By: Jake Miller
GREENVILLE, TENN.- Coker baseball got ahead and stayed ahead with a six-run fourth inning at Pioneer Park to earn a 10-6 win Friday night (Feb. 24).
The teams traded goose eggs on the scoreboard until the visitors erupted for six runs in the top half of the fourth inning. Robert Lybrand started the offense with a leadoff single, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. AJ Strnad was hit by a pitch later in the at-bat, setting the stage for Thomas Lopez with two on and no outs. Lopez broke the scoreless tie by stroking a double down the left field line, scoring both Lybrand and Strnad. Darius Coldiron stepped in with Lopez on second, and chopped a ball to third base. The ball was initially bobbled by the third baseman, picked up by the pitcher and thrown away, allowing Lopez to come around to score and Coldiron himself to get to second. Brooks Estrada would earn a walk, putting two on with still none out for Jon Koski. Koski advanced both runners with a groundout, before Coldiron would be thrown out trying to score on a ground ball off the bat of Tanner Crosby. Back-to-back RBI singles from Clint Allen and Bryson Conner would complete the huge inning for the Cobras, and also give Coldiron plenty to work with on the mound.
Tusculum, the fifth-best team in the Southeast region, countered with one run in their half of the fourth, and neither team would score in the fifth. The Cobras would chalk up one in the top half of the sixth off an Allen safety squeeze that successfully scored Koski from third. The Pioneers would cut into the lead and make it 7-4 after six, scoring three times in the bottom half of the sixth.
The Navy and Gold would get two runs with two outs off the bat of Koski. A two out single by Coldiron and Estrada being hit by a pitch gave the sophomore another chance to pad his team's lead. Koski did so in a big way, launching a double to left center to score both men in front of him and get Coker ahead 9-4. Coker's 10th run came in the form of the first big fly of the year off the bat of Allen in the eighth inning. Tusculum would get two runs in their half of the eighth, and despite loading the bases in the ninth, could not get any closer. The Pioneers used two hits and a hit by pitch to load the bases against Griffin Hollifield with only one out, but the sidewinder would induce a ground ball to Koski at third to start a 5-4-3 double play to end the ball game.
Lopez, Koski, Crosby and Allen each tallied two hits, Allen also scored two runs and drove in three. Koski, Lopez and Conner each drove in two runs in the win. Conner, Lybrand and Coldiron each chipped in one hit in the effort.
Coldiron (4-1) earned the win on the bump, firing six innings and allowing four earned runs on 10 hits. The senior also walked two and punched out four. Cody Brown tossed one inning in relief, allowing two earned runs while walking one and striking out two. Hollifield turned in two scoreless innings in his team-leading eighth appearance, scattering three hits and registering one strikeout.
The Cobras (8-4, 1-0 SAC) look to take the series in Saturday's (Feb. 25) doubleheader, which starts with a nine inning game at 1:00 p.m. and the seven inning game three slated for 4:00 p.m.