#18 COASTAL CAROLINA 7, #1 NORTH CAROLINA 3
 The 18th-ranked Coastal Carolina University baseball team (4-1) scored six runs in the final two innings to come-from-behind and beat top-ranked North Carolina (3-1) 7-3 Feb. 24 in Chapel Hill, N.C. It was the second straight regular-season win over the Tar Heels for the Chanticleers and their first-ever win over a top-ranked opponent.
 
The Tar Heels put up the game’s first run in the bottom of the first.  Mike Cavasinni led off the inning with a single to center. After freshman Keith Hessler (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook) struck out Levi Michael, he walked Dustin Ackley. Kyle Seager then hit a ground ball back to Hessler. He got the force on Ackley, but freshman Taylor Motter’s (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Palm Beach Gardens) throw was wide and past senior David Anderson (Lexington, S.C./White Knoll) to score Cavasinni.

The Chanticleers tied the game at one in the top of the third. Freshman Dan Bowman (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) singled with one out off UNC hurler Patrick Johnson. Senior Tyler Bortnick (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor) followed with a single. With two outs, both runners advanced on a passed ball, then Bowman would score on a Johnson wild pitch.  North Carolina’s Levi Michael scored the first earned run of the game in the bottom of the sixth, as he hit the first Tar Heel home run at the newly renovated Boshamer Stadium, a solo shot to left center field. Coastal Carolina got out of a first-and-third jam as sophomore Matt Rein (Houston, Texa/Langham Creek) struck out pinch hitter Matt Harrison to end the threat.
 
Junior Adam Rice (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Elgin C.C.) reached on a throwing error to lead off the top of the seventh. Motter sacrificed him to second and Bowman then reached on a walk. The rally was cut short, though, as Rice was caught stealing and Bortnick flew out to end the frame.  North Carolina added a run in the seventh as Ryan Graepel singled with one out. It looked like the inning would end as Cavasinni hit a grounder to second. Bortnick tagged Graepel but his throw was dropped by Anderson, keeping the inning alive. Cavasinni went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single from Michael.
 
Coastal Carolina would tie the game in the eighth. With one out, sophomore Rico Noel (Lawton, Okla./Lawton) doubled. He stole third and then would trot home on junior Jose Iglesias’ (Miami, Fla./St. John’s) fourth home run of the season, a towering shot to left center field.
 
The Chanticleers would take the 7-3 lead in the top of the ninth, sending nine men to the plate. Rice led off the inning with a single. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Motter, but Motter would be safe on a throwing error by Mark Fleury. The Chanticleers would load the bases with one out on a Bortnick walk. Freshman Scott Woodward (Markle, Ind./Norwell) hit a ground ball to Graepel at short, but he could not come with it, scoring pinch runner Steve Davis (Steubenville, Ohio/Steubenville). Noel followed with an infield single, making it 5-3 Chants. Tar Heel reliever Colin Bates then walked Anderson and gave up a sacrifice fly to Iglesias for the 7-3 lead. Junior Nick McCully (Lakeland, Fla./Santa Fe Catholic) struck out a pair in the ninth as the Chants improved to 4-1 on the year.
 
Noel had two hits for the Chants, while Iglesias drove in three. Cavasinni and Michael had two hits apiece for the Tar Heels.  Rein earned the win in relief for Coastal Carolina. He allowed two hits in 2.1 innings with two strikeouts. Hessler had an impressive start, striking out five and allowing three hits and one earned run in 5.1 innings.  Bates took the loss in relief, allowing four unearned runs in one inning. Tar Heel starter Johnson pitched five innings, allowing an unearned run and two hits with nine strikeouts.
 
Coastal Carolina hosts the Baseball at the Beach Tournament Feb. 27-March 1 at BB&T Coastal Field. The Chanticleers will face West Virginia Friday, Feb. 27 at 4 p.m.

CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 8, CHICAGO STATE 6
The Buccaneers evened their season record to 2-2 after taking an 8-6 win over the Cougars of Chicago State on Tuesday afternoon at Buccaneer Ballpark.  The loss pushes the Cougars back to 0-4 to start their 2009 campaign.  The Cougars would be the first to score in the top of the second inning after a silent first from both teams.  The Cougars’ Preston Pires would score on an RBI from Jonathan Carpen, but only after reaching base on an error and reaching third on a wild pitch.  The Buccaneers would redeem the lost run in the bottom of the second, after three Bucs crossed home plate.  The Bucs’ Patrick Dolan would score the first run after being walked and stealing second and third, on an RBI fly-out from senior Mark Perry.  Brantley Meier would reach first on fielder’s choice, and would reach home plate after a two-run first-pitch homer from Blake Hunt, to put the Bucs up 3-1. 

The Bucs would again hold off the Cougars in the top of the third.  After filling the bases, freshman pitcher Patrick Dolan would strike out the next three Cougars at the plate to leave the bases loaded on the third out.  The Bucs would add to their advantage in the bottom of the third on another first-pitch homer, this time from center fielder Tom Burkett.  The Cougars would be unable to answer the Buccaneer runs until the top of the sixth, after giving up another Buc run to bring Burkett in for his second run of the game.  Burkett reached base on hit pitch and took advantage of an error on the Cougar catcher to cross the plate, giving the Bucs a 5-1 lead.  Senior Keith Hustedt would relieve Patrick Dolan at pitcher and give up an unearned run to the Cougars’ William Hill.  The Cougars would hold the Bucs in the bottom of the inning and score again in the top of the seventh to cut the Buc lead to 5-3. 

The Buccaneers would not allow the runs to go unanswered, however, scoring three in the bottom of the eighth, after shutting down the Cougars with three-up, three-down in the top of the inning.  Dolan would reach base on his third at bat, and advance to second on a sacrifice bunt from Tyler Thornburg.  Brantley Meier would use his first hit of the game to drive Dolan home putting the Bucs up 6-3.  With Meier on first, Hunt stepped to the plate for his fourth at-bat, and hit his second homerun of the game, giving the Bucs an 8-3 lead going into the top of the ninth.  The Cougars would put forth and effort to tie the game, scoring three runs off a homer from Matt Haug, but the Bucs would hold onto the game by a final score of 8-6.

The Bucs will be back on the field at Buccaneer Ballpark on Wednesday afternoon for their second and final game against Chicago State.  The first pitch is slated for 2 p.m.

VMI 4, OLD DOMINION 3 (11 innings)
Freshman Jacob Morley’s bases-loaded single up the middle scored Justin Topping to give VMI an 11-inning, 4-3 win over Old Dominion on Tuesday afternoon at Gray-Minor Stadium.  The win is VMI’s (1-3) first extra-innings win since April 19, 2008, a 16-inning affair at Liberty, while ODU falls to 2-3.  Keydet senior Travis Smink (1-1) picked up the win by working the final 3.2 innings, allowing only one hit while striking out six.  The loss went to ODU reliever Gerard Hall, who walked three and allowed two hits in one inning.

Morley paced the Keydet offense, going 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBI, while Topping was 2-for-4 on the afternoon.  The Monarchs were led by Hall, who went 2-for-4 while starting the game at shortstop.  The Monarchs took an early lead off of Keydet starter Michael Devine, picking up a pair of runs in the second inning.  Following a leadoff double by Donnie Corsner, the Monarchs scored on an infield hit by Brett Harris and a squeeze bunt by Austin Wright to move ahead 2-0.  A pair of two-out walks loaded the bases for the Monarchs, but Devine escaped further damage by inducing a groundout to end the frame.  Monarch starer Ben Tomchick rolled through the opening innings, allowing his first base runner with two outs in the third inning, when Morley drew a five-pitch walk.  Tomchick later allowed an A.J. Yoder single to open the fourth inning, but rebounded to set down the next three hitters in order.

