HIGH POINT, N.C. – No. 4 Charleston Southern opened their 2024 Big South Championship week with a victory over No. 1 Presbyterian by a final score of 5-4 on Thursday afternoon. The victory pushes them to the winner's bracket game that will be contested at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow from Truist Point.
BOX SCORE
Charleston Southern was the first team to get on the board as Cade Conway and BJ Banyon each had singles on the first pitches they saw of their at bats. Conway drilled his through the left side while Banyon sent his to right field and was good enough to move Conway to third. However, as the ball came back into the infield, the Blue Hose defense caught Banyon in a rundown, but during it, Conway sprinted home, avoided the tag and scored the first run of the entire Championship week.
In the third, the Buccaneers scored their second of the day. Evann Long led the inning off with a single through the left side and stole second base to move into scoring position. BJ Banyon then came to the plate and delivered the 1-2 ball to center field to score Long and lead 2-0.
Charleston Southern doubled their lead in the top of the fourth as they bumped their edge to 4-0 over the top-seeded Blue Hose. Evann Long had a double to score Bogdanchik for the first of the frame while a wild pitch during Conway's at bat scored JJ Rivera from third.
The Blue Hose scored their first runs of the game in the bottom of the 6th inning. They were able to load the bases with no outs and scored their first on a groundout double play with JJ Rivera turning it getting the unassisted out at third and tossing it across the diamond for the out at first. They scored the next on a slow hit grounder to second that skipped past Tuupo and allowed the runner originally at second to score to bring the score to 4-2.
In the top of the 8th, Gavin Bogdanchik led the inning off with a solo home run to left field, his second homer of the season, giving CSU an extra run of insurance at 5-2.
In the bottom half of the inning, Presbyterian had a two-run home run to left center that brought their deficit closer with them now trailing 5-4. PC's Joel Dragoo was the one who hit it for his 18th of the year.
In the bottom of the ninth, Presbyterian was able to get a leadoff single to put the tying run aboard. They were able to move the runner over to second and then third with a sacrifice bunt followed by a groundout. Down to their final out, Brody Fahr lined out to Tuupo at first to end the game.
Charleston Southern had three players finish with two hits on the game. Conway, Banyon and Long each had two. Bogdanchik, Rivera and Alex Urlaub each had one. Banyon had two RBIs while Bogdanchik and Long each had one.
On the mound for the Bucs, Sam Massey had the start and picked up the victory. He threw 5.0 innings allowing two hits and three walks and was charged with one earned run. Massey struck out five batters. Evan Truitt threw the final four innings of the game and picked up his 6th save of the season in the effort.
#4 Charleston Southern will return to Truist Point tomorrow to play the winner of #2 High Point and #3 USC Upstate tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. The winner of the contest will advance to Saturday's championship game while the loser will face the winner of the loser's bracket game tomorrow morning.