June 4, 2010
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CBI Live
Talley takes advantage
of big second inning by Bulldogs
By Phil Stanton
CollegeBaseballInsider.com Co-Founder
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Staked with an early lead, Matt
Talley (right) took control.
Talley allowed two runs in seven innings as
third-seeded The Citadel defeated second-seeded Virginia Tech
7-2 Friday afternoon in the opening game of the Columbia
Regional in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in front of
5,075 fans at Carolina
Stadium.
The Bulldogs (43-20) stretched their win streak
to 13. They face the winner of top-seeded South Carolina and
fourth-seeded Bucknell on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. The Hokies
(38-21) meet the loser in an elimination contest at 2 p.m.
"We got ahead early today," Talley said, "and I was able to
settle down, concentrate on throwing strikes and not really try
to shut the other team out."
Talley (8-3) allowed eight hits (seven singles)
and two earned runs with no walks and three strikeouts. His only
blemish was a two-run homer in the seventh by Sean Ryan.
“I thought Matt Talley was very good,” said
Bulldog head coach Fred Jordan. “I’ve seen him pitch better. I
told him he pitched extremely tough today.”
Raymond Copenhaver pitched two scoreless innings
with one hit and one walk to secure the win.
The Hokies stranded nine.
The Citadel erupted for four in the second. Bryan
Altman doubled to center and moved to third on a base hit to
right by Justin Mackert, extending his hit streak to 13. Kyle
Jordan brought home Altman with a safety squeeze to first to
make it 1-0. David Greene had just enough to get a ball out to
right, his seventh homer, to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 advantage.
Grant Richards drew a four-pitch walk and went to third on a
single by William Ladd. Richards scored when the second baseman
dropped a popup in shallow right field to make it 4-0.
“I thought we were very fortunate in that their
left-hander Wright wasn’t settled in there in the first and
second inning,” Jordan said. “The ball was up a little bit and
we capitalized on it.”
Tech had great chances to score in the fourth and
fifth, getting a pair of singles to start both frames. But they
came away empty.
The Bulldogs added to their lead in the sixth.
Mackert singled to left and Jordan laid down a bunt that sat on
the chalk on the first-base line. The pair moved up on a
sacrifice by Greene and both scored on a single by Richards,
ending the day for Tech starter Justin Wright.
In 5.1 innings, Wright (8-5) allowed 10 hits and
six earned runs with one walk and five strikeouts.
Altman added a run-scoring single in the seventh
to give The Citadel a 7-0 lead.
The Hokies loaded the bases with two away in the
eighth, but a flyout to left ended the threat.
“Disappointing in many ways,” said Hokie head
coach Pete Hughes. “A lot of things we’ve done to get here,
productive outs, solid start, two-out hits, those are things we
didn’t do today. Give credit to The Citadel and give credit to
Tally. He pitched out of some jams and we didn’t.”
Every starter had at least one hit for the
Bulldogs. Altman finished with three hits, while Mackert added
two hits and two runs.
Tony Balisteri and Austin Wates both had three
hits for Tech.
“We threw strikes, we made the routine plays and
we got the timely hits,” Jordan said. “You do that, you’ve got a
chance.”
(photo by Russ Pace, The Citadel
Photographer) |