Blue Eagles Make Costly Mistakes, Can't Capitalize In Game Two
Web Posted June 18, 2010

Jacob White (Brevard) (3-0) pitched 5 and 2/3 scoreless innings, while leftfielder Jake Hill (Appalachian State) went one for three from the plate driving in two runs to lead the Ashville Redbirds to a 5-2 victory over the Spartanburg Blue Eagles in game two of a doubleheader at Switzer Stadium on Friday afternoon.

White allowed six hits and struck out three Blue Eagles in route to his third win of the season.

Ryan Traylor (Wofford) (2-1) made his first start of the summer for the Blue Eagles, and pitched well at that. Traylor’s final numbers do not do him justice as he scattered four hits over 6 and 1/3 of an inning, allowing five runs, four of which were earned.

Traylor entered the seventh inning having only given up one run, but the combination of a hits-batsman, a perfect hit and run executed by the Redbirds, and some poor defense from his infield resulted in the four run inning and Traylor’s departure from the game.

Leading 1-0 with a runner on first and second, Ashville decided to try a double steal with designated hitter Casey Allison (Wingate University) at the plate. Allison hit a sharp ground ball to third base, but Blue Eagle third baseman Jaren Sustar (Charleston Southern) was not able to field it because he was covering third base as a result of the double steal. Sustar is known to have a strong arm, and it is easy to speculate that the Blue Eagles would have had a good chance to turn a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning. Instead, the ball goes right into left field and Redbirds were able to take a 2-0 lead.

The next at bat, the Blue Eagles got what looked to be like another tailor made double play. A two hopper was hit up the middle, but shortstop Matt Moore (Wofford) booted the ball, which resulted in Ashville loading the bases. By innings end, the Redbirds had extended their 1-0 lead to 5-0, which was more than enough to hold off the Blue Eagles.

Spartanburg rallied in the bottom of the seventh scoring two runs, but came up short as Ashville reliever Mike Vaughn (UNC-Ashville) closed out the game.

Traylor spoke about his performance and the four run seventh inning after the game.

“That kind of stuff happens. If you pitch it is going to happen and you have to just work through it, said Traylor after the game. “I was happy with my performance because I used my fastball and some off-speed stuff I’ve really been working on.”

At the plate the Blue Eagles missed some key opportunities to produce with runners in scoring position as well.

In the first inning, the Blue Eagles had the base loaded and one out, but could not score any runs as Zac McCarthy (Erskine) and Paul Nitto (Furman) were both retired consecutively.

The Blue Eagles did not threaten again until the bottom half of the sixth inning when McCarthy and Aaron Preston (Presbyterian) stood at first and third respectively. Both reached as result of consecutive singles with two outs. Trailing 1-0, manager Ryan Thomas decided to pinch hit for left fielder Cameron White (Catawba College) with Tyler Miller (USC-Upstate). Miller had produced in seemingly every clutch situation up to that point in the year, but could not come through as he struck out swinging, leaving Preston and McCarthy stranded on first and third.

Head Coach Ryan Thomas gave his thoughts on his team’s performance after the game.

“There were some situations where we didn’t execute perfectly,” said Thomas after the game. “Traylor pitched a heck of a game and I couldn’t be more proud of him. He changed his speeds and really hit a lot of his spots. I wish we could have made more plays at the plate and in the field. We didn’t capitalize.”

With the split of the doubleheader, the Blue Eagles stand at 10-6 in the standings which is good enough to warrant a first place position at the moment as Tennessee and Lake Norman both have games Friday night.

Saturday the Blue Eagles travel to Johnson City Tennessee to play the Tennessee Tornados in a doubleheader that is set to begin at 6pm with the second game beginning thirty minutes after the conclusion of the first.