AIKEN, S.C. – Eric Sommerville pitched 6.1 solid innings
and Justin Greene hit a two-run home run as Francis Marion staved
off elimination from the PBC Tournament by beating Columbus State
4-2 on Friday afternoon. The loss was the first of the tournament
for the Cougars, who will play again on Saturday morning at 11 am.
Francis Marion will play at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday against the
winner of the USC Aiken/Armstrong Atlantic State contest on Friday
night.
Sommerville (W, 6-3) walked some and hit a batter, but did not
allow a hit to the Cougars until the third inning. The sidearm
righty allowed nine hits, all singles, in his 6.2 innigns with two
runs, four walks and six strikeouts.
Francis Marion jumped out to an early lead as Greg Phelps took the
third pitch that CSU starter Danny Davidson (L, 7-4) threw over the
right field fence for a 1-0 lead. The Patriots scored again later
in the first as Greene was plunked with the next pitch, moved to
second on a wild pitch, to third on a ground out and scored on a
second groundout.
Columbus State finally got to Sommerville in the fourth with a run
as the Cougars got three straight two-out singles, the third from
Brad Bowen that scored Aaron Beasley. Tyler Baughman also tried to
score from second on the play, but was gunned out at home by FMU
rightfielder Trent Knight.
Greene was plunked in his next at-bat for FMU in the third and may
have had a bit of extra motivation when he faced Davidson again in
the fifth. With a runner on, the senior took the third pitch he saw
and sent it over the right field wall for a two-run homer, his
eighth of the season.
Down 4-1, Columbus State cut that lead again with another run in
the bottom of the fifth as Thomas Morrison singled through the
right side to score Jonnie Geiger. But that would be the last run
the Cougars would plate. CSU had another great opportunity in the
seventh as they loaded the bases, but FMU reliever Zach Farry (S,
13) shut the door on the inning and the proceeded to shut down the
Cougars for the rest of the game, picking up a save after pitching
2.2 innings of one-hit ball.
Columbus State will have to win twice on Saturday to continue to
Sunday’s championship round. FMU will have only the one game
on Saturday.
Boxscore
Game Quotes
FMU Head Coach Art Inabinet
Opening Statement - "It was a well played baseball game on both
sides, maybe one error between both teams. Just a good overall
baseball game, and we were fortunate to win."
On playing an elimination game trying to keep your season alive: -
"We just try to take it one day at a time. Yesterday was what it
was, we had a 2-2 game in the eighth and North Georgia beat us.
This is a quality win for us beating Columbus, a top team in the
region, and we are excited about that.
Erik Summerville
What was your approach facing Columbus State after seeing them
score 16 runs and get 24 hits the day before? - "I think you just
have to throw strikes, and I trusted my defense behind me to make
plays because they have all year."
On Zach Farry's relief appearance closing out the win after
allowing a couple of runs yesterday: "He has been key for us all
year, I think I have thrown just one completegame all year. He has
always been right behind me ready to do his job. He had one bad
outing, but so what, we have to stick with what we have done all
year."
Justin Greene
On the two-run home run that was the eventual game-winner,
especially after getting hit by a pitch in your first two plate
appearances: "Started me off with a pretty good offspeed pitch, and
then I chases one to get behind. Coach tells us to never be fooled
and to be ready for hte fastball, and he threw me a fastball and I
put a good swing on it."
On moving forward in the tournament, living to see another day:
"We lived to see another day, hopefully we can come tomorrow with
the same intensity, the same mindset, and hopefully come out on
top."
CSU Head Coach Greg Appleton
Opening Statement - "We just didn't get the big hit today, we left
11 guys on base, that is mostly to Francis Marion's credit, they
did a heck of a job pitching against us. Summerville did a good
job, and Farry came in and did a good job too so give them credit.
We were working hard to get that hit, it just didn't happen. They
made some good defensive plays as well. More of a case of I think
they beat us instead of us beating ourselves. I thought Davidson
pitched a pretty good game, he just made some mistakes."
Were you surprised by how well he pitched against such a good
lineup? - "No, he pitched a good game against us last time. He is
the kind of guy that can give you trouble, his ball is moving all
over the place, he struggled a little bit with control, but came
back and did an excellent job making the pitche when he needed to,
thats the bottom line."
On playing team's with desparation and in an elimination game, how
does that play into the game? - "Not as much as people would think.
When we put the uniform on and go out there we are trying to win, I
think all the credit today goes to Francis Marion, they just played
a better ball game. I don't think we took them lightly, they just
put it on us today."
Brandon Masters
What was the difference with the pitching today compared to
yesterday when you guys hit in every situation - "The guy was tough
too hit, he was tough to pick up. Some days every thing falls, you
put everything together, adn other days you cant."
Was Summerville's motion any difficul to hit as a righty - "I
wouldn't say that, he was just difficult to hit. His ball is
running in to us and away from (lefties). He pitched well, he
pitched real well, he was just tough to hit."
Baseball
About the PBC
