By WRBL Staff
CSU Sports Information
Americus, GA - Columbus State scored seven runs in the game's first two innings, and Korey Noles won his 11th straight game as the Cougars defeated Georgia Southwestern 11-2 in the opening game of a three-game Peach Belt Conference series on Friday evening. The win by Noles eclipses the single season consecutive wins streak of 10 set by Tim Trawick in the 1995 season as he moves to 11-0 on the year.CSU Sports Information
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Stumble It!The Cougars sent nine men to the plate in top of the first inning, scoring four runs to give the senior left-hander all the run support he would need. Consecutive one-out singles by Brandon Masters, Rodney Rutherford and Thomas Morrison plated the first run. After a balk moved runners to second and third, C.J. Bressoud plated the second run with a groundout. CSU then got RBI singles by Brian Gordon and Brad Bowen sandwiched around a walk to Aaron Beasley to make it 4-0.
CSU added three more in the second inning on four hits. Masters drove home Jonnie Geiger with his second hit of the game for a 5-0 lead. After Rutherford single put runners at the corners, Morrison plated Masters with a sacrifice fly to make it 6-0. The seventh run of the game came on Gordon's RBI double to left.
The Hurricanes got on the board in the second on a rarity. Francisco Gomez reached on a third-strike wild pitch and would come around score ahead of Patrick McCarthy as his sinking liner to center skipped past Jonnie Geiger and to the wall for an inside-the-park home run. Cody Adams added a double a batter later, but Noles got out of any further trouble with a strikeout and a groundout.
Rutherford led off the fourth inning with his 25th home run of the season, this one a shot to left field to make it 8-0, adding to his national best total and padding his spot in the CSU record book. Bowen added another RBI single later in the inning to score Morrison to make it 9-2.
CSU got its final runs of the night in the seventh and eighth innings. Rutherford singled home Masters in the seventh and Casey Cook's single scored Bowen in the eighth for the 11-2 advantage.
Noles scattered seven hits and struck out 10 hitters in pitching yet another gem. He walked just one hitter along the way. The lefty has now won 16 consecutive games dating back to the 2007 season - adding to his school record for consecutive wins overall and by a left-hander.
Rutherford went 5-5 with two RBI to lead the CSU offense. Geiger, Masters, Morrison, Gordon, and Bowen each tallied three hits in the game as CSU collected 21 hits for the second consecutive game. Rutherford, Morrison, Gordon and Bowen each drove in a pair of runs.
Adams was the lone GSW hitter with multiple hits as he went 3-4 on the night with a pair of doubles. RM Cozza took the loss on the mound for the Hurricanes, going three innings and surrendering 13 hits and nine earned runs.
The same two teams will meet on Saturday in a regular season-ending double header for both teams. The twinbill is set to start at 1 PM at Hurricanes Field on the GSW campus.
