Montgomery, AL...Lefty Korey Noles pitched into the ninth inning and Rodne Rutherford had three hits and three RBI - all three coming on a rare inside-the-park homerun to lead Columbus State to a thrilling 5-4 win over Angelo State at the Division II Baseball Championship here Monday. The win keeps CSU unbeaten in the tournament and sends them to Wednesday's semifinal round at 3:30 PM. Angelo State faces Southern Indiana on Tuesday at 3:30 in an elmination game.
The two squads slugged it out like a pair of prize fighters in the early going. After the Cougars failed to score in the top of the first, Ram leadoff hitter Jimmy Cox wasted no time in putting Angelo State on the board. Cox jumped on a Noles offering and blasted it to left for a homerun. ASU appeared on its way to a bigger rally, but a missile of a throw from Brad Bowen in right field nailed the Rams' Drew Caraway at third for the first out. Noles then got consecutive groundouts to end the frame.
Rodney Rutherford got the Cougar second off to a great start when he blasted a Cody Broussard offering high off the wall in left-center for a double. He moved to third on David Brown's sacrifice and scored on a Trent Bianco single to tie the game 1-1. ASU answered in the bottom of the frame to re-take the lead on Shan Sullivan's RBI single to score Nate Hemm.
The Cougars took the lead for good in the top of the third inning. After two were out, Billy Howard dropped a single into center field and moved to second on a wild pitch, followed by an RBI single by Drew Candlin off the glove of Ram third baseman Sullivan to tie the game. Brad Linton walked to put two runners aboard for Rutherford. The junior DH hit another cannon shot deep to center field that ASU centerfielder Caraway momentarily got his glove on before slamming into the wall. The ball rolled away and Rutherford continued to race around the bases and scored with an inside-the-park, three-run homer. That gave CSU a 5-2 lead.
Noles settled in after that and held the Rams in check until the sixth inning. Matt Lenderman made Noles pay for a mistake pitch up by blasting it well over the railroad tracks beyond the left field wall for a two-run home run. That pulled ASU within one at 5-4.
Noles would then retire nine straight hitters before issuing a one-out walk to pinch-hittter Brett Nightingale in the ninth. He gave way to Blake Norrell at that point and Norrell induced a pair of fly balls to center field to earn the save and preserve the win. In all, Noles threw 142 pitches - 86 for strikes - in picking up the win. He scattered seven hits and fanned six with two walks in earning his 10th win of the year. Norrell's save was his team-best fifth.
Drew Candlin and Rutherford led the Cougars with three hits each, while Bianco and Brad Bowen added two hits each. ASU got two hits from Steven Allred to pace its seven-hit attack.
CSU advances to the semifinal round on Wednesday and will face an opponent determined by Tuesday's games. Angelo State faces Southern Indiana at 3:30 on Tuesday, followed by Cal State-LA taking on Nebraska Omaha. The CSU game Thursday will take place at 3:30 PM, while Tampa will face the other Tuesday winner at 7:30.
Source: Columbus State University Sports Information
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