Redshirt junior Braeden Smith hit a walk-off two-run home run to give the Charleston Cougars a 7-6 win over South Alabama on Sunday afternoon at Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.
Smith’s home run, his first of the season, ended the game and secured the victory for Charleston. The Cougars took an early 2-0 lead in the third inning after a wild pitch and a single by graduate student Dylan Johnson. South Alabama responded with four runs in the fifth inning and extended their lead to 5-2 in the seventh.
Johnson drove in another run in the bottom of the seventh to reduce South Alabama’s lead to two runs. In the eighth inning, redshirt freshman Will Burgess recorded his first career hit, bringing home freshman Nick Diaz. Burgess later scored on a fielder’s choice, tying the game.
Johnson began the bottom of the ninth with a double to right-center field for his third hit of the game. Smith then hit a home run on a 1-0 pitch to end the contest.
Freshman Jace Stancil started for Charleston, pitching 4.1 innings and allowing two runs.
Charleston now has a 6-3 record all-time against South Alabama. Smith’s home run was only the eighth walk-off homer in school history. This marks back-to-back seasons that Charleston has ended a game with a walk-off home run, which is only the second time this has happened in program history—the last instance was during the 2014-15 seasons.
Dylan Johnson and graduate Reece Holbrook each had three hits during Sunday’s win. Freshman Kaden Myers earned his first career victory on the mound.
Charleston will next host Air Force at Patriots Point on Monday before playing East Carolina University at a neutral site Wednesday in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
For more information about Charleston baseball, updates are available on X (@CofCBaseball) and Instagram (@CofC_Baseball).
