May 27, 2005

Final Stats

Charleston, S.C. - The top seed in the 2005 Southern Conference Tournament and 20th-ranked College of Charleston Cougars scored seven runs in the first and traded four runs the rest of the way to claim an 11-4 victory over third seed Western Carolina Friday afternoon at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

The College of Charleston (46-12) sent 11 men to the plate in scoring its seven runs in the bottom of the first. Brett Gardner had a leadoff walk and Byron Barber drew a one out walk, setting up an RBI single by Chris Campbell. Two more singles loaded the bases and Brett Anderson had an RBI infield single and Brian Hastings was hit by a pitch to force the third run across. Jess Easterling then delivered a three-run triple and scored one batter later on a sacrifice fly Oliver Marmol.

Jared Greenwood broke up the no hitter and the shutout in one swing of the bat, hitting his eighth home run of the season with a solo blast in the top of the fourth. In the sixth, Western trimmed its deficit to four (7-3) as Trey McDaniel had a leadoff single and scored on a double to right-center field by Chris Davis. Tim Hallam followed with an RBI single up the middle and moved to second on a wild pitch.

The Cougars got one of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth on a Wabick triple and subsequent RBI ground out by pinch hitter Michael Harrington. Easternling started the sixth with a solo home run, his seventh homer of the season to give CofC a 9-3 lead.

Charleston regained its original seven-run lead in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a one-out, ground-rule double by Wabick and an RBI single by Harrington. The Cougars would eventually load the bases and push its 11th run of the game across the plate on a single by Marmol.

In the eighth, Greenwood drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a ground ball and scored on a single by Barrett Shaft to make the score 11-4.

Seven different Catamounts had one hit each, including the only two seniors in the WCU offensive lineup, Davis and Greenwood. Freshman Greg Holland (2-3) suffered the loss. Despite allowing the seven runs in the first, he only allowed six hits and seven runs.

Western Carolina ends the 2005 season with a 33-23 record.