Blue Eagles Blowout Redbirds
Web Posted June 30, 2010
Cameron Aiken

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Spartanburg (14-12) pounded out 13 hits and walked 10 times in route to an 11-3 victory over the Asheville Redbirds (11-15) Wednesday night at T.C Roberson field.

It was a balanced effort at the plate for the Blue Eagles as every player in the starting lineup had at least one hit, with seven players driving in at least one run.

Cameron White (Catawba) led the way drilling two doubles and driving in two runs to cap off a three for five night at the plate.

White, who has been struggling at the plate as of late, spoke about his revived success, and what led to the Blue Eagles potent offensive performance tonight.

“I really didn’t do anything different.” said White. Honestly, it’ just about having confidence, being patient at the plate, and waiting for a pitch to drive. We did that as a unit tonight.”

The Blue Eagles were held hitless through three innings which allowed the Redbirds jump out to an early 2-0 lead. Mike Vaughn (UNC-Asheville) hit a two run home run off starting pitcher Dylan Cole (Furman) in the first inning.

Cole didn’t allow much after that, as he limited to Redbirds to only three hits and one more run in the remaining five innings he pitched. In all, Cole allowed three earned runs on five hits in 6 and 1/3 innings pitched. He was the winning pitcher on the night and moved to 3-2 on the summer.

The Blue Eagles bats finally came alive in the fourth inning as they were able to score four runs on account of three hit and three walks. All nine Blue Eagles batted in the inning which was enough to knock Asheville starting pitcher Joseph Temp (East Tennessee State) out of the game.

The Blue Eagles stayed hot after that tacking on one run in the fifth, two runs in the sixth, three runs in the seventh, and one run in the eighth to cruise to the 11-3 victory.

Hitting instructor Anthony Dillinger talked about the team’s performance after the game.

“We really put the ball in play with two strikes tonight a lot. We started out a little slow, but hitting is contagious and sure enough a lot of balls started to fall after that first one did. I was also very happy with our guy’s patience at the plate. We walked a lot and it wasn’t like their guys were that out of control. We were making their pitchers work.”

Josh Pless (Citadel) is the main Blue Eagle who waited for pitches, and he was rewarded with his patience as he walked three times in his five plate appearances.

“I was just waiting for the right pitch, said Pless, who went one for two with a double and an RBI. “I saw a lot of outside sliders and I was able to lay off most of them.”

Anthony Rowland (Wofford) allowed no runs in one and 1/3 innings of relief, while newly acquired Blue Eagle Kelly Wright (Presbyterian) pitched a scoreless ninth inning to end the game.

Dillinger specified on how important tonight’s win was for the Blue Eagles.

“Before Monday we only had eight division games left and six of them were this week. We are 2-0 so far, and we need to carry that momentum into this Friday against Asheville and then into Saturday against Tennessee at home.”

The Blue Eagles are currently in second place in the Western division with a 7-5 record. The top two teams in each division are guaranteed to host at least one playoff game.

Spartanburg travels to Asheville this Friday to play the Redbirds in a doubleheader that begins at 5pm, with the second game starting thirty minutes after the conclusion of the first.