The Keydets mounted their first rally in the fifth.  Morley plated Alex Haitsuka with a well-struck ball into right field, where Scott came up empty on a diving attempt.  The ball got past the right fielder, allowing Haitsuka to score from second and Morley to pull into third with his first career extra-base hit.  VMI knotted the game at two in the seventh, as Haitsuka plated Brian Sandridge, who had reached on a leadoff double.  The visitors answered just a half-inning later off of reliever Alan Watts, with Hall scoring on Joe Velleggia’s base knock into center field.

The Keydets answered in the ninth off of Wright, who came on from second base to pitch to open the eighth.  In the ninth, Jordan Ballard led off with a scorching single over the shortstop’s head, then gave way to pinch-runner David Lottman.  In the next at bat, Wright delivered a wild pitch that skipped away from Monarch catcher Edgar Hernandez.  Lottman broke for second base, however, a wild throw from Hernandez went into center field, allowing Lottman to reach third base with no outs.  Two batters later, Lottman came home on a double play hit into by Topping, sending the game into extra innings.

Smink continued to roll through the extra innings, in all allowing only two base runners in his 3.2 innings.  The Keydets, meanwhile, threatened in the tenth before a bases-loaded double play ended the rally.  The Keydets strung together another rally in the 11th.  Topping reached base on a one-out single, before back-to-back walks moved him to third base.  Morley then delivered his third hit of the game, a shot back up the middle, that hit off of Jake McAloose’s glove and into shallow right-center field, giving VMI the win.

VMI returns to action on Wednesday afternoon, traveling to the state capital to take on Richmond at 2:30 p.m. at Pitt Field.

USC UPSTATE 12, GARDNER-WEBB 1
Gardner-Webb’s youthful weekday pitching was roughed up Tuesday afternoon, as USC Upstate rapped out 17 hits and cruised to a 12-1 win at Masters Field.  Gardner-Webb (3-2) didn’t have much of an answer on offense either, as Upstate rookie Ryan Fern kept the ‘Dogs off balance as his Spartans (2-2) kept plugging away at the plate.  GWU starter Jake Watts (0-1) had a rough start, loading the bases in each of the first two innings. He worked out of the initial jam, but walked two batters, hit another and uncorked a wild pitch in the second to allow the Spartans a pair of easy runs and a 2-0 lead. Upstate touched Watts for two more runs in the third and took complete control of the game from there.

The Spartans added two runs in the fifth off of freshman reliever Josh White and broke the game open with a six-run burst in the seventh, which featured back-to-back home runs by Jimmy Tanner (three-run) and Phillip Morgan (solo) off of rookie southpaw Jeremy Freeman.  Gardner-Webb got a single from Aaron Miller and an RBI double from Daniel Cooke in the ninth to break up the shutout.  Tanner paced Upstate’s offensive clinic, going 4-for-4 with four RBI – and throwing out the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ lone potential base stealer in the first inning. Blake Green, Jeff Medley, Tommy Shovlin and Kyle Simpson also had two hits for the Spartans – who legged out six infield hits in the game.

Fern (1-0) made his first college start look easy, touching 88-90 mph on the radar gun and scattering five hits in 6.1 scoreless innings of work.  Gardner-Webb managed eight hits, with Matt Rizzuto (2-for-3, 2B) pacing that effort.  Watts allowed six hits, four earned runs and walked three in 3.0 innings of work, his first on a collegiate mound. White was effective in spots, scattering five hits and allowing a pair of runs in 3.0 innings of work himself in his first college appearance.  Senior Mike Lewis (1.1 innings) and redshirt freshman Aaron Haynes (1.0 innings) kept the Spartans off the board in the eighth and ninth.

Gardner-Webb will have little time to lick its wounds, as red-hot Appalachian State (3-0) rolls into town on Wednesday.

NORTH CAROLINA STATE 8, HIGH POINT 2
The High Point baseball team took an early 2-0 lead but was unable to hang on as they suffered an 8-2 loss to NC State Tuesday afternoon at Doak Field at Dail Park.  The starting pitchers for both sides came out strong to start the ball game as HPU starter Mike Caldwell and NC State starter Zak Sinclair both opened the game tossing three scoreless innings.  All 10 runs in the game would be scored in the next three frames. 

