NC State vs College of Charleston - NCAA Regional Baseball Recap

College of Charleston 9, North Carolina State 6

Jose Rodriguez went 4-for-5 with a solo home run and starting pitcher Kevin Decker struck out seven hitters, as the second-seeded College of Charleston Cougars defeated No. 3 seed North Carolina State Friday evening. The win in the opening round of the 2010 NCAA baseball tournament gives Charleston a ticket to the winners’ bracket at BB&T Coastal Field. The Cougars will meet top seed and regional host Coastal Carolina on Saturday evening.

Charleston jumped out 3-0 in the bottom of the first inning, using four hits to take the early lead.  Rob Kral, Matt Leeds, and Baker Knox drove in the three runs for the C of C. 

The Cougars continued to pound away at Wolfpack starter and losing pitcher Jake Buchanan (8-6), scoring four more runs in the fourth for a 7-0 advantage. Leeds delivered once again, smacking a two-run single. Greg Blake lofted a sacrifice fly to join the fun for Charleston.

North Carolina State chipped away, however, and eventually made this contest close. The Wolfpack put an electric charge into the ballpark when Drew Poulk whacked a grand slam in the top of the eighth to cut the deficit to 8-6. The blow came against Charleston reliever Tom Schiller, but three of the four runs on the grand slam were charged to C of C starter Kevin Decker.

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As bold as the Wolfpack’s rally was, that’s as close as N.C. State would get. Charleston’s Owen Brittle was anything but brittle in the ninth, as he shut down NCSU for his fourth save of the season.

Decker (8-0) notched another win and remained unbeaten in 2010. The senior’s final scoreline showed five runs, three earned, on five hits with four walks in 7 1/3 solid innings.

Buchanan allowed 13 hits in the loss for N.C. State, tossing four innings and giving up seven runs, four earned, with three strikeouts.

By: Brandon Rink
DFN Sports Senior Guest Writer