CSU gains split of DH with High Point; qualifies for Big South tourney

Jeff Kolhagen's sacrifice fly wins game two for the Bucs

CHARLESTON, SC – Charleston Southern blew a five-run first inning lead but came away with a 6-5 win in game two of a Big South Conference doubleheader against High Point, taking two of three games in the series. High Point won the first game of the day, 5-3.

With the victory, CSU secured a berth in the Big South Conference tournament in two weeks, moving their conference record to 10-11 on the season. The Bucs are 23-29 overall, while High Point falls to 10-41 overall, 4-17 in conference play.

Jeff Kolhagen’s sacrifice fly to center scored Billy Dalton from third with one out in the bottom of the seventh to propel CSU to the game two victory. Dalton opened the seventh with a bouncing single to left off High Point reliever Clayton Gordner, advancing to second on a stolen base. With one out, Brian Sole singled to left, moving Dalton to third.

High Point head coach Sal Bando, Jr., replaced Gordner with left-hander Mark Shorey and CSU head coach Gary Murphy replaced the left-handed hitting Alan Bontya with the right-handed hitting Kolhagen. Kolhagen lifted a soft fly to center where Panther centerfielder Chris Ramirez gloved and made a perfect throw to home. However, the throw arrived to catcher Matt Keever at the same time Dalton did with the ball skipping away from the plate.

Ian Holmen (4-4) earned the victory in relief of CSU starter Bobby Parnell, despite allowing two runs in two innings of work. Parnell allowed three runs in five innings and High Point scored two runs in the sixth off Holmen, tying the game at five.

Senior catcher Scott Thacker delivered a bases loaded, two-run single in the big first inning, with Brad Woods scoring on an errant throw by High Point catcher Matt Keever. Michael Blankenship followed with an RBI double and Jason Rose drove him in with a single to right for a 5-0 lead.

High Point starter Phil Leake allowed just two hits after the five-run first inning, leaving in the bottom of the sixth with the score tied.

High Point scored a run in the second but left the bases loaded, then added two more runs in the fifth on a single to right by Seby Renta.

High Point took game one on the strength of two homeruns by Josh Cotten, a two-run homer in the fourth and a solo shot in the seventh. The story of the game, however, was Panther starter Matt Kniginyzky (4-6), who limited the Buccaneers to three runs on seven hits through eight innings.

Trailing 5-1 in the eighth, CSU’s Brian Sole blasted a two-run homer to pull the Bucs to within two but Kniginyzky retired Marcos Arias with runners on second and third to end the threat. Matt Shorey pitched the ninth to earn his third save of the season.

Game one starter Brad Bissell took the loss, falling to 4-8 on the season.

Charleston Southern plays at the College of Charleston on Tuesday night before closing out the regular season at Radford next weekend.