COLUMBUS, Ga. – No. 21 (
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division II Top 30) Flagler College was facing a must win situation and came through with a 13-4 victory over No. 11 Columbus State University in a Peach Belt Conference baseball game Saturday afternoon at Burger King Stadium at Ragsdale Field.
Flagler salvaged the rubber game in the series to improve to 25-10 overall and 15-6 in conference play. Today's wins was the second for the Saints at Columbus in 13 games. The last win was March 30, 2013. The Cougars had their four-game winning streak snapped and fell to 26-6 overall and 10-4 in conference play.
Flagler got on the board first when
Jason Moore's single to left field scored
Frankie Martello from second base.
The Saints added three more in the third thanks to RBI singles by
Aaron Anderson,
Steven DiPuglia and
Connor Laspina.
The Cougars cut the lead in half with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third.
Moore's solo homer in the fourth was the insurance run Flagler would need as it took a 5-2 lead.
Flagler broke the game wide-open with a five-run fifth. Moore hit a two-run single and
Ja'Kobi Dasher belted a two-run home run to give Flagler a 10-2 lead.
The Saints added three more in the seventh.
Ethan Jones (4-0) picked up the win in relief after tossing four innings. He scattered six hits and two runs while walking two and striking out four.
Robert Girgis started and went four innings while
Kyle Morton pitched the ninth.
The Saints collected a season-high 20 hits and were paced by the 3-4-5 hitters who went 12-for-17 with seven runs batted in and seven runs scored. Moore finished the day 4-for-5 with a home run, five RBI and he scored two runs. He tied his career-high in hits. Martello went 4-for-5 with a double, one RBI and a career-best four runs scored. Lawlor collected a career-high four singles, scored a run and drove in another. Anderson added three singles, scored two runs and drove in two more.
Payton Phillips (1-1) took the loss after allowing eight hits and four runs in just three innings of work. He was the first of seven pitchers today for Columbus State.
The Cougars pounded out 12 hits, but they were all singles. Justin Evans, Garrett Kirkwood, Mason McClellan and Chase Brown each had two singles.
Columbus State stranded 14 runners on base, eight were in scoring position.
Flagler hosts Valdosta State University on Tuesday (April 3) at 5 p.m. at Drysdale Field.
