Cougars Rally Past Bulldogs in Opening Game of City Series – College of Charleston Athletics

Cougars Rally Past Bulldogs in Opening Game of City Series – College of Charleston Athletics

CHARLESTON, S.C. – College of Charleston rallied from a three-run deficit to extend its winning streak to nine with a 5-4 victory over The Citadel on Tuesday at Riley Park. The Cougars (29-10) also won for the 15th time in their past 16 games and defeated the Bulldogs for the 21st time in the last 22 matchups. The teams meet again at Patriots Point on May 7.

Rally in the Eighth

Trailing 4-3 in the top of the eighth, the Cougars put runners on the corners with one out. Dylan Johnson laid down a bunt, and the Bulldog pitcher threw wildly trying to retire Will Baumhofer at the plate to tie the game. Baumhofer had a single to increase his hitting streak to six games, drew a pair of walks, and scored twice. Tyler Sorrentino followed with a sacrifice fly, his second RBI of the game, to bring home Kevin Madden with the eventual winning run. Sorrentino has five hits and has driven in six runs against The Citadel in the past two years.

Bullpen Holds Strong

While Charleston was mounting its comeback at the plate, the bullpen was holding The Citadel in check. Emmett Bice, the third of five Cougar pitchers, entered in the fourth and worked 3.2 innings of two-hit ball to pick up his fourth win of the season. Andrew Duval pitched a perfect eighth, and Davis Aiken finished with a 1-2-3 ninth for his CAA-leading eighth save of the season.

Game Highlights

The Cougars fell behind 3-0 after three before cutting their deficit to one in the fourth. Sorrentino singled in a run and then stayed in a rundown long enough on a double steal to allow Johnson to come across. The Bulldogs added a run in the bottom of the fourth, and it stayed that way until Charleston pulled back within one in the seventh on an RBI groundout by Cole Mathis.

Upcoming Games

Charleston returns to CAA play with back-to-back road series at Campbell this weekend and Towson in two weeks.

Team Statistics

Pitching

• W: Bice, Emmett (4-3)
• L: Luke Kissenberth (0-1)
• S: Aiken, Davis (8)

Charleston Batting

• RBI: Mathis, Cole 1; Johnson, Dylan 1; Sorrentino, Tyler 2
• SH: Johnson, Dylan 1
• SF: Sorrentino, Tyler 1

The Citadel Batting

• 2B: Thomas Rollauer 1; Garrett Dill 1
• RBI: Sawyer Reeves 1; Thomas Rollauer 2; Javier Crespo 1

Game Leaders

Hitting

• #16 Madden, Kevin – AB 4, R 1, H 2, RBI 0
• #11 Mathis, Cole – AB 4, R 0, H 1, RBI 1
• #42 Baumhofer, Will – AB 2, R 2, H 1, RBI 0
• #9 Johnson, Dylan – AB 3, R 1, H 1, RBI 1

Pitching

• #38 Bice, Emmett – ER 0, IP 3.2, SO 2, BB 1
• #32 Brooks, Daniel – ER 3, IP 2.1, SO 2, BB 1

Fielding

• #11 Mathis, Cole – PO 10, A 1
• #9 Johnson, Dylan – PO 6, A 1

Players Mentioned

#42 Will Baumhofer 5′ 10″ Senior INF

#38 Emmett Bice 6′ 6″ Senior RHP

#11 Cole Mathis 6′ 1″ Sophomore RHP/INF

#5 Tyler Sorrentino 5′ 10″ Sophomore OF

#26 Andrew Duval 6′ 0″ Freshman LHP

#9 Dylan Johnson 6′ 1″ Junior C/INF

#16 Kevin Madden 6′ 1″ Graduate Student INF

#18 Davis Aiken 5′ 10″ Junior RHP