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Ruston, the. – The Charlotte 49ers baseball team In the 2023 season, it took the opening series of Conference USA with a 9-0 shutout over Louisiana Tech on Sunday afternoon (March 19) at JC Love Field.
After the Bulldogs (10-10, 1-2 C-USA) took Friday night’s game, Sunday was the rubber match between the two teams before the Niners (8-11, 2-1 C-USA) swept the series on Saturday. It’s the first shutout win of the season for the Green and White and Middle Tennessee’s first since last year’s Conference USA championship, 22-0.
It was a rocky start to the day for the Niners when they woke up to the news that the team bus battery had died overnight. With some gear locked under the bus, Charlotte drove four players at a time. Louisiana Tech was hosting in Charlotte, offering rides to the stadium, pushing the start time 20 minutes and allowing players to use LA Tech cleats and other equipment if they were caught under the bus.
CLT was walking off the mound with a stellar start Cameron Hanson In his first start of the season. Hansen took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and threw the first 7.2 frames, allowing just three hits and three walks while keeping a goose egg in LA Tech’s run column on the scoreboard. He threw 112 games during the season, the most by a Niner pitcher in one game this season. Evan Michelson He ended the game in the ninth to get the final out of the eighth.
Jack Dragum He continued his strong weekend at the plate with a team-high four hits while driving in the first and last runs of the game. His second RBI came thanks to a double off the wall in left-center, Charlotte’s second triple of the season. Cam Fisher And Spencer Nolan They both got a pair each, with Nolan introducing his first career hit with a double.
Jake Cunningham And Austin Knight with extra-base hits as well as a home run and a double, respectively. Brandon Stallman, Blake JacksonAnd Will Butcher Butchers was extremely popular as they all singled – driving in Jackson’s run.
How did it happen?
Neither team had much to offer offensively until the fourth, when Charlotte was able to score several hits in the frame. Fisher singled up the middle and Cunningham was hit by a pitch to put on a pair. Dragum came to the plate with two outs and singled to center field, scoring Fisher from second. The LA Tech center fielder tried to pick off the ball, allowing Cunningham to take third and come home to make it 2-0.
After the Bulldogs broke up Hanson’s no-hitter in the fifth inning, CLT broke the game open with a five-run home run in the sixth. When Fisher reached base in the first out of the frame, Cunningham took the first pitch he saw to drive down the left field line and over the wall for his third homer of the season to double the Niners’ lead 4-0.
Stahlman stole one off the second baseman’s glove for an infield single and Dragum worked a walk to put two more Niners on base at the same time. After LA Tech got the first out of the game, Nolan stepped up and found the gap in left to bring home Stahlman and Dragum. Knight was next and took the second pitch he saw on the left side of the wall to trade places with Nolan. Knight narrowly missed the home run by a few feet when the ball hit the high wall in left field.
Jackson added to the lead in the eighth inning when he lined one to left field to bring home a run. The latter led off with a single up the middle before getting into scoring position on a wild pitch. He advanced to third on a fly to left field and came home when Jackson found the green in left field.
The Niners put it together before Dragum pulled one off the wall and was told to bring in Butcher and it was over. Lucanda found a hole in left for a pinch-hit single in the ninth before Dragum struck out two. He threw one over the wall in left center and counted three, safely in with an RBI-triple.
Michelson replaced Hansen in the last out of the eighth and collected three hits and a strikeout in the ninth to end the game and send the Niners home with a win.
Next
Charlotte returns to the Queen City on Tuesday (March 21) to take on South Carolina Uptown at Truist Field. Kickoff against the Gamecocks is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. and can be seen live on ESPN+. Tickets are still available for purchase through the Charlotte Knights.
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