Charlotte-Missouri baseball

1st inning:

Top: Corey Roberts got the start on the hill for Charlotte and didn't waste much time in retiring the side. Centerfielder Blake Brown led off the game for Mizzou with a pop-up to shallow right field to Charlotte's Tony Montalbano. Jonah Schmidt and Conner Mach both flew out to center and left field, respectively, to end the inning.

Bottom: Missouri starting pitcher Jeff Scardino was equally impressive to Roberts, striking out Cory Tilton, Shane Brown and Shane Basen on just 16 pitches to end the inning.

2nd inning:

Top: After two outs to open the inning, Missouri designated hitter Dane Opel blooped a hit to right field. After tipping the next pitch foul, Scott Sommerfield was thrown out at first to end the inning.

Bottom: Justin Wilson accounted for Charlotte's first out of the inning with a grounder to short stop Eric Garcia. Charlotte short stop Corey Shaylor grounded a 1-2 pitch to Garcia for the second out of the inning and Justin Seager closed out the inning with a flyball to center field.

3rd inning:

Top: Mizzou left fielder Ryan Gebhart hooked a Robert's pitch down the right field line for a 0-out triple to open the inning. Andrew Thigpen then scored Gebhart with a SAC fly to center, making the score 1-0. Brown picked up the second out for Missouri when he went down looking on three pitches from Roberts. Schmidt made the score 2-0 Missouri just two pitches later when he laced a 1-0 Roberts pitch over the left field fence, the first homerun of the season at "The Hayes." Roberts got out of the inning when Mach grounded out to second.

Bottom: Montalbano picked up Charlotte's first hit of the game when he chopped a full-count pitch past first base. He wasn't there for long, though, as Miguel Rodriguez grounded into a 6-4-3 double play on the next pitch. Justin Roland flew out to shallow center to end the inning.

4th inning:

Top:
Garcia was Roberts' first victim in the top of the fourth when he flew out to Tilton in center field. Catcher Andreas Plackis then went down swinging on a full count and after Opel struck out on three pitches, the inning was over. Roberts accumulated five strikeouts over the first four innings.

Bottom:
Tilton grounded Scardino's first pitch right back to the mound for Charlotte's first out and after Brown grounded out to Mach, there were two outs. Basen ended the inning on when he went down after three Scardino pitches in the next at-bat.

5th inning:

Top: Sommerfield opened the fifth inning with another flyball to a waiting Tilton for the first out. Gebhart didn't have as much luck in his second at-bat, as Roberts struck him out swinging. Roberts picked up his seventh strike out of the game on the next batter when Thigpen went down swinging.

Bottom: Wilson got the bottom of the fifth started for Charlotte with a chopper to the firstbaseman Sommerfield. Scardino covered the bag and just beat Wilson to first for the first out. Shaylor was just Charlotte's second base-runner of the game the next time up as Scardino walked him on five pitches. Next at bat was Seager, who took Scardino's first offering and flew out to center for the second out. Montalbano ended the inning when his foul pop-up was caught by the Missouri catcher Plackis.

6th inning:

Top: Roberts rang up Brown to start the sixth for his 8th strikeout of the game and second consecutive of Brown. After homering in his most recent at-bat, Schmidt drew a walk from Roberts on a full-count pitch to give Mizzou their first base-runner of the inning. He was thrown out by Charlotte's Rodriguez after attempting a steal of second on the next pitch, though for the second out. Mach was then Roberts' ninth victim of the game on a called third strike to end the inning.

Bottom: Scardino opened the bottom half of the sixth with a strikeout of Rodriguez and got Roland out on a throw to first base on the next pitch. Charlotte's Tilton ended the inning just two pitches later when he flew out to shallow right field.

7th inning:

Top: Garcia accounted for the first out of the seventh when he hit a 1-2 Roberts offering to a waiting Shaylor at short. Roberts got Plackis to fly out to left center for the second out but allowed a bloop single to shallow center by Opel in the next at-bat. Sommerfield flew out to deep right center on a 2-2 pitch in the next at-bat, though to end the inning.

