BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Charleston Southern broke the single-game home run record to defeat Gardner-Webb on Friday afternoon with a final score of 19-4. They clubbed seven on the day to surpass the record of five that was set in 1985 and tied earlier this spring.
The Buccaneers got on the board in the top of the first with
Aidan McAskie delivering a two RBI double to left center for the early 2-0 edge. Garnder-Webb had a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning, but it was all Charleston Southern after this with a pair of scoring runs of seven or more.
In the second,
Blake Edgmon had a sacrifice fly to score
Lucas Pringle and
Kaden Smith had a single to right to score another. In the fourth, they tallied five runs as Edgmon had a single to the shortstop to tally the first of the inning. Later in it, Smith had a grand slam to bust the game wide open at 9-1 for the first major scoring run for the squad.
The second stretch happened in the fifth inning with the Buccaneers tallying seven runs in the frame.
Nathan Martinez led it off with a home run to center field. Collins had a single through the right side with the bases loaded to score a pair and then a double steal led to him on second and Edgmon going home.
Chandler Tuupo had an RBI groundout later in the inning while
AJ Martin and McAskie each had solo home runs to left field. It carried into the next inning with
Lew Rice getting a one-run homer of his own for the squad's fifth long ball of the day to tie the individual game school record to put the score at 18-3.
Jack Mausser entered the game as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning and had a solo home run to lead it off. This marked the squad's sixth total of the day to be the most in a single game in school history. McAskie added another in the top of the ninth to push the scoreline to 19-4 and extend the record-breaking day even further.
Parks Ledwell earned the victory on the day after receiving the starting nod. He threw the first 6.0 innings allowing just two earned runs while giving up six hits and four walks and striking out six batters.
Christian Krause was the first arm out of the bullpen tossing a scoreless seventh allowing just one hit.
Joel Rodriguez had an inning of work with one run allowed.
Nick Timpanelli had 0.2 of work and
Lee Watson had the final out.
McAskie and Rice led the team with four hits on the day. Collins finished with three hits while Smith, Martin, Pringle and Edgmon each had two hits. Smith led the squad with five RBIs and McAskie had four RBIs. As a team, they had seven home runs with McAskie leading the team in the category with two. Others who had one were Smith, Mausser, Martin, Martinez and Rice.
The two teams will return to Bill Masters Field on Saturday at 1 p.m. for the rubber match of the final regular season series of 2025. The game will be available to be watched live on ESPN+.
