JACKSONVILLE – Charleston Southern went on the road for the first time this spring and knocked off North Florida with a 12-4 victory on Tuesday evening. The victory moves the Bucs to 4-0 on the season, their first time reaching that mark in over a decade and just the fifth time in program history that they have done so.
The Buccaneers got on the board early with 11 runs scored across the first three innings.
Chandler Tuupo started the evening with a solo home run down the right field line in the first. In the second,
Blake Edgmon had a single up the middle to score a pair of runners.
In the third, the wheels came off for the Osprey as the Buccaneer offense hung eight on them in the frame.
Alex Marot,
Nathan Martinez,
Caden Wolfley and Tuupo all picked up at least one RBI in their plate appearances in the inning. At the end of it, CSU now had a commanding 11-0 lead.
North Florida got a pair of runs in the fourth to it back to single digits, however, in the sixth, an error by North Florida allowed
Lucas Pringle to score. The Osprey tallied one run in the sixth and eighth each to bring the final score to 12-4.
Tuupo led the team at the plate finishing 3-4 with three RBIs, two runs scored and a hit by pitch. His home run marked the first of the spring for the Buccaneer offense. Wolfley and Edgmon each had two RBIs while Marot and Martinez each finished with one.
On the mound, each of the three pitchers used made their Buccaneer debuts.
Kale Hopke had the start and earned the win, throwing the first 4.0 innings. He struck out seven batters while allowing two hits, two walks and two earned runs.
Aydan Smith was the first out of the bullpen and in his collegiate debut struck out six batters over four frames of work. He allowed three hits and two earned runs.
Zach Stichweh entered for the ninth and retired each of the three batters he faced and collected one strikeout.
The Buccaneers will return to Charleston for seven consecutive games at home. They begin the stretch with a weekend series against Elon, followed by a midweek hosting UNCW on Wednesday and cap it off with another series with this one being against Brown.
