Clutch performances lead Bucs to series-tying 6-5 win Saturday

CSU Sports Media

Senior righty Tyler Weekley tossed 3.1 innings of relief for a key win and freshman RJ Petit nailed down his second save with three strikeouts as the Charleston Southern baseball team took down High Point 6-5 Saturday night to even the series.

Weekley and Petit combined to shut down the Panther (10-14, 3-5 Big South) offense while Josh Litchfield and Ryan Stoudemire added two RBI’s and Max Ryerson delivered the Charleston Southern (10-20, 1-7 Big South) game-deciding RBI single.

Each of CSU’s three pitchers – Cam Weinberger, Weekley and Petit –struck out at least three batters in the win allowing eight combined hits and walking just two.

Jason Miller had another two-hit day to extend his hitting streak to nine and Payton Holdsworth reached safely in the first to further his on-base streak to seven.

The Bucs jumped to an early 1-0 lead once again as Holdsworth reached on an error, then scored on Miller’s single. High Point responded with two in the bottom half and CSU tacked on two for a 3-2 lead. The Panthers responded again in the third to make it a 3-3 ballgame before Ryan Stoudemire’s go-ahead single in the fifth gave the Bucs a 5-3 lead for good.

Up Next

CSU and High Point finish the series in the rubber game Sunday as the Bucs look for a huge Big South road series win. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. from Williard Stadium.

What They’re Saying

“My job was to go as long as I can and get us to the ninth inning and let RJ do what RJ does.” – Tyler Weekley on his mindset and role out of the bullpen Saturday.

“It feels great, I just wanted to do that for the boys. We hadn’t gotten a win just yet and it was awesome to get the first one tonight.” – RJ Petit on his save and the win.

“I was pretty confident, told myself to trust my fastball. I knew they weren’t going to hit it and I finished him with the slider. Tyler did a great job shutting them down before I came in, which really helps relievers later on because their momentum basically died-out. It made my job a little bit easier.” – Petit on his mindset entering the ninth and after climbing back from a 3-0 count for his second strikeout.

“I think we’ve played hard throughout the conference schedule – we have responded and sometimes just haven’t been able to finish the deal. That’s kind of been the story. Once you do it the first time, you get the monkey off your back andit should be able to free yourself up a little bit to play a little bit looser and more relaxed now that they’ve got the first one out of the way. Hopefully the guys find a way to respond” – Head coach Adam Ward on his team’s ability to close the door Saturday.

“He actually brought the idea to us, he felt he could be best served to us on the backend and we needed some guys to step up out of the bullpen and he’s been one of those guys to do so thus far. I’ve been really proud of him – he’s throwing the ball really well and we needed it.” – Ward on Weekley’s role out of the bullpen.

“We’ve got confidence in RJ, he’s thrown the ball well all year. He’s a guy that won’t be phased by the moment, that’s why he was out there. The ninth inning –those are the three toughest outs to get and he did a good job doing it tonight.”– Ward on Petit’s shutdown ninth inning.

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