CHARLESTON, S.C. – UNCG blew a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, but Thomas Troelstrup came through with a two-out RBI single in the top of the 11th to propel the Spartans to a 5-4 win over College of Charleston on Friday evening at Patriots Point.
The win gave UNCG sole possession of second place in the league after being tied with the Cougars coming into the contest.
With the game tied through 10 innings, Trevor Edwards led off the top of the 11th with a single up the middle and then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt before advancing to third on a wild pitch. After a groundout, John Hein drew a walk in a pinch-hit at-bat. With runners on the corners, Troelstrup took a 2-1 pitch and put it through the right side of the infield to score Edwards and give UNCG the 5-4 lead.
Jonathan Jones (1-4) came in to pitch the final 2 1/3 innings to pick up the win after allowing just two hits and striking out three. UNCG (26-17, 15-7 Southern Conference) starter Warren Slack was great as he went 6 2/3 innings and gave up just two runs on seven hits, while striking out four.
Casey Lucchese (3-1) was credited with the loss for the Cougars (30-16, 14-8 SoCon) after allowing one run on two hits in two innings of work.
Trevor Edwards led the Spartans on Friday as he went 3-5 with two RBI and a run scored and Bobby Martin went 2-4 with an RBI and run scored. Troelstrup went 2-5 with an RBI and run scored, while Drew Gehringer added two hits and a pair of runs scored.
Daniel Aldrich, Cole Rakar and Rob Harding all had two hits for CofC and all scored one run.
The Spartans were able to jump on CofC starter Josh Renfro in the top of the first with an early run. After Renfro retired the first two batters on four pitches, Gehringer hit a triple into the right-field corner. Edwards then singled to right field to score Gehringer and put UNCG ahead early, 1-0.
UNCG would hold onto that one-run lead until the top of the fourth when the Cougars struck for a pair of home runs. Matt Leeds hit his 16th homer of the season that hooked just inside the right-field foul pole to lead off the inning and tie the game at one.
Freshman Daniel Aldrich made it back-to-back home runs as he took a 2-1 pitch out to right center to give CofC the 2-1 lead.
The Spartans were able to answer in the top of the fifth with a run to knot the game at two. With one out, Gehringer hit a single through the left side of the infield. A failed pickoff attempt by Renfro went into foul territory down the right-field line to allow Gehringer to move over to third. After a strikeout, Eric Brindle poked a double to the opposite field to make it 2-2.
UNCG was able to break the deadlock in the top of the seventh inning as Bobby Martin led off with a triple into the right-field corner. Edwards then hit a double into the gap in right center two batters later to put the Spartans ahead, 3-2.
The Spartans were able to add what appeared to be an insurance run in the eighth inning as Thomas Troelstrup led off with a single and moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a strikeout, Martin hit a double just inside the first-base bag to score Troelstrup and make it 4-2.
It appeared as if UNCG would hold on, but the Cougars mounted a rally in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at four. Cole Rakar led off with a walk and then scored as Rob Harding slapped a double down the left-field line to make it 4-3.
Harding would then move over to third on a sacrifice bunt before scoring on a pinch-hit sacrifice fly by Ryan Daniels to tie the game at 4-4.
The Spartans and Cougars will meet again on Saturday in the second game of the series at 7 p.m.
AGATE
UNCG 5, Coll. of Charleston 4
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UNCG................ 100 010 110 01 - 5 12 0 (26-17, 15-7)
Coll. of Charleston. 000 200 002 00 - 4 11 3 (30-16, 14-8)
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Pitchers: UNCG - Warren Slack; Jarett Miller(7); Jonathan Jones(9) and Trevor Edwards. Coll. of Charleston - Josh Renfro; Kyle Owings(7); Casey Lucchese(10) and Robert Pritcher.
Win-Jonathan Jones(1-4) Loss-Casey Lucchese(3-1) T-3:29 A-276
HR COFC - Matt Leeds; Daniel Aldrich.
Weather: 66 and overcast
- UNCG -
