Charleston Gets 6-5 Walk-Off Win Over Towson In Opening Game Of CAA Baseball Championship
Rob Washburn
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WILMINGTON, N.C. (May 26, 2021) – Harrison Hawkins was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, giving fourth-seeded Charleston a 6-5 walk-off victory over #5 Towson in the opening game of the 2021 CAA Baseball Championship on Wednesday afternoon at UNCW’s Brooks Field.
The Cougars (25-23) advance to play either top-seeded Northeastern or #2 UNCW on Thursday, depending on the outcome of today’s second game. The Tigers (21-35) will face either Elon or William & Mary in an elimination game at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
Designated hitter Tanner Steffy paced the Charleston offense, going 3-for-3 with a homer and two RBI’s, while Matt Lobeck was 2-for-3 and drove in a run. For Towson, shortstop Danny Becerra went 2-for-3 with three RBI’s and Bryce Frederick was 2-for-4 and scored a run.
Ty Good (6-5) earned the victory for Charleston after giving up just one hit and no runs over the final 2.1 innings and fanning two.
With the game tied at 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth, Lubek beat out an infield single to lead off the inning and Trotter Harlan followed with base hit up the middle to put runners on the corners. After Landon Choboy was intentionally walked to load the bases, Hawkins was hit by a breaking ball on the first pitch to force in the winning run.
Charleston took advantage of a Towson miscue to grab a quick 2-0 lead. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Hawkins reached on an error and Steffy followed with a deep shot to left for his fifth homer of the year.
After being limited to one hit over the first two frames, Towson got its bats going in the third. Jacob Terao was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Becerra’s single up the middle. Back-to-back base hits from Billy Godrick and Nolan Young plated Becerra, and Godrick put the Tigers up 3-2 when he crossed the plate in the midst of a Cougars’ double play.
The Cougars pulled even in the fifth when Lobeck’s first career double to left-center brought in Luke Stageberg. Charleston regained its lead in the sixth as Hawkins, who led off the frame with a single, scored on a throwing error on an attempted force out at the plate. The Cougars made it 5-3 when Ari Sechopoulos came home on a groundout.
The Tigers battled back in the seventh. Frederick and Terao singled, setting the stage for Becerra, who delivered a two-out, two-run triple down the right-field line that tied the contest at 5-5.