May 24, 2013

BOX SCORE | CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

CHARLOTTE, NC -- Second-seeded Charlotte advanced to the finals of the A-10 Baseball Championship with a 12-3 win over fourth-seeded Xavier on Friday.

The win improves Charlotte's record to 37-21 and it will face a winner to be determined on Saturday at Noon.   Xavier drops to 32-25 and will face the winner of Saint Louis and George Washington at 7:00 p.m. this evening. 

Charlotte got a strong outing from right-hander Brock Hudgens who tossed eight innings to pick up his seventh win of the season.   Hudgens surrendered just five hits and three earned runs.

A Justin Seager two out single in the first inning scored JJ Elseser to give the 49ers an early 1-0 lead.

With Charlotte leading 2-0 in the fifth inning, the 49ers got back-to-back singles from Shane Basen and Brad Elwood to push its lead to 5-0.  Basen finished the day 3-for-5 with five RBI and two runs scored.  The 49ers had 15 hits as a team, with six players recording multiple hits. 

Charlotte led 7-1 in the seventh inning when Basen connected for a grand slam to break the game open at 11-1.

Xavier's Vinny Nittoli hit a two run homer in the bottom half of the eighth inning to make the score 11-3 in favor of Charlotte.