High Point (2-2) opened the scoring up in the top of the fourth when Bill Manion scorched a triple in the right-center gap.  Billy Alvino was then hit by a pitch before Kyle Mahoney singled in Manion for the game's first run.  Max Fulginiti laced a ball which the first baseman was unable to handle advancing all of the runners, but a baserunning mistake kept the bases from being loaded when Mahoney was tug out by the third baseman.  Rob Gilles flied out to deep centerfield but picked up the RBI with Alvino crossing the plate.

NC State (2-2) quickly responded scoring five runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning.  Drew Poulk led off with a double down the leftfield line and advanced to third on a groundout.  He later scored when Harold Riggins singled through the left-side.  Two more singles followed to load up the bases for Drew Martin, who also singled in two more for the home team.  A groundout advanced Martin and Pat Ferguson to second and third base.  Another single brought in the duo to cap off the scoring, giving the Wolfpack at 5-2 lead.

In the fifth, Pratt Maynard hit a one-out single up the middle.  The catcher advanced to second on a wild pitch and took third when the throw down sailed into centerfield.  A Riggin's sacrifice fly to right field brought in Maynard for a 6-2 lead for the home team.  A Wolfpack error to start the sixth inning got a rally started for HPU.  Mahoney reached on a throwing error by Maynard and Gilles followed with a single through the right side.  It was his first collegiate hit as well.  Eric Marion took a 3-1 pitch to the right field warning track, but Drew Poulk was able to track it down.  A walk to Pablo Rosario set the table for Alfie Wheeler, who grounded out to second end the High Point threat.

Reliever Masaki Muroya got off to a shaky start for HPU issuing a walk, hitting a batter and having a fielding error to start off the inning.  A fielder's choice by Kyle Wilson brought in the runner at third and set-up runners at first and third.  Muroya got Dallas Poulk to pop up to the catcher and got Drew Poulk to groundout to third base, but Marion was unable to handle the tough hop allowing the final run of the game to be scored.

Manion was the only Panther player to register a multi-hit game and had recorded a hit in every game this season.  Alvino's single in the first inning extended his hitting streak to eight games.  Caldwell suffered the loss and moves to 1-1 on the season, picking up the win in the season opener.  Zach and Wally Scott both made their first appearances on the season, tossing a scoreless inning apiece.  Martin, Riggins and Wilson picked up two, two and three RBI, respectively for the Wolfpack.  Jake Kensmoe picked up the win in relief of starter Zak Sinclair. 

High Point returns to the field this weekend when they host Temple in a three-game series starting Friday afternoon.  First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.

JAMES MADISON 11, LIBERTY 2
The James Madison Dukes halted Liberty’s three-game win streak, with an 11-2 victory over the Flames, Tuesday at Long Field/Mauck Stadium.  Liberty drops to 3-2 on young season. James Madison improves to 2-3. The meeting was the first of three contests between the two squads this season.

Liberty and James Madison each pushed runs across in their first at bat of the contest. In the top of the first inning, Flames shortstop Matt Williams (Fr., Franklin, Tenn.) led off the game with a single and advanced to third base on a single by center fielder Curran Redal (Jr., Moses Lake, Wash.). Two batters later, designated hitter Cody Brown (Sr., Cumming, Ga.) lined a single to left field, plating Williams. In the bottom of the frame, the host Dukes countered with two runs. After a leadoff walk to center fielder Alex Foltz, shortstop David Herbek followed with a run-scoring single. Later in the home half of the first, right fielder Matt Browning lined a RBI single through the right side of the infield for a 2-1 James Madison advantage.

The Dukes extended their lead to 3-1 with a run in the second inning. Third baseman Kent Burford opened the frame with a single. After stealing second base and moving to third base on ground out, Burford scored on a Foltz ground out.  In the third inning, Liberty plated a run to cut their host’s lead to 3-2. Second baseman P.J. Jimenez (Jr., Yucaipa, Calif.) reached when James Madison’s Browning dropped his fly ball to right field. Jimenez moved to second base on a ground out and was cashed in two batters later by left fielder Jeff Jefferson.  The Dukes upped their edge in the bottom of the fourth frame. Left fielder Matt Townsend led off the frame with his second home run of the season, extend James Madison’s advantage to 4-2.

