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The Citadel, Furman Stay Alive at SoCon Baseball Tournament
SoCon Baseball Championship Central
Game 6: #8 Furman 6, #5 College of Charleston 5
With the win, Furman (23-30) advances to face the loser of the Elon-Western Carolina game Friday at 7 p.m. With the loss, College of Charleston falls to 35-22.
Lyne (2-3) came into the game with no outs and the bases loaded in the top of the fifth with the Cougars having already scored two runs. The freshman forced a fly out before striking out Matt Mansilla. After Cole Rakar singled to right, Joash Brodin was thrown out at home by Will Miller to end the threat.
Lyne pitched four innings allowing only one hit while striking out three against one walk in earning the win. CofC pitcher Curtis Dowling (1-2) suffered the loss after surrendered the go-ahead run, which was unearned.
Furman scored what proved to be the winning run in the bottom of the fifth. Rose led off with a bunt, beating out the throw at first base. The senior advanced to third on a pair of ground outs before scoring on a passed ball from Dowling.
Leading the way for the Paladins was Rose, who was 2-for-4 with and a home run and two RBIs. In a losing effort, Cougars’ designated hitter Ryan Daniels was 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
Furman opened up the scoring in the third inning with a Will Miller home run over the “Green Monster” in left field. Later in the inning, Rose duplicated Miller’s feat sending a shot over the 30 foot-high wall, plating two runs, to bring the score to 3-0.
However, the Paladins were able to score two more in the bottom of the fourth when Campbell Lewis and J.B. Jenkins each doubled scoring runs.
The Cougars tied the score at five heading into the bottom of the fifth after the top half of the inning saw four CofC runs. After a single and three straight walks loaded the bases and scored one run, Paladins’ pitcher Mike Waller balked sending in another run. Another walk allowed for a Daniels’ single to bring in the final two runs for the Cougars before Lyne came in and closed out the side setting up Rose’s game-winning run in the bottom half of the inning.
The win was Furman’s first at Fluor Field in nine attempts.
Game 5: #3 The Citadel 9, #7 Davidson 8
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? The Citadel’s Chris McGuiness hit a solo home run in the top of the ninth inning that broke an 8-8 tie and propelled the No. 3 seeded Bulldogs to a 9-8 elimination game victory over the No. 7 seed Davidson Wildcats at the 2009 Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Fluor Field.
With the win, The Citadel (35-21) advances in the bracket to face the loser of the
McGuiness took a Thomas Middour 1-1 pitch over the right center field wall to put the Bulldogs up one heading into the bottom of the ninth. The Wildcats were able to advance pitch runner Chris FitzPatrick to second before the Wildcats’ Zach Kayne struck out to end the game.
Leading the way for the Bulldogs was Bryan Altman, who went 4-for-5 with two runs scored. Sonny Meade, Richard Jones and McGuiness all recorded two RBIs. In a losing effort, Davidson’s Kayne went 5-for-6 with two RBIs. The five hits tied a SoCon Tournament single-game record. Pat Brady recorded a pair of RBIs.
The Bulldogs’ Drew Mahaffey (2-3) picked up the win after pitching four innings of shutout, one-hit ball with eight strikeouts against one walk. Picking up the loss was Middour (2-8).
The Citadel got on the board in the top of the first inning with a pair of runs. Facing two outs, Meade singled to center field. A Jones double brought in Meade before Matt Simonelli’s grounder caromed off the pitcher’s glove, allowing Jones to cross the plate safely.
Davidson picked up one in the bottom of the first when Kayne stole home after breaking from third when The Citadel’s Matt Talley lured Chase FitzPatrick into a run-down between first and second.
In the top of the second, Meade singled to center to score Kyle Jordan. After a Wildcats’ pitching change, Jones doubled down the left field line scoring Altman. Meade scored on a McGuiness sacrifice fly to push the score to 5-1.
The Bulldogs tallied a single run in the third on a
Davidson pulled to within three in the bottom of the fourth when Brady nailed a two-run home run over the right field fence.
The Wildcats had a five-run fifth inning, three off Bulldogs’ errors, which erased a three-run deficit and put Davidson in the lead, 8-6. Danny Weiss opened up the scoring plating a run on an error by the Bulldogs. Chase FitzPatrick followed with a run on a pickoff throwing error. Tommy Piacenza scored the third run off an error, another throwing error. Kayne ended the scoring barrage with a double to the gap in that drove in Brett Shore and Brady.
The Citadel scrapped back however and tied the game by scoring a run in each of the sixth and eighth innings. In the sixth, Meade doubled down the left field line scoring Altman. In the eighth,