Late push in final frames not enough for Charleston Southern

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern baseball dropped its sixth contest in a row Sunday afternoon, falling to Canisius, 8-6, at Nielsen Field.

Sunday’s affair stood as the third and final installment of a three-game set with Canisius. After a clean first frame from both sides, Canisius (7-8) took control early with a huge second inning.

The Golden Griffins found five runs in the second, taking advantage of a five-error inning from the Charleston Southern defense. The first run came from a bases-loaded walk before a Kyle Kush single to center scored Dylan Vincent.

A sacrifice fly and a fielder’s choice resulted in two more scores before the frame was capped off with a Max Grant single to score Mike DeStafano.

The third frame proved to be vital for the visitors, as Gibson Krzeminski brought Vincent around to score with a double and Kush returned the favor with a single through the left side to bring Krzeminski around.

The Golden Griffins scored their final run in the fourth, as Grant took a fastball out to right field for a solo shot, the only home run by either team in all three games.

Charleston Southern (8-10) would battle back and give itself a chance to win in the middle innings, starting with a nine-batter fourth inning.

The Bucs found five runs in the frame to make it an 8-5 game, starting with Hogan McIntosh and Nick Rodriguez picking up RBI-singles.

Austen Izzio scored McIntosh with a ground ball to third before a Hayden Harris single through the right side brought Rodriguez around to score.

The final run of the contest came in the fifth, as Ryan Waldschmidt found real estate in left field to bring Ajay Sczepkowski across.

Charleston Southern had multiple opportunities in the final frame to tie the game, but Canisius was able to shut the door on the home team to complete the non-conference series sweep.

Evan Truitt (1-3) got charged with the loss for Charleston Southern, going just 1.2 innings and surrendering five runs.

Only one of the five runs was earned after just three hits and two walks completed the starter’s line.

Chris Pouliot (2-1) gets credited with the win after working through 3.2 innings, giving up four earned on eight hits and two strikeouts.

Peyton Consigli got the save after getting the final nine outs for the visitors, his first on the season.

IN THE BOX

”Our pitching was better than the score indicates. Truitt only gave up 1 earned run while Robinson came in and gave us 5+ solid innings of relief,” said Head Coach Marc MacMillan. “Both Ausbern and Raj were efficient in the innings of work. We just did not make the plays defensively - all weekend, and we left too many runners in scoring position with less than two outs. The formula for success is not complex, but it becomes complex when you add extra outs/at bats for your opponent.”

UP NEXT

Head Coach Marc MacMillan‘s side play host to Saint Mary’s in a non-conference mid-week contest Monday, March 13. The affair is set for a 11:00 a.m. first pitch at Nielsen Field.

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