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Furman Downs 21st-Ranked College Of Charleston 5-4 In 10 Innings
May 13, 2006
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- A.J. Davidiuk's bases loaded single in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted Furman to a 5-4 win over nationally 21st-ranked College of Charleston in Southern Conference baseball action Saturday evening at Furman Stadium.
The victory snapped a six-game SoCon losing streak for Furman (30-18, 14-9 SoCon) and also halted a seven-game losing skid to the College of Charleston (37-12, 18-5 SoCon) in Greenville. The triumph also gave Furman only its fourth 30-win campaign in school history and marked the 113th win for the 2006 Paladin senior class -- the most in any four-year period in program history, which dates back to 1896.
After College of Charleston tied the game at 4-4 in the eighth, Furman's Marcus Rose opened the 10th inning with a single up the middle off Cougar reliever Josh McLaughlin. Ben Terry followed with a single through the left side, and Will Stembridge reached after Cougar second baseman Chris Campbell failed to tag first base after taking a throw from first baseman Ben Lasater on Stembridge's sacrifice bunt attempt. With no outs and the bases loaded, Davidiuk stroked a two-strike McLaughlin offering into left field for the game winner.
Davidiuk's decisive hit made a winner of Ryan Hudson (2-1), who allowed only two hits over the game's final 2 1/3 innings.
McLaughlin (1-3), who earned the save in Friday's 3-2 series opening win, was charged with the loss after giving up three hits and the game winning run in just 1/3 on an inning.
The College of Charleston committed five errors in the contest, which accounted for four unearned runs. Three of the Cougars' four runs came courtesy of a pair of Furman fielding miscues.
The poor defense by both teams overshadowed solid efforts by both starting pitchers. Furman's Mason Smith went 6 2/3 innings and allowed only five hits and three unearned runs. The sophomore righthander struck out four and walked one. College of Charleston's Nick Chigges, meanwhile, yielded six hits and four unearned runs over 8 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out seven.
Furman banged out nine hits in the contest, including two each by Case Cassedy, Terry, and Davidiuk. Joe Daysh drove in a pair of runs for the winning Paladins.
College of Charleston was paced at the plate by Campbell and Joey Friddle with two hits apiece.
Furman jumped out to a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the second. Cassedy led off with an infield single and advanced to third after Cougar shortstop Oliver Marmol failed to handle a grounder off the bat of Daysh. After Daysh was caught stealing, Tony Maccani got Cassedy home on an infield grounder.
The Paladins added another unearned run in the fourth. Davidiuk led off with a line drive single and raced around to third after Cougar centerfielder Larry Cobb allowed the ball to get by him. With one out, Daysh plated Davidiuk with a groundout to make it 2-0.
College of Charleston got off the deck with three unearned runs in the fifth. Clay McCord opened the frame by reaching on error. With two outs, Marmol drilled a two-strike double into left center field to score McCord, and Cobb followed with a two-run home run to left field to give College of Charleston a 3-2 lead.
In the sixth Furman parlayed two hits and two College of Charleston errors into a pair of runs for a 4-3 advantage. With two outs Davidiuk reached on a walk and came around to score after centerfielder Cobb misplayed Cassedy's sharp line drive for his second error of the game. Daysh followed with a single into right field to score Cassedy to put the Paladins out front, 4-3.
The Cougars tied it in the eighth on pinch hitter Ben Lasater's two-out RBI double off the right centerfield fence that scored Chris Campbell. Hudson recovered by striking out Alex Garebedian to end the inning.
Sunday's series finale, which is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m., will highlight Senior Day at Furman.
