FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 3-14-06

College Baseball: No. 7 AASU 14, Wisconsin-Parkside 10

SAVANNAH, Ga. – No. 7-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State pounded out 18 hits in a 14-10 win over Wisconsin-Parkside on Tuesday afternoon at Pirate Field, stretching the Pirates’ win streak to 21 straight games, tied for the third-longest win streak in school history.

The Pirates (21-0-1) plated four runs in the bottom of the third inning to erase Wisconsin-Parkside’s brief 1-0 lead, with two sacrifice flies and RBI singles from Miguel Donate and Daniel Hefllin. The Rangers (3-8) scored three times in the fifth, highlighted by Casey Garms’ two-run double, to cut the lead to 5-4, but AASU responded with four more runs in the bottom of the fifth, then a Truman Marek bases-loaded triple in the sixth paced another four-run inning and the Pirates took a 13-4 lead.

Wisconsin-Parkside kept battling, putting up five runs in the eighth, capped by Jason Strommen’s three-run home run to left field, but Brandon Stelter retired six of the next seven batters he faced, five by strikeout, to close out the contest.

Chase Leatherwood (3-0) picked up the victory, hurling five innings of five-hit ball, giving up four runs – two earned – and striking out nine. AASU pitchers struck out 19 batters on the day, one shy of the school record. Joe Ryan took the loss for the Rangers, giving up five hits and four runs in three innings pitched.

Marek led a quartet of Pirates who had three-hit days, while driving in four runs. Donate, Brad Bohannon and Josh Dallas also had three hits, while Garms finished the day 4-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBI to pace the Rangers.

The win streak by the Pirates ties two other teams that put together 21-game streaks – the 1987 club and the 1988 club that won 21 to start the season. AASU won 23 straight in 1983, then a school-record 30 straight in 1990.

The Pirates return to action on Thursday when they host Kutztown at 2:00 p.m. in their final game of the 2006 Savannah Invitational at Pirate Field.

- Pirates -