Ducey, Pirates Stymie Cougars
May 10, 2007
Spartanburg, S.C. - Armstrong Atlantic State starting pitcher Austin Ducey pitched into the eighth inning in a dominant performance and the fifth-seeded Pirates took a 3-1 victory over second-seeded Columbus State Thursday in the first round of the Peach Belt Conference Baseball Tournament at Harley Park.
Armstrong Atlantic State (36-20) advances to play the winner of Thursday night’s game between #3 Francis Marion and #4 USC Upstate Friday at 7:00 p.m. Columbus State (41-16) drops to the elimination bracket to face the tournament’s top seed Georgia College & State University Friday morning at 11:00 a.m.
“That was an outstanding college baseball game,” said Armstrong Atlantic State head coach Joe Roberts. Things fell into place.”
The game was a classic pitcher’s duel and the three runs put up by Armstrong Atlantic State in the third inning was all that Ducey would need. In the third, Truman Merek singled to drive in the first run of the inning and Kenny Cail singled to drive in a run to make the score 2-0. Sean Hotzak’s safety squeeze scored Tyler Evans for a 3-0 lead.
Columbus State got a run back in the eighth inning when Brad Linton doubled to drive in Rodney Rutherford to cut the Pirate to 3-1. However, that was all that Columbus State would get. Marek came in to relieve Ducey with two outs in the eighth inning and finished the game to shutdown any thoughts of a Cougar rally.
Ducey scattered five hits and one run to improve to 9-0 on the season. Marek tossed 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief to earn his ninth save of the year. Columbus State starter Jarrett Coker (9-2) tossed a solid game, giving up three runs on seven hits in 8 2/3 innings.
“The defense made some really big plays in the first three innings and that helped out a lot,” said Ducey. “Columbus has some big sticks and our defense really came though.”
“Armstrong played a good game, their pitcher did well, and they capitalized on some runs,” said Columbus State head coach Greg Appleton. “That was what we didn’t do. I thought we adjusted well. When you hold a team to three runs, you should win the ballgame.”
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