ASHEVILLE, N.C. – #4 Charleston Southern fell to #1 High Point on Friday afternoon by a 9-6 final score. The game that initially started on Thursday afternoon was put into a 21-hour suspension due to weather in the area and was completed on Friday afternoon. The Bucs have a quick turnaround as they will now face #6 Longwood in an elimination game.
The Buccaneers were the first team to score, using a
Garrison Barile double in the first to score
Tyler Wright and
Caden Wolfley for a quick 2-0 lead. High Point answered immediately, tallying three runs in the bottom half of the frame to take a 3-2 edge. After the end of the top of the second, lightning was detected in the area forcing the game into a delay, which then led to a suspension.
Coming out the delay, the Bucs kept
Matt Gallant out and he worked the second and third after starting the game originally. In the third, HPU boosted their lead to 4-2 with a sacrifice fly.
The Charleston Southern offense started to click, beginning in the sixth with Wright getting a solo homer to straightaway center to bring the game back within a run. In the seventh, the Buccaneers had runners on the corners with one out and Edgmon singled to right center to score Martinez. The next batter up was Collins who had an RBI fielder's choice, beating the throw to first and allowing
Ethan Reader to score the go-ahead run and place it at 5-4, CSU.
The Panthers then responded with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to reclaim the lead, now at 7-5.
Charleston Southern's Martinez had an RBI single in the eighth to right center, cutting the deficit down to one with two outs on the board. The Buccaneers were then able to load the bases with two outs still on the board. High Point put Dylan Story in the game out of the bullpen and forced Edgmon to groundout to him, ending the inning. The Panthers got a pair of insurance runs in their half of the eighth, putting the score at 9-6.
Matt Gallant threw 3.0 innings, allowing three earned runs.
Jack Bunnell threw the next 4.1, allowing five earned runs, but chopped through the Panthers' lineup the first time through the order.
Drew Dawson had the first 0.2 innings.
At the plate, Charleston Southern finished with 11 hits with Martinez having a career-best four hits in the contest and Wright having two to finish with multiple as well. Barile was the lone player to have multiple RBIs as he had two on the day.
#4 Charleston Southern will now face #6 Longwood at 3:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon in an elimination game. The loser will be eliminated while the winner will move on to Saturday and take on #2 Winthrop.
