Thursday, February 09, 2006

Charleston, S.C. – Senior first baseman Blake Church (Roswell, Ga.) drove in two runs, and three Buccaneer pitchers combined for a four-hitter as the Baseball Bucs downed 10th ranked Missouri 3-2 in the first game of the Buccaneer Classic at Charleston Southern University. It is the first win over a top-10 opponent in recorded Buccaneer history.

“This was a great team win,” said head coach Tony Skole. “I was very inspired by our entire team today. All 29 guys did an outstanding job of supporting each other and helping the team succeed.”

The Bucs jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when junior C.J. Lee (Bristol, Va.) came home on senior Shane Byrne’s (Johnson City, Tenn.) one-out RBI single. Lee reached on third baseman John McKee’s throwing error and advanced to second when the ball found its way into the ETSU dugout, and Byrne smoke the next offering from Missouri starter Stephen Holst into center field for his fourth RBI of the season.