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)