Photo by Robin Martin
CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College baseball team used
an eighth-inning rally to knock off visiting High Point in a wet
and wild Big South Conference clash on Saturday, 7-6.
PC improves to 7-4 on the year and 2-0 in the Big South
while High Point falls to 5-5 overall and 0-2 in league action. The two sides
meet for the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m. The win marks PC's sixth
straight victory.
Down 6-5 to start the bottom of the eighth, PC tied the game
on a throwing error and loaded the bases for Jay Lizanich (Greer, S.C.). Steady
drizzle turned to sleet and the game stopped for 35 minutes until the weather
passed. After the delay, Lizanich bunted the first pitch he saw down the third
base line and scored Aaron Preston (Goose Creek, S.C.) to give PC a 7-6 lead.
The Blue Hose stranded three to end the eighth, but Tim
Corbin (Murrells Inlet, S.C.) forced a groundout with the bases loaded in the ninth to seal his second win of the season. The redshirt senior
pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Chandler Knox (Columbia, S.C.), who threw
seven innings and allowed six runs.
Freshman Weston Jackson (Greer, S.C.) went 2-for-3 on the
day while Brad Zebedis (Rock Hill, S.C.) went 1-for-1 thanks to two sacrifice flies
and a hit-by-pitch. The junior catcher drove in a team-high two RBI. Nathan
Chong (Duluth, Ga.) put together a 2-for-4 day and scored three runs.
High Point's Josh Spano went 4-for-5 with an RBI. Jaime
Schultz took the loss in three and one-third innings of relief.
PC went ahead early on a run in the first inning. High Point
plunked Chong and the outfielder used a sacrifice bunt and some heads-up
baserunning to reach third. Zebedis then brought Chong in on a deep sacrifice
fly to right field.
High Point evened the score in the second on a double and
two groundouts before scoring three runs in the third. The Panthers took advantage
of five hits en route to a 4-1 lead heading into the bottom of the frame.
PC took two in the bottom of the third to narrow the gap to
one. Chong led off with a single and took third on a Billy Motroni (Goose
Creek, S.C.) single. A throwing error allowed Chong to score before Brandon
Paul (Augusta, Ga.) cashed in to bring Motroni around.
The two sides swapped one run each in the fourth—PC's coming
on a Michael Trebendis (Fayetteville, Ga.) RBI single and High Point's coming
via error—before the Blue Hose tied the game in the fifth. Chong again came
through at the leadoff position by doubling to left field and Zebedis
eventually brought the outfielder in on another sacrifice fly.
High Point took its final lead in the top of the seventh
when Josh Spano knocked a double deep to center field to plate Willie Medina.
The Panthers then led, 6-5, until the fateful eighth inning put PC ahead for
good.
----------------------------------------------------------------
High Point.......... 013 100 100 - 6 14
3 (5-5, 0-2 BSC)
Presbyterian College 102 110 02X - 7 11
1 (7-4, 2-0 BSC)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: High Point - TOWNSLEY, Sean; SCHULTZ, Jaime(5); GOODMAN, Joe(8) and
SPANO, Josh.
Presbyterian College - KNOX, Chandler; CORBIN, Tim(8) and ZEBEDIS, Brad.
Win-CORBIN, Tim(2-1) Loss-SCHULTZ,
Jaime(0-2) T-2:42 A-137
Weather: High 40s, clear and bright
TOWNSLEY, S. faced 1 batter in the 5th.
