FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 3-23-04

College Baseball: AASU 10, No. 24 Southern Connecticut State 9

SAVANNAH, Ga. –Armstrong Atlantic State sophomore Adam Pelley’s bases-loaded RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Pirates a 10-9 come-from-behind win over No. 24 Southern Connecticut State in 2004 Savannah Invitational action at Pirate Field on Tuesday afternoon.

The Pirates (18-13) halted a four-game losing streak with the win and completed a comeback against the Owls (9-5), who led by a 7-3 score heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.
AASU plated three runs in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by George Fletcher and a two-RBI single by Kyle Maddux, but Southern Connecticut State answered in the top of the eighth with two runs on a two-run home run by Henry Lee – his second home run of the game.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Pirates loaded the bases against SCSU reliever Ryan Leary. A pitching change brought in Ed Carter for the Owls, and Michael Pelley greeted him with a two-RBI single to left field. After a walk, another reliever – Jeff Farrell – gave up a sacrifice fly to Maddux that tied the game at 9-9.

Pirate reliever Zach Shelnutt (2-0) pitched a scoreless top of the ninth and AASU left fielder Brandon McKinnon led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a double off of the center field wall. A sacrifice bunt by Heath Simmons put McKinnon on third with one out, and the Owls elected to intentionally walk both Brandon Nunez and Rob Recuenco to load the bases. Pelley then hit a single to center field to score McKinnon with the winning run.

McKinnon led the Pirates on the day with four hits and two RBI, as well as throwing out two runners at the plate from left field during the game. Lee had four hits and three RBI for the Owls, while Jon DeRubeis had four hits and Jeremy Terni added a two-run home run. Farrell (0-1) took the loss for SCSU, giving up one run and two hits in one inning pitched.

The Pirates and the Owls will play another game at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 24, in the final game of the 2004 Savannah Invitational.

-Pirates-