COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON COMPLETES SWEEP OF FURMAN WITH 3-1 VICTORY
Greenville, S.C.-- Ryan Edell pitched 6 1/3 innings with his outing being broken-up by a three hour and thirty-two minute rain delay, limiting Furman to four hits and one run as College of Charleston completed a series sweep of the Paladins with a 3-1 victory in Sunday afternoon baseball action at Furman Baseball Stadium.
The Cougars started the scoring in the second inning when they loaded the bases after two consecutive walks by starter Sam Perry (3-2) and an error by the third baseman Matthew Betsill. Anthony Fairchild then bunted to the pitcher, but no one covered first base, allowing everyone to advance and Matt Hallett to score, giving C of C a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom half of the third, Joe Daysh led off with a single to the shortstop. Derek Norman followed with a walk to give the Paladins runners on first and second. Edell then allowed the runners to move into scoring position as his pitch sailed past catcher Matt Kirkpatrick. Case Cassedy came to the plate next, but with a 2-2 count the skies opened up and the umpires halted the game. Three and a half hours later, Edell (5-1) returned to the mound and with his first pitch struck Cassedy out.
After the rain delay, David Mitchell took over for Perry and allowed the first three runners to reach base in the top of the fourth. He retired the next batter on a strike-out, but Philip Coker followed with a fielder’s choice, which allowed Matt Easterling to score, making it 2-0 in favor of the Cougars.
Furman threatened in the seventh inning as the Paladins loaded the bases with two outs. Norman followed with a single to the shortstop, plating Dominic Franchini to cut the C of C lead to 2-1. However, closer Brett Harker struck out A.J. Davidiuk to end the inning.
College of Charleston added a run in the ninth inning when Coker blasted a home run down the left field line off Ryan Hodinka to increase the Cougar lead to 3-1
The Paladins, though, had their chance in the ninth inning to salvage a win and avoid the series sweep. With two outs, Craig Caudill singled to the shortstop and pinch-hitter William Stembridge followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Norman was then intentionally walked to put the winning run on first base, but Harker forced Davidiuk to ground-out to end the game, picking up his ninth save in the process.
With the series sweep, College of Charleston improves to 35-8, 19-2 in the
Southern Conference and extends its first place lead over The Citadel, which
was swept by ETSU this weekend. Furman, now in eighth place in the conference,
goes to 17-25 and 8-13 with the loss. The Paladins still have three Southern
Conference series left as they travel to The Citadel next weekend and then host
Davidson before ending the season against ETSU in Johnson City, Tenn.
Furman will be back in action on Wednesday when the team travels to Rock Hill,
S.C. to face Winthrop in a 7:30 p.m. game. College of Charleston next takes
on Georgia Southern in a three-game Southern Conference series, which begins
in Charleston on Friday with a 7:00 p.m. contest.