Wingate, N.C. – Charleston Baseball fell to 0-2 on Friday night after dropping their second straight game to nationally ranked Wingate University 14-6.
 
After a disappointing opening day performance on Wednesday, the Golden Eagles came out on Friday night hoping to get the bats hot against the Bulldogs. Comparatively speaking, the offense performed much better in game two of the series, scoring six runs on nine hits with three walks. However, a few clutch hits skewed the score-line in favor of Wingate in the end.
 
After falling behind 2-0 in the second inning, Drew Klaserner collected his first hit of the season and cut the lead in half all with one swing, homering to right field in the top of the 4th.
Wingate would add one more run in the bottom half after two errors in the inning.
 
Charleston struck again the next inning. Giano Zuccaro hit a triple to right on the first pitch of the inning and was brought home on an infield single by Andre Martinez. The rally was short lived, however, as the Bulldogs answered with five runs of their own in the bottom of the 5th frame bringing the score to 8-2.
 
Undeterred by the big inning, Charleston pushed across three runs of their own in the top of the 6th. Evan Ulrich and Klaserner both reached base on singles with one out, setting the stage for Zuccaro to hit his first big fly of his 2022 campaign. The homer brought the Golden Eagles to within striking distance at 8-5 and a clean bottom half of the inning had momentum on their side.
 
UC added one more run in the top of the 7th but squandered a big opportunity to add more with the bases loaded and one out. Klaserner walked with the bases loaded, bringing home Martinez, but back-to-back strikeouts ended the threat. This would prove to be costly as Wingate pounced, bringing home four runs in the bottom half of the frame.
 
Charleston went down in order in the final two innings while the Bulldogs put two more runs up in the eighth.
 
Charleston left six runners on base compared to Wingate's four. Klaserner, Martinez, and Zuccaro all had two hits. Kyle West, Evan Ulrich, and Tyler Dellerman all had one hit apiece. West and Martinez each had doubles in the first and seventh innings respectively.
 
Pitching struggled only to the extent that Wingate hitters seemed to always get hits at the right time. Overall, UC pitchers allowed 12 hits, five walks and two hit by pitches, but errors at crucial moments allowed Wingate to capitalize and tally 14 runs on the evening.
 
Starter Dane Sykes was credited with the loss and went 4.0+ innings with seven strikeouts and three earned. He walked one and hit one while throwing 56 pitches in total. The bullpen struggled to collect outs, giving up 10 earned runs in their four innings of work.
 
The series finale will take place on Saturday with first pitch set for 12 p.m. at Ron Christopher Stadium.