Mt. Pleasant, S.C. -- No. 19 College of Charleston hit three home runs in the first inning and tacked on 10 runs in the sixth and seventh to defeat the Youngstown State baseball team 14-1 on Friday evening at Patriots Point.
Greg Dissinger went 2-for-2, and Jonathan Crist had an RBI single for YSU. Jose Rodriguez and Daniel Aldrich had two hits and three RBIs apiece for CofC, which improved to 5-0.
Matt Leeds, Rodriguez and Aldrich hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the first off starter Phil Klein, but the senior right-hander hit a groove once he got out of the inning. At one point he fanned six out of seven batters, but he ran into trouble again in the sixth. He beaned the leadoff hitter and walked the next, and Aldrich drove in both with a two-run double to right. Aldrich later scored on a sacrifice fly off reliever Blake Aquadro.
The Cougars then scored seven runs on five hits and an error in the seventh off of Nic Manuppelli and Padraic Williams.
YSU's run came in the eighth when Crist singled in Drew Dosch with two outs.
"We are executing some things well offensively, but we're just not cashing in with runs," YSU head coach Rich Pasquale said. "Our pitchers struggled with locating their pitches tonight, and CofC is too good of a team offensively to miss spots."
Klein was charged with seven runs on five hits and two walks despite striking out eight in 5.1 innings. David Peterson earned the win for the Cougars, allowing one hit and two walks in six innings.
The Penguins and Cougars will play game two of the series on Saturday at 1 p.m.
