GREENSBORO, NC UNC Greensboro was shutout for the second straight day as College of Charleston claimed a 3-0 win Sunday afternoon at UNCG Baseball Stadium to take a three-game series with the Spartans two games to one.
Jeff Beliveau (2-0), who started the game in place of injured scheduled starter Wes Braden, allowed just three hits while striking out four batters in six innings of work. Josh McLaughlin, the loser in Friday night's game after allowing a walk-off home run to Brandon Harvey, worked the final three innings to pick up his fifth save of the season. He allowed just two hits and struck out four.
Junior left-hander Ryan Falcon (0-1) took the loss despite hurling one of his better performances of the season. The Rougemont, NC native allowed just two runs on six hits in six plus innings on the hill. Jonathan Nichols saw two innings of action on the hill and senior Patrick Currin extended his scoreless inning streak to 8-1/3 innings after working an inning on the hill.
UNCG (9-16, 1-2 SoCon) squandered a golden chance to get a run and take a fifth inning lead, but some crafty pitching from Beliveau prevented the Spartans from doing so. David Adams reached base with a one-out bunt single and then advanced to second and third on balks by Beliveau. Beliveau, however, then retired Adam Deleo on a groundout to third and then induced Mike Mongiello into a groundout to second to leave Adams stranded on third.
College of Charleston (20-5, 5-1 SoCon) took the lead in the top of the sixth on an RBI double from rightfielder Phillip Coker. Oliver Marmol reached with a one-out bunt single and then stole second before Coker smacked a two-bagger just inside the third base line to give the Cougars a 1-0 advantage.
Jess Easterling led off the seventh inning with an opposite field home run on the first pitch he saw to chase Falcon and give the Cougars a 2-0 lead in the process. Joey Friddle added a two-out RBI single to score Larry Cobb to account for the final run of the game.
The Spartans loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth with two out, but McLaughlin struck Adam Deleo out looking to end the game. Guy Welsh extended his hitting streak to eight games with a two-out single up the middle and Wes McCall and Adams followed with walks to load the bases. McLaughlin then retired Deleo on three straight curveballs to lock up the win for the visiting Cougars.
Welsh led the Spartans at the plate with a 2-for-4 afternoon while Jermaine Mitchell, Adams and Sean Snell each had one of UNCG's five hits. Easterling led the Cougars with a perfect 3-for-3 day with an RBI while Marmol chipped in with a pair of hits.
UNCG returns to the diamond Wednesday evening when the Spartans take on in-city rival North Carolina A&T at 6 p.m. from First Horizon Park in downtown Greensboro.
AGATE:
Coll. of Charleston 3, UNC Greensboro 0 (Mar 26, 2006 at Greensboro, NC)
Coll. of Charleston. 000 001 200 - 3 9 0 (20-5, 5-1-0)
UNC Greensboro...... 000 000 000 - 0 5 2 (9-16, 1-2-0)
Pitchers: Coll. of Charleston - Beliveau; McLaughlin(7). UNC Greensboro - Ryan Falcon;
Jonathan Nichols(7); Patrick Currin(9).
Win-Beliveau(2-0) Save-McLaughlin(5) Loss-Ryan Falcon(0-1) T-2:22 A-237
HR COFC - Easterling.
Falcon faced 1 batter in the 7th.
Beliveau faced 1 batter in the 7th.
Nichols faced 1 batter in the 9th.
- UNCG -
