Cougars Rebound From Late Night to Edge Elon

Game 6: #5 College of Charleston 4, #1 Elon 3
(Elon eliminated)
Box Score
SoCon Tournament Central

CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston scored a run in the seventh and one in the eighth inning to come from behind and eliminate No. 1 seed Elon, 4-3, in the second elimination game of the 2011 Bennett Hospitality Southern Conference Baseball Championship presented by the Carolina Ford Dealers.

The No. 5 seed Cougars advance to play the loser of the Western Carolina and Georgia Southern game played later today. Charleston's second elimination game is set to begin tomorrow at 7 p.m.

College of Charleston improves to 37-21 on the season while Elon falls to 36-21.

After finishing its first round game at 3:01 a.m. earlier in the day, College of Charleston's offense scored four runs on eight hits, including a 2-for-3 performance from all-conference selection Matt Leeds. Leeds scored a run and also knocked in one for the Cougars. Elon's attack was spearheaded by Jake Luce who recorded two of the three Phoenix RBIs.

Starter David Peterson pitched 7.0 innings for Charleston, giving up three runs, two of which were earned, on eight hits while striking out two. Peterson received a no-decision, as Kyle Owings (1-3) came in to throw the final two innings for the Cougars and earning his first win of the season. John Brebbia picked up his first career loss for the Phoenix to fall to 7-1 on the year.

Cole Rakar's aggressive base running in the bottom of the eighth paid off for the Cougars. With Rakar on first and Jamie Holler at the plate for Charleston, Holler lined a ball to right field and Raker dashed from first to third. With a play at the base, right fielder Niko Fraser sailed the throw over the third baseman's head and into the seats, advancing Raker to home plate for the winning run.

Leeds put the Cougars on top early in the first inning with an RBI double down the left field line that scored Marty Gantt. It was Leeds' 18th double on the season and 76th run batted in.

Elon evened the score at one in the third when Harry Austin reached base on a fielding error and then came around to score when Sebastian Gomez connected on a two-out single to tie the game.

After Charleston went ahead in the bottom of the fourth with one run, Elon responded with two runs of its own to take its first lead of the game. With two outs in the inning, Luce knocked a ground ball to first base that took a high hop over the first baseman's head for a double, pushing Austin and Fraser across for the 3-2 Phoenix lead.

The Cougars knotted the game 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh when Marty Gantt lined a home run over the left field scoreboard. The solo shot was Gantt's sixth on the season.