CofC Moves Into CAA Title Game With 4-1 Victory Over UD
Rob Washburn
Boxscore |
Highlights
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. (May 23, 2015) – Redshirt freshman pitcher Hayden McCutcheon tossed a complete game and junior Carl Wise hit a double and a triple to account for two RBI as top-seeded College of Charleston advanced to the title game of the CAA Baseball Championship with a 4-1 victory over fifth-seeded Delaware on Saturday morning.
The Cougars (43-12) head to the championship contest for the second straight season, but must win twice against second-seeded UNCW in order to claim the team’s second straight crown. CofC and the Seahawks play at 1:00 p.m. in a game broadcast by the American Sports Network (ASN) and via CAA.tv online.
McCutcheon made just his fourth start of the season, but came up huge for his team by going the distance to improve to 1-1. He scattered six hits, struck out three, tossed and did not walk a batter in a 94-pitch performance. Sophomore Bradley Jones added an RBI double and senior Champ Rowland contributed one hit and one run in the win.
The Blue Hens (26-24) entered Saturday having won three straight elimination contests at the tournament. Senior lefty Taylor Mahoney (1-3) took the loss, lasting 5.1 innings while giving up three earned runs on six hits and two walks in the setback. UD senior Greg Olenski had two hits and redshirt freshman Diaz Nardo recorded a double and also scored the team’s only run.
Mahoney pitched well through the first two frames, but ran into some trouble in the top of the third as CofC plated two runs. Rowland drew a leadoff walk, and after a fly out, Ryan Brown walked to put runners on first and second. Alex Pastorius advanced both runners with a groundout to the right side, and then the first run of the game scored when Mahoney was called for a balk. Wise came up next and added to the lead with a run-scoring double to right.
In the fifth, CofC tacked on another run with two outs. Devon Reed started the inning by reaching second on a throwing error at short and then advanced to third via a sacrifice bunt. Mahoney fanned Pastorius to get two outs, but Wise came to bat and smacked a 1-1 offering from the lefty off the left field wall for a long RBI triple.
The score stood 4-0 in favor of the Cougars when Jones doubled with one out in the sixth. Sophomore catcher Erven Roper traded places with him, hitting a run-scoring double to right.
Delaware found the scoreboard with its lone run in the eighth when Nardo opened the frame with a double and moved to third on a groundout. It became 4-1 when Nardo scored on a rare passed ball from Roper.
CofC and UNCW met in Friday afternoon’s winner’s bracket game, with the Seahawks rallying for a 4-3 victory in 10 innings. If College of Charleston beats UNCW, the deciding second game will take place on Sunday at Noon.