CHARLESTON – The Buccaneers opened their weekend series against Longwood on Thursday evening with a 9-8 result under the lights at Nielsen Field @ CSU Ballpark.
In the first, both teams were able to get on the board with Longwood getting theirs to score on a fielding error by the Bucs. They did not trail for long as
Kaden Smith had a solo homer in the bottom half of the inning. Later in the frame,
Nathan Martinez reached on a fielding error by the shortstop which allowed for
Aidan McAskie and
Chandler Tuupo to score to bring the score to 3-1.
In the second, Longwood got one back off a solo home run of their own. Charleston Southern went on to score four runs in their half of the inning. Smith had a sacrifice fly which was followed by RBI singles from Tuupo,
AJ Martin and McAskie. In the third, Smith drew a hit by pitch with the bases loaded to score another and Tuupo had a sacrifice fly of his own to push their advantage to 9-2.
The Lancers were able to slowly cut back into their deficit throughout the middle of the game. They were able to tally three runs in both the fifth and sixth to trail by just one. The teams then were able to toss up 0s for the final three innings to hold the score at 9-8 when the final out was recorded.
On the mound,
Ryan Cole had the start and earned the victory in the contest. He threw the first five innings with 99 pitches thrown. He allowed five hits, two walks and two earned runs while striking out four batters.
Christian Krause was charged with an inning, allowing three to score.
Ryan DuSang threw the next 2.0 and did not allow a baserunner to reach and pitched out of an inherited runner in scoring position in the seventh. He struck out three batters during his time on the mound.
Kyle Lewis picked up the save, throwing the ninth and after hitting a batter on his first pitch thrown, he retired the next three in order to get his second save of the season.
At the plate, Tuupo led the team with three hits on the day. Smith, Martin and McAskie each added base hits as well. Smith had the team-high in RBIs with three while Tuupo added two. The team drew eight walks and three hit by pitches during the contest as well.
Charleston Southern and Longwood will return to Nielsen Field @ CSU Ballpark on Friday evening for first pitch at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcasted live and available to be watched on ESPN+ with the Bucs looking to claim their third conference weekend victory of the year.
