- March 25th, 2006, 8:14 pm
#9298
a tough loss for the guys. im glad we can off the mat from yesterday's blowout! better reults will come!
ROCK HILL, SC- Phil Carey’s walk-off, two-RBI single lifted Winthrop to an 8-7 victory over the Liberty Flames on Saturday afternoon at The Winthrop Ballpark in game two of the three-game series.
With the win, the Eagles improve to 20-5 and 2-0 in conference play, while Liberty falls to 17-6 and 0-2 in the Big South.
“It was a great win –a walk-off win,” Eagles head coach Joe Hudak said. “This was a just great college game. After we get three in the first inning, you start to think maybe we will have another one like yesterday, but Liberty is a very good club. They battled back, and made a game of it. And what a great ending it was.”
After the Flames put up three runs in the top of the ninth to come from behind –and go on top 7-4, the Eagles rallied for four runs in the bottom of the inning to claim victory. With the top of the order working against Flames’ reliever Phillip Thompson, junior second baseman Chris Carrara (3-4, RBI) singled to start the rally.
“Well, the thing that I really liked, they scored three runs in the top of the ninth, and we come into the dugout and there was not one sign of panic,” Hudak said. “We had to take care of our business; we told them to take care of every at-bat. We were where we wanted to be with the top of the order up. I told Goose (Carrara) to set the tone, and he sure did.”
With Carrara on first, starting pitcher Heath Rollins, now operating solely as the designated hitter, drew a walk to put the tying run at the plate.
Unfortunately for the Flames, that run was represented by senior left fielder Jacob Dempsey, who went 4-5 with three RBI on the day and currently leads the league in home runs (9) and RBIs (38). With as much speed as the Eagles can show on the bases in Carrara and Rollins, Dempsey doubled into right center to score both and knot the game at seven.
After junior center fielder Tommy Lentz (3-5) kept the rally alive with a one-out single that held Dempsey on third, Carey (1-2, RBI)–pinch hitting for starting right fielder Nick Bly (3-3, RBI), scored both Lentz and Dempsey to lift the Eagles to the 8-7 victory –and the series victory, over the Flames.
“I was just looking for a base hit,” Carey said. “Anything over, I just wanted to put a good swing on the ball.”
Making his eighth start for the Eagles, Rollins finished with a no-decision when the Flames pulled ahead in the ninth inning against junior closer Jonathan Settle. In eight innings, Rollins allowed four runs (three earned) on nine hits while striking out five.
Despite allowing the three runs on two hits in the ninth, Settle (2-1, 2.77) ended up on the winning end of the duel as the Eagles retook the lead in the bottom of the inning.
For the Flames, Thompson (3-2) took the loss, giving up four runs on four hits in just 2/3 of an inning in relief.
Once again, the Eagles jumped out to an early lead, putting up a three-spot on starting pitcher Ryan Page in the bottom of the first inning. After working the count full, leadoff man Carrara knocked his third home run of the season to put the Eagles on the board. Dempsey singled, senior short stop Matt Repec walked and Lentz singled to load the bases. Sophomore third baseman Mitch Saum drew the second walk of the inning to score Dempsey, and Bly singled through the gap in right center to score Repec and put the Eagles ahead 3-0.
The Flames starting climbing back, getting a run in the top of both the second and third. First baseman Aaron Grijalva (1-4) hit a one-out single and scored when right fielder Derek Bennion drew a bases-loaded walk in the second, and with two outs in the third, left fielder Phillip Laurent (2-4, 3 RBI) drove in second baseman Michael Just to tighten the gap 3-2.
Winthrop got one back in the fourth, as Carrara scored for the second time of the day. After leading off with a single and taking second on a balk, Dempsey’s RBI-single into right field gave the Eagles a 4-2 advantage.
Still chipping away, the Flames added a run in each the sixth and seventh to knot the score at four. Center fielder Phil John (3-5, 3 RBI) hit a 3-1 pitch over the right field wall to lead off the sixth, and Laurent’s one-out sacrifice fly scored third baseman Chad Miller (1-3) to tie the score through six and a half innings of play.
With the game tied at four and both starting pitchers off the hook, the game came down to the ninth. Settle started the inning and after getting a quick out, got into a bit of trouble, dealing back-to-back walks. The Flames took advantage as Laurent knocked in Miller, the recipient of the first walk, to pull ahead 5-4. With two outs, John singled up the middle to score both Just (walk) and Laurent, putting the Flames up 7-4 going into the bottom of the ninth.
But the Eagles, down but never out, sent seven to the plate in the bottom of the ninth and rallied for four runs to end up on top.
“I don’t think our team is ever really out of it,” Carey said. “They crept back in the game and kind of took it from us. But we had an awesome team effort and put some hits together in the bottom of the inning, and ended up taking it back.”
After Carrara singled to start the rally and Rollins walked, Dempsey sent both in with his fourth –and the only one for extra bases, hit of the day. Lentz kept things going with a one-out single that moved Dempsey around to third, and though Saum grounded out for the second out, he put Lentz –the winning run, in scoring position. On Carey’s two-out single, both runners were waved in as the Eagles picked up their second walk-off win of the season.
Liberty and Winthrop will play the final game of the Big South opener tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. RHP Josh McDonald (3-0, 1.56) will face RHP Phillip Thompson –also today’s losing pitcher, for the Flames.
- By Humble_Opinion