May 27, 2010

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CBI Live: SoCon Game 6: #5 Samford 13, #8 Furman 10

CBI Live: SoCon Game 7: #1 The Citadel 6, #4 Elon 3 (10)

CBI Live: SoCon Game 8: #6 WCU 7, #2 CofC 6 (12)

CBI Live
Andress, Alessandria both earn A+ for ASU

By Phil Stanton

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Co-Founder

CHARLESTON, S.C. – You want your seniors to step up in big games.

Right-hander Matt Andress (right) pitched his second career complete game and fellow senior Chris Alessandria went 3 for 3 with two extra-base hits, including his third homer, as seventh-seeded Appalachian State downed third-seeded Georgia Southern Thursday in an elimination game on Day 2 of the Southern Conference Tournament at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

The Mountaineers (36-17-1) will play an elimination game on Friday at 3 pm against the loser of the College of Charleston-Western Carolina. The Eagles ended their season with a 34-24 mark.

Andress (9-3) scattered nine hits with two walks and 11 strikeouts in his 140-pitch effort. His final delivery was a 90-MPH fastball.

“The job Matt Andress did speaks for itself,” said ASU head coach Chris Pollard. “I told our guys a few minutes ago, I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of a player in my 13 years as a head coach. Nobody deserves this more than Matt. For him to step up when we needed him the most, it says it all to me.”

Andress broke a 24-year-old school record with his 26th career victory.

“My arm felt really good coming into the game,” Andress said. “I was optimistic about it, but I knew there was a chance to be the last outing of my life. I wanted to go out there and leave it on the field. I’ve put in enough work over the four years that I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be, so I just had to go out there and throw the best I had.”

Alessandria had no dingers prior to the season-ending series at Wofford. He went deep twice against the Terriers before belting a two-run homer with two outs in the second to give the Mountaineers the early lead. His one-out double in the seventh sparked a three-run rally in the seventh, capped by a two-run double by Jerod Faggart with two down, as ASU built a 6-2 lead.

“The past couple week, I’ve made a slight swing adjustment,” Alessandria said of his recent offensive success. “I’m seeing the ball really well. I haven’t been too overaggressive, which has been a problem for me in the past.”

While the Mountaineers came up with the big two-out hits, the Eagles did not. GSU stranded seven, including five in scoring position.

“When we do a good job of hitting with two outs,” Pollard said, “we’ve had pretty good success over the course of this year. Today, some guys stepped up and had really good two-out at-bats.”

GSU closer Dexter Bobo made his first start for the Eagles. He allowed three hits and three runs (one earned) in 5.2 innings with two walks and seven strikeouts.

“I thought Dexter gave us all he had today,” said GSU head coach Rodney Hennon. “We asked a lot of him, changing his role and asking him to go out and start a game. He gave us everything he had, and unfortunately, we didn’t do enough things to win the ballgame.”

Shawn Payne had a RBI single in the fifth and A.J. Wirnsberger homered in the seventh to account for the runs for the Eagles.

This was the first time that Georgia Southern ever went 0-2 in the Southern Conference Tournament.

(photos courtesy of Southern Conference Media Relations Office)