Columbus State survives against Florida Southern, faces Augustana for Division II title

Florida Southern began the first inning by loading the bases and didn’t score. Columbus State began the first with two quick outs and ended putting five on the board.

The difference between those two early game situations proved to be the springboard that advances the Cougars into the championship round of the Division II College World Series.

CSU took advantage of the quick start and four Mocs’ errors to jump out to a big lead, then held on for dear life and an 11-6 victory at the USA Baseball Training Center.

The Cougars can win their first national championship since 2002 by beating Augustana twice today. Game 1 is schedule for noon.

“I felt like we just survived the game more than won it,” coach Greg Appleton said. “We took advantage of some things they gave to us early and we built a lead, then we were just kind of chasing outs.

“We tacked on a couple of runs in the late innings that helped us keep the lead. But it was more of a survival game than anything.”

A testament to that was the final linescore. The Cougars won the game by five despite being outhit 13-7.

The game got off an an ominous start for CSU (48-14) when ace Kolton Ingram gave up a single to leadoff man Cody Burgess and walked Logan Browning around an error by shortstop Grant Berry.

But just as quickly as he got into trouble, the junior left-hander pitched his way out of it by striking out the next two hitters and inducing an inning-ending ground out that sent the entire dugout onto the field to congratulate him.

“I was just trying to get a ground ball for a double play and minimize the damage and it worked out,” said Ingram, who broke the single-season school records for wins (14), innings pitched (136⅓) and strikeouts (150) in the game.

“Their dugout was really loud after that bases loaded, no outs and it started to die down a little bit,” catcher Robert Brooks added. “After he got that third out we’re all really hyped in the dugout and it translated into a good inning right after that.”

For awhile, it didn’t look as though the Cougars would be able to capitalize on the momentum gained from Ingram’s great escape. Then FSC starter Thomas Spinelli walked Mason McClellan, Austin Pharr and Chase Brown.

Spinelli nearly got out of his jam, too, by inducing Brooks into what appeared to be a routine popup until second baseman Dylan Costa dropped it, allowing two runs to score.

Taking advantage of the reprieve, CSU got RBI singles by Frank Wager and Gunar Drinnen before Drinnen scored on a wild pitch to open up a 5-0 lead.

The margin expanded to 8-0 in the third, again with an assist from the normally solid Florida Southern defense.

This time Brown and Brooks set the table with a walk and hit by pitch to start the inning. Then, after the next two batters made outs, ninth hitter Drew Webb came through with a big hit by rapping a single to left.

When left fielder Christian Maglich overran the ball, allowing it to roll to the wall, Brooks also scored and Webb raced all the way around the bases for what is sometimes known as a “Little League home run.”

“Coach always tells us to play one at bat at a time, one out at a time, one inning at a time and not really look at the scoreboard,” Webb said. “We try to play the game and not let that dictate how we play, not let off the gas. We just kept pushing the whole game.”

It’s a good thing they did, because after putting two more on the board to push the lead to 10-1 after five — again aided by a pair of errors — the top-seeded Mocs (54-11-1) began inching their way back into contention.

Florida Southern scored two in the sixth and one more in the seventh off a tiring Ingram, then added a pair of runs in the eighth against reliever Payton Phillips. But because three of those runs came on sacrifice flies and a double play, the Cougars were still coming away with precious outs even as their lead was shrinking.

That allowed them to get to the finish and turn their attention to Augustana, the only team in the tournament without a loss.

Although CSU will have to win twice today to secure the title, Appleton is confident in his chances, since it overcame a similar situation two weeks ago against Belmont Abbey in the Southeast Region final.

“It’s still a daunting task in front of us,” the veteran coach said. “But knowing we have done it and knowing that we’ve won doubleheaders throughout the whole year is something that helps us.”

This story was originally published June 1, 2018 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Columbus State survives against Florida Southern, faces Augustana for Division II title."