Box Score Baseball Falls to #25 Michigan 4-1 More Information:
CONWAY, S.C. – 25
th-ranked Michigan (8-5) pitcher Zach Putnam struck out 10 in 6.1 innings and the 20
th-ranked Coastal Carolina University baseball team (14-2) stranded nine runners on base as the Wolverines defeated the Chanticleers 4-1 March 15 in game five of the Centex Homes Invitational at Watson Stadium/Vrooman Field. The loss snapped Coastal’s 10-game winning streak. Nate Recknagel started the Wolverine offense with a two-run home run to left field in the first, his fifth of the season. Coastal would answer in the bottom of the third. Freshman
Scott Woodward (Markle, Ind./Nortwell) singled with one out, moved to second on an error by Recknagel on a pickoff attempt, went to third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch. The score would remain the same until the eighth, when Michigan’s Adam Abraham drove in Recknagel with a single. In the ninth, Kenny Fellows scored on a sacrifice fly from Kevin Cislo. Coastal had chances to score in the last three innings. The Chants had first and third with one out in the seventh, but Wolverine reliever Michael Powers induced sophomore
Chance Gilmore (Surfside Beach, S.C./Virginia) to ground into a double play. In the eighth, Coastal had the bases loaded with one out, but senior
Tommy Baldridge (Fort Mill, S.C./Fort Mill) grounded into another double play. In the ninth, junior
Tyler Bortnick (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor) and Gilmore singled, putting runners on the corners, but Abraham, who came on to pitch the ninth, got Woodward to strike out looking to end the game. Putnam gave up just three hits and an unearned run in 6.1 innings. He also had three walks. Junior
Bobby Gagg (Hamburg, N.J./Wallkill) was tagged with the loss. He gave up eight hits and two runs in seven innings. Gagg had no walks and four strikeouts. Bortnick and junior
Dock Doyle (Conway, S.C./Conway) had two hits apiece for Coastal, while Recknagel, Derek Van Buskirk and Alan Oaks had two hits apiece. Coastal will conclude the Centex Homes Invitational Sunday, March 16 at 1 p.m., against Michigan.
