May 14, 2006
Box Score
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Danny Meszaros pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and nationally 21st-ranked College of Charleston took advantage of six Furman errors to claim a 7-1 victory in the Southern Conference series finale at Furman Stadium Sunday afternoon.
Meszaros (8-1) yielded only six hits and one earned run while walking two and striking out three before departing with two outs in the seventh inning and College of Charleston holding a 3-1 lead. Quinn Monsma worked the final 2 1/3 innings to record his second save of the season.
The victory gave the Cougars (38-12, 19-5 SoCon) the rubber game in the series and marked the 29th consecutive league series win for CofC dating back to the 2003 campaign. It also moved College of Charleston into a first place tie with Elon heading into the final series of the SoCon regular season, when the Cougars will host crosstown rival The Citadel in a three-game set beginning Thursday.
With the loss and Georgia Southern's 12-7 defeat at the hands of Appalachian State on Sunday, Furman (30-19, 14-10 SoCon) remains in a third place tie in the league with Georgia Southern. The Paladins wrap up the league regular season with a three-game series at Western Carolina beginning Friday at 7:00 p.m.
Furman's six errors in Sunday's game led to six unearned runs, and for the series 10 of College of Charleston's 14 runs were unearned. The Cougars, who committed five errors in Saturday's 5-4, 10-inning loss to the Paladins, played error free on Sunday.
The Cougars managed 12 hits in the contest, including three each by Jess Easterling and Joey Friddle. Easterling and Chris Campbell both drove in a pair of runs.
Furman had nine hits against Cougar pitching, including Case Cassedy's 52nd double, which moved him into a first place tie with three others for most career two-baggers.
Ryan Hodinka (9-2) hurled six strong innings for Furman but took the loss after a Paladin error to lead off the seventh led to an unearned run. The Furman senior lefthander allowed six hits and two runs, but just one earned, while walking one and striking out two.
College of Charleston grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Phillip Coker led off with a bunt single, advanced to second on a sacrifice, and stole third before coming home on Chris Campbell's groundout.
Furman tied the game in the fourth on Tony Maccani's RBI single to center field that scored Cassedy. The Paladins threatened for more after getting runners on second and third base with one out, but Joe Daysh was retired at home after Jay Jackson failed to execute a squeeze play, and Jackson later struck out to end the inning.
It remained 1-1 until the seventh when College of Charleston took advantage of two Furman errors to push across a pair of runs. Coker led off by reaching on an error by Daysh at third base. With one out, Campbell walked to put runners at first and second. Ben Lasater then hit a sharp ground ball to Daysh, but his throw to second base on the attempted force play went into center field, allowing Coker to score. Jess Eaterling followed with an RBI single to left field to give the Cougars a 3-1 lead.
Furman's defensive woes continued in the eighth as College of Charleston used three more Paladin errors and four hits to plate four unearned runs and take control of the contest. Friddle singled to lead off and advanced to second on Daysh's third error of the contest on Oliver Marmol's grounder. Phillip Coker followed with a sacrifce bunt attempt that Paladin pitcher David Mitchell fielded but threw wildly past the covering Marcus Rose at first base. Paladin rightfielder Steven Hildreth allowed the ball to get past him for the second error on the play, resulting in two more runs to make it 5-1. Campbell's single through the left side scored Coker, and two batters later Easterling completed the four-run inning with a run-scoring single to left field.
Furman returns to action on Tuesday when it entertains South Carolina at Greenville's new West End Field in a 6:00 p.m. game.
