Box Score March 11, 2012
Final Stats
CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina baseball team capped off a school-record 64 innings of baseball over five days as Tucker Frawley'sbases-loaded single in the 12th inning gave the Chanticleers (8-6) a 3-2 win over Ohio State (8-6) Sunday afternoon in the final game of the Chanticleer Classic at Watson Stadium/Vrooman Field.
The Chants played 18 innings Wednesday, defeating Toledo and UNC Wilmington in a missed doubleheader; dropped a 10-7 decision to Toledo in 11 innings Friday; played 23 innings Saturday in a mixed doubleheader - beating Ohio State and losing to Marist in 14 innings; before playing 12 innings Sunday in the win over Buckeyes.
Justin Creel started the 12th by being hit by a pitch and Rich Witten followed with a single. After an out, Creel and Witten stole third and second, respectively. Ohio State would intentionally walk Ted Blackman to load the bases. Frawley, a senior captain, lined a one-ball, two-strike fastball to right-center field just beyond a diving David Corna for the game winner.
Aaron Burke improved to 4-0 on the season. The junior pitched the final 4.1 innings, allowing two hits, no runs and two walks with a strikeout. Josh Dezse (1-1) suffered the loss. He also pitched 4.1 innings, allowing three hits and one run with two walks and two strikeouts.
Both teams had their chances throughout as Ohio State had trouble several times executing potential sacrifice bunts and leaving seven runners on base, while Coastal Carolina left 11 runners.
With two outs in the fourth, Dezse, then serving as the designated hitter, drew a walk and Corna reached on an infield single, the first base hit by the Buckeyes on the day. Brad Hallberg followed with an RBI double, putting OSU up 1-0. Austin Kerr was called upon to limit the damage, which he did by getting Kirby Pellant to pop out for the third out.
In the home half of the fourth, Coastal did some two-out damage to take a 2-1 lead. With one out, Daniel Bowman singled and Blackman followed with an infield hit. After a fly out, Alex Buccilli walked to load the bases. Sloan Gilliam plated Bowman and Blackman to give the Chants a 2-1 lead.
Ohio State tied the game in the eighth. Greg Soloman reached on an error and took third on a hit-and-run single by Aaron Gretz. With runners on the corners, Tim Wetzel laid down a safety squeeze bunt, plating Soloman.
Austin Wallace, who was thought to miss significant time with a hip injury, was cleared to play and pitched 3.1 impressive innings to start the game. He did not allow a hit or a run with a walk and four strikeouts, including fanning each of the first three batters.
Offensively, Witten finished with three hits, while Bowman, Blackman and Gilliam each added two hits. Bowman has a nine-game hit streak and he, Frawley, Creel and Witten have reached base safely (by hit, walk or hit by pitch) in 11 straight games.
Coastal Carolina will continue its 22-game home stand by hosting regional rival College of Charleston on Wednesday (Mar. 14) at 4 pm. The Chants will then host its fifth and final tournament, the CC Classic, Mar. 16-18. The weekend field includes Michigan, Connecticut and UAB.
