Record crowd watches Flames falter in extra innings

By Chris Lang

Published: March 28, 2008

Baseball at Liberty has rarely been an event. The school usually draws several hundred fans to Worthington Stadium — a decent gathering, yes — but nothing special.
The belief within LU’s athletics department was that night games draw crowds. Students with afternoon classes and people in town with day jobs can actually make it to the stadium. Liberty’s athletics administrators just didn’t expect as much of an attendance upturn as they saw Friday night.
Thirty minutes before game time, the bleachers were packed. More than 1,500 people milled about the stadium grounds. As first pitch neared, the crowd swelled. The hill along the right-field line was packed. The final tally: 3,183 patrons, most of whom left disappointed as Coastal Carolina scored twice in the 11th inning and held on for a 5-3 victory.
Want perspective? The combined attendance for LU’s first eight home games: 3,637.
“Having 3,000 people in the stands, they actually make a difference,” said Coastal Carolina’s Tommy Baldridge, who drove in three runs. “You hear them roaring, you hear them cheering. They actually made it a lot of fun.”
Those who came saw a tight game between a scuffling Flames club and Baseball America’s 20th-ranked team. The Chanticleers (20-5, 1-0 Big South) scored two unearned runs with two outs in the 11th to break a 3-3 tie. With the bases loaded and two outs, Baldridge stroked a Dustin Umberger fastball to center field, scoring David Sappelt and Adam Rice.
“I was just trying to forget my last at-bat,” said Baldridge, who struck out looking to end the ninth. “Just one at-bat at a time. I got a pitch to handle and put a good swing on it.”
The runs were unearned because Tommy Bussey’s error — Liberty’s fifth — at second with one out loaded the bases and extended the inning.
Coastal pitcher Joey Haug retired the side in the 11th, striking out Aaron Phillips and Tim Rotola, and forcing Errol Hollinger into a 6-3 groundout to end the game.
“We just didn’t play well enough,” Liberty coach Jim Toman said. “You can’t have five errors against the No. (20) team in America and expect to win. We were right there and had our chances but couldn’t get it done.”
P.K. Keller put the Flames (11-11, 0-1) up 2-0 in the first inning, crushing a Bobby Gagg pitch over the right-field wall for a two-run home run. David Giammaresi’s RBI single in the third inning pushed the lead to 3-0.
Coastal chipped away at Flames starter David Stokes. Baldridge ripped a solo homer to right in the fourth to cut the lead to 3-1. Sappelt, who reached on an error to lead off the fifth, scored when Kenneth Negron misplayed Dock Doyle’s grounder, trimming the Liberty lead to 3-2.
In the sixth, Sappelt’s sacrifice fly scored Scott Woodward to tie the game at 3.
Both teams had chances to take the lead before the game went to extra innings.
With David Anderson at second with one out in the seventh, Baldridge hit a liner to the shortstop Phillips, who tossed to Bussey to double up Anderson at second.
Liberty made two clutch defensive plays in the ninth to keep the game tied. Sappelt singled and Rice walked to lead off the inning. Doyle tried to bunt the runners over, but Liberty’s catcher, Hollinger, threw out the speedy Sappelt at third. Anderson then singled, but left fielder Joseph Feeley threw out Rice, who tried to score from second.
With runners at the corners, Umberger struck out Baldridge to end the inning.
Liberty put runners at the corners in its half of the ninth, but Haug jammed pinch hitter Doug Bream with a slider, forcing him to ground out to second base. Haug raced off the field, yelling and pumping his fists, imploring his team to pick him up in extra innings.
“That’s just him,” Baldridge said. “He comes in with the same intensity every game, whether he’s pitching or not. He’s always that guy that’s just pumped up and cheering for everyone.”