still was 2-for-4, and he and Walt Quattlebaum both drove home two runs.

Stew Brase (0-1) started for Charleston Southern and allowed six runs (three earned) on four hits. He did strike out seven Cougars but also walked four.

Matt Walker, Tyler Vick, Corey Deighan and Tim Flight all threw in relief for the Buccaneers. They combined to allow just four hits but gave up six runs.

Thomas Brittle, Cole Rakar and Blake all had two hits for College of Charleston. Jose Rodriguez, Blake and Jamie Holler all drove home two runs, and Rakar scored three times.

Jake Zokan (1-0) pitched five innings and allowed four runs on five hits. Aaron Bouronich threw two innings of relief and gave up two runs on three hits. Casey Lucchese allowed two hits in 0.1 innings, and Heath Hembree earned the save after pitching the final 1.2 innings.

The Buccaneers and Cougars lock horns two more times this season. The first rematch will be at 2 p.m. Mar. 24 at CSU Ballpark, with the rubber match scheduled for 5 p.m. Mar. 30 back at Patriots Point.

The matchup with the Buccaneers was the second of the day for CofC. The Cougars defeated Holy Cross 10-7 earlier in the day.

Charleston Southern will next be in action Mar. 5-6 when the Buccaneers play host to Holy Cross at CSU Ballpark. First pitch on Mar. 5 will be 2 p.m. with a doubleheader Mar. 6 scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m.