CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern and UNC Asheville began their weekend series on Friday afternoon with 14 innings of baseball getting played across two games. The Buccaneers had a late rally to win the first 8-6 while the second game was suspended in the sixth with the Bucs leading 16-4. CSU's victory in the first game is their 25
th of the season and makes
Karl Kuhn the winningest first year Head Coach in program history as he broke his tie with Jason Murray who had 24 in the 2005 season.
Following the results around the league on Friday, the win pushes Charleston Southern to 11-8 in Big South action. This places them into a three-way tie for third with Winthrop and Radford with five games remaining for all squads.
GAME ONE
In the first game of the day, Charleston Southern was able to get out to an early lead off a
Chandler Tuupo double to deep center field that scored
Kain Collins.
In the third, UNC Asheville was able to get the game tied in the third off a sacrifice fly and then take the lead on an RBI double. The Bulldogs went on to bash a solo home run in the fifth and a three-run homer in the sixth to push their advantage to 6-1.
In the seventh, Charleston Southern was able to knock the UNC Asheville starter, Clay Edmonson, a top candidate for Big South Pitcher of the Year, out of the game.
Blake Edgmon had a solo home run which was followed by back-to-back singles by Collins and
Kaden Smith, leading to the Bulldogs' pitching change. The Buccaneers were able to immediately go after the new pitcher with Tuupo having a double to right score Collins. Martin then had an RBI groundout to score another, cutting their deficit to 6-4 as they headed to the eighth.
Ryan DuSang entered the ball game to begin the eighth and retired all six of the batters he faced. In the bottom half, Charleston Southern went on to tally four more runs to regain the lead.
Gavin Bogdanchik got the action started with a solo home run to right field. After his at bat,
Blake Edgmon drew a walk followed by a
Kain Collins double to have them both in scoring position.
Kaden Smith had a sacrifice fly to left field to tie the game at six apiece. They intentionally walked Tuupo after and on the first pitch
AJ Martin saw, he had a double off the wall in right field to score both and bring them ahead at 8-6 to be the final score.
Ryan Cole had the start and threw the first six innings of the ballgame. He was charged with all six of the earned runs and allowed 10 hits.
Chris Foster threw an inning allowing just a hit and a walk.
Ryan DuSang tossed the final 2.0 frames without allowing a baserunner and moved to 3-0 on the season.
At the plate, the Buccaneers finished with 13 hits as a squad. Collins, Tuupo, McAskie and Edgmon each finished with two hits on the day. Martin led the team with three RBIs while Tuupo added two.
GAME TWO
Game two came to a hail in the top of the sixth inning with one out on the board. The Buccaneers were leading 16-4 when the contest entered a lightning delay.
SERIES CONTINUATION
The next steps for the series are yet to be decided with a formal decision expected to be made in the morning.