Bottom: Scardino shwcased his fielding skills to open the 7th when he took a Brown bunt and easily threw him out at first. Basen got only Charlotte's second hit of the game in the next at-bat when he took a 1-1 Scardino fastball and sent it to the left-field warning track for a stand-up double. Wilson then got Charlotte on the board, scoring Basen with a single through the right side. Shaylor then got on-board when he hit a dribbler through the same hole, advancing Wilson to second. Scardino got out of the jam, though, as Seager grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

8th inning:

Top: Tyler Pilkington came to Roberts' relief in the 8th after Roberts threw 7 innings of four-hit baseball. Gebhart put a chink in Pilkington's armor early as he reached first on a hit through the left side. Thigpen then advanced Gebhart to second on a bunt down the left-field line for the first out. Brock Hudgens then took to the hill for Charlotte. Hudgens allowed a double to center by Brown, but Gebhart was thrown out at home by Tilton to keep it a one-run ballgame. Schmidt then flew out to deep right field to end the inning.

Bottom: Montalbano led off the eigth with his second hit of the day, this time a bloop single to right center that just dropped in. Rodriguez followed that up with a bunt that advanced Montalbano over to second on the frst out of the inning. Montalbano then advanced to third on a chopper to second by Roland for the second out of the 8th. Scardino ended the inning with Tilton on the next at-bat, though, and Charlotte trails 2-1 heading to the 9th.

9th inning:

Top: Ryan Mas came to the hill in relief to start the 9th for Charlotte and struck out Mach in his first at-bat. Garcia was Mas' second victim as he flew out to centerfield to a waiting Tilton. Mas then got Plackis to ground out to third to end the inning.

Bottom: Phil McCormick came to Scardino's relief in the bottom half of the 9th and struck out Brown for the first out. Charlotte's Basen got aboard, though when McCormick walked him on a 8+ pitch at-bat. Basen advanced to third on an errant throw to second by Missouri's Garcia. Wilson reached first and Charlotte had runners on the corners with just 1 out. Shaylor then hit a blooper to second that was bobbled by Missouri's Mach, which allowed Basen to score, tying the game at 2. Wilson was forced out at third on a base hit by Seager and after Montalbano struck out, the game heads to the 10th.

10th inning:

Top: Mas got the first out of the inning for Charlotte after he struck out Missouri's DH, Opel. Sommerfield reached first on a hit to shallow left center with one out, though. Gebhart chopped a 2-2 pitch over Mas, but Roland was right there to tag Sommerfield out at second for the second out; his throw to first wasn't in time to get Gebhart. Mas then walked Thigpen on five pitches, though, and Mizzou had a runner in scoring position. Brown then ended the inning with a foul pop-up to first, where Seager made the easy catch.

Bottom: Rodriguez opened the inning for Charlotte with a single that got through the Missouri short stop Garcia. Roland then advanced Rodriguez to second on a chopper back to McCormick for the first out. Tilton didn't win it with another walk-off like in the first game, but advanced Rodriguez to third when he was thrown out at first. Pinch hitter Ross Steedly ended the inning when he grounded out to second on the first pitch of the at-bat.

11th inning:

Top: John Hamilton came in to relieve Mas and walked Brannon Champagne in the first at-bat of the 11th before getting Mach to fly out to deep right field. Garcia then advanced Champagne to second when he grounded to second, where Shaylor bobbled the ball, allowing Garcia to reach first. In the next at-bat, Plackis advanced Champagne to 3rd when he hit a groundball to short. Garcia was forced out at second. After Opel was thrown out at first, the 11th is over.

Bottom: Basen picked up the first out of the 11th for Charlotte when he grounded out to third. McCormick then walked Wilson on six pitches, bringing Shaylor to the plate. Shaylor flew out to right field, though scoring the second out. Seager singled through the right side, advancing Basen to third to put Charlotte in yet another position to win the game. Montalbano struck out for the second time with RISP, though and Charlotte and Missouri heads to the 12th.