CHARLESTON, S.C. - Gunnar Heidt drove a home run and triple and College of Charleston took advantage of three errors in scoring four unearned runs as the Cougars defeated Charleston Southern at the Patriots Point Athletics Complex on Tuesday evening, 13-5.

Charleston Southern did most of their damage in the fifth inning, scoring three runs as Jaren Sustar drove a triple scoring Bobby Ison and Robbie Streett added a two-run double in the frame to halve the College of Charleston lead, but CofC's lead proved to be too great in the end as the Cougars took the win.

Charleston Southern falls to 2-2 overall in the 2013 season, while College of Charleston improves to 3-1 with the win.

"I'm disappointed in the outcome," said head coach Stuart Lake following the game. "Coming down here to play a really quality, rival team, we let them take all of the momentum early. It was hard to get back into the game after that. You can't beat a team when we're making some of the errors we made today."

In his first start wearing the CSU Blue and Gold, Stephen Leopard (0-1) took the loss, allowing eight runs, four earned over 2.2 innings of action. Also in his first career start for College of Charleston, Jimmy Revan went 4.1 innings, allowing four runs on six hits in the game. Drew Freie (1-0) picked up the win for the Cougars, throwing 2.2 innings of one-hit relief while recording four strikeouts.

John Faircloth reached base with two outs in the top of the first for the Buccaneers after getting hit by a Revan pitch. The CSU senior stole second base on the second pitch of Alex Tomasovich's at-bat, but the CofC lefty was able to end the threat, retiring Tomasovich on strikes to end the frame.

In the bottom half of the inning, College of Charleston's first five batters in the inning reached base as the Cougars plated three early runs.

Heidt opened the inning drawing a full-count walk and the Cougars took advantage of a fielding miscue in the CSU outfield as Tyler Jackson's fly ball to centerfield was muffed, giving CofC two runners in scoring position with none out. Brandon Murray drove both runners in, doubling down the left field line and Brandon Glazer followed with a double of his own, scoring Murray to stake the Cougars to the 3-0 lead. Glazer however, was thrown out trying to take third on the play and Leopard was able to retire the final two outs of the inning to end the run.

The Cougars struck again in the bottom of the second as Heidt followed Blake Butler getting hit by a pitch, driving an 0-1 offering over the raised fence in left field, expanding the Cougars lead to 5-0 after two innings.

College of Charleston took advantage of a CSU error in the bottom of the third in plating three more runs. Glazer and Cody Martin led off the inning with back-to-back walks, but Leopard retired the next two batters, on his way to closing out the frame. The CSU right-handed pitcher forced Ryan Welke into a grounder and the ball skipped through the third baseman, into left field, allowing both runners to score. Butler followed with a double to right field, bringing Welke around to score, staking the Cougars to an 8-0 lead after the first three innings.

Charleston Southern's bats came alive in the top of the fourth inning as the Buccaneers took one back with their first crooked frame of the day. Streett reached on a fielding error on a sharply hit ball to the shortstop and Drew Woodall took advantage of the miscue with a double down the left field line, giving CSU two runners in scoring position. Zack Hagaman followed, drawing a walk as the Bucs loaded the bases against Revan and Nick Berry broke the seal on the scoreboard with a bloop single falling in front of the right fielder for CSU's first run of the game, scoring Streett on the play.

The Bucs added three more in the top of the fifth, halving the College of Charleston lead. Bobby Ison led off the inning with a single up the middle, coming around to score on Jaren Sustar's triple to the right centerfield gap for the first run in the frame. Two batters later, Tomasovich drew a walk and Streett followed with a drive to centerfield, scoring Sustar and Tomasovich, with Streett settling on second base with the double to pull CSU within 8-4.

College of Charleston added two runs apiece in both the fifth and sixth innings to extend their lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, Welke followed a lead-off double by Bradley Goodson with one of his own for the first run of the inning. Later in the inning, Glazer brought in the second run, drawing a bases loaded walk to extend the CofC lead to 10-4.

Heidt continued to have the hot bat in the game, drilling a triple with two outs in the sixth inning, driving in Ben Boykin and Welke on his drive to the fence in straightaway centerfield, to put the Cougars up 12-4.

The Bucs took one back in the top of the seventh as Tomasovich doubled over the head of the CofC centerfielder, scoring Sustar with one out in the frame.

Carl Wise closed out the scoring for the host Cougars in the bottom of the eighth inning, driving a 2-2 pitch over the fence in centerfield to lead off the inning.

At the plate, Berry led CSU going 2-for-3 on the evening with a pair of singles and an RBI, while Sustar crossed the plate twice in the loss.

Heidt went 2-for-5 for the Cougars in the win, driving in four runs while scoring twice. Martin and Welke also had two hits in the contest, with Welke crossing the plate three times in the win.

Charleston Southern returns to action tomorrow afternoon as the Buccaneers host UNC Wilmington in a nine-inning contest at the CSU Ballpark. First pitch between CSU and the Seahawks is set for 2 p.m.