In the sixth, the Dukes stretched their lead with two more runs. Townsend began the inning with a single and stole second. After a sacrifice bunt with one out moved Townsend to third base, both James Madison second baseman Mike Fabiaschi and Foltz were hit by pitches to load the bases. Herbek followed with a bloop two-run single to left field for a 6-2 Duke lead.  James Madison added an unearned run in the seventh inning on a RBI single by catcher Chris Johnson.

The Flames threatened in the top of the eighth frame, loading the bases with two out. Catcher Errol Hollinger (Upland, Calif.) was hit by a pitch and advanced to third base, as first baseman Trey Wimmer (Greenwood, S.C.) lined a double down the right-field line. Tyler Bream (Fr., Zelienople, Pa.) was then hit by a pitch to fill the bases with Liberty runners. However, Duke reliever James Weiner was able to retire the next batter to keep the Flames from scoring.  In the bottom of the inning, James Madison tallied four more runs for the final score of 11-2.  Liberty starter Joe Steinwedell (Encinitas, Calif.) takes the loss. The right-hander, the first of six Flames pitchers in the contest, gave up four runs on five hits over three innings.

James Madison starter David Edwards picks up the win, allowing two runs on five hits over six innings. Weiner recorded his first save of the year, pitching the last three frames for the Dukes.  Herbek paced James Madison with three hits in the contest, while teammates Townsend and Fabiaschi had two hits apiece.

Liberty travels tomorrow to Chapel Hill, N.C., for a meeting with the No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.

#3 GEORGIA 8, PRESBYTERIAN 1
The Presbyterian College baseball team held an early lead on the nation’s No. 3 team, but eventually fell by an 8-1 score Tuesday evening to Georgia.  The Blue Hose now stand at 0-4 on the young season while the Bulldogs improve to 4-0.  PC fought hard the entire game, out-hitting the Bulldogs by an 11-9 count.  Jesse Harmon, Cory Lyda and Bobby Cole each tallied two hits in the game while Zac Rhinesmith, Kenny Bryant, Jared Combs, Nate Horton and Drew Wingo each accounted for one.

Joe Hammond ended up taking the loss for the Blue Hose after tossing 3.2 innings. He gave up five runs on seven hits while striking out two. Gabe Grammer came in to relieve him in the fourth and he gave up three runs on three hits, but also struck out three.  Miach Black, just like Grammer, earned his first pitching duties of the season against the Bulldogs. Black tossed 2.1 scoreless innings. He allowed just one walk while fanning four batters.  Head coach Elton Pollock’s team jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in its half of the first stanza. Harmon continued his hot start by singling to left. He moved to second on a balk and went to third on Lyda’s single to right.

Harmon came around to score on Bryant’s single to left.  The lead would not last long as Georgia would plate two runs in the bottom half of the first frame.  The Bulldogs would take on a run in the second. PC had a chance to take the lead in the third. With one away, Rhinesmith was hit by a pitch and moved to second on Lyda’s single. However, Georgia was able to close the door in the inning, getting the next two Blue Hose batters out, ending the threat.  Hammond helped Pollock’s team get out of a jam in the third. After allowing a two-run home run, Hammond got out of a bases loaded jam by inducing a lazy fly ball to left.

PC had a hit in the fourth and fifth innings, but was unable to get things going. In the sixth, Combs and Cole recorded back-to-back singles, but the next two batters grounded into a fielder’s choice and a double play, which meant Pollock’s team could not get a run across the plate and slice into the lead.  The Blue Hose threatened again in the eighth inning. With two outs, Cole singled up the middle and moved to third on Horton’s single. Wingo grounded out to second to end the inning.

PC will get another shot at the Bulldogs Wednesday. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m., at Foley Field.