Chris Taylor knocked in a career-best six runs in Charlotte's 11-2 win at No. 3 South Carolina |
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Charlotte Baseball Upends No. 3 South Carolina 11-2 in Columbia
March 5, 2008
Columbia, S.C. - Senior catcher Chris Taylor drove in six runs in Charlotte's 11-2 win over No. 3 South Carolina at Sarge Frye Field Wednesday night. It was Charlotte's first win over a Top 10 team since a win over No. 6 Houston in 2000. Charlotte improves to 8-1 on the year, winners of five in a row, while South Carolina drops to 5-2 this season. The game was the first for Charlotte in Columbia since the 2007 postseason, where Charlotte finished 2-2 last year.
Charlotte gave up the two runs in the second inning on a home run and a bases-loaded walk, but shut down the Gamecocks over the final seven innings while the offense went to work.
In the fourth, Cory Tilton hit a one-out single up the middle and senior Brad McElroy walked. Taylor then blasted a three-run homer over the center field fence and the batter's eye to give Charlotte the lead that they would not relinquish.
In the sixth, junior Aaron Bray walked to lead off the inning. Tilton walked and McElroy doubled to left center to drive in Bray and move Tilton to third. Taylor then drove in Tilton with a groundout and shortstop Shayne Moody singled home McElroy for a 6-2 margin.
In the eighth, Moody hit a sacrifice fly to drive in McElroy, who had walked and stolen second and third bases. The Niners added four more in the ninth. McElroy drove in two with a double to left field and Taylor knocked in two more with a double over the centerfielder's head to give Charlotte the 11-2 lead.
Six Niners pitchers combined for the dominant win, stranding 13 Gamecocks on the basepaths, including leaving the bases loaded twice in the first four innings. Freshman Andrew Smith got the win (1-0) in the team effort. He lasted 2.1 innings, allowing one hit and one walk, striking out a pair. Starter B.J. Hagen and reliever Joe Yermal struck out three each. The Niners fanned eight hitters, one short of the season-high mark this season.
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McElroy finished 3-for-3, drawing two walks and scoring four runs and driving in three. Freshman Corey Shaylor went 3-for-4, hitting a single to each of the three outfield directions. Tilton scored three runs for Charlotte. The Gamecock pitchers struggled with the top four hitters in the Charlotte line-up, giving up eight hits and 10 runs to that part of the batting order.
Taylor and Moody have at least one hit in all nine Charlotte contests this season, and finished the last two games with a hit, extending their hit streaks to 11 games each. Taylor homered twice at Sarge Frye field in the regionals last season, both against USC. He has three career homers in three games against Carolina.
The nine-run loss tied the largest margin of defeat for the Gamecocks at home this season, which dropped a 13-4 decision to East Carolina in the opening weekend.
Starter Nick Godwin took the loss for South Carolina (1-1). He allowed five earned runs on five hits and two walks in five innings. Four of the five Gamecocks pitchers gave up at least a run in the contest.
Charlotte hosts High Point for three games this weekend at Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium. Friday's contest starts at 4 p.m., with noon starts on Saturday and Sunday.
