State rivals Birmingham-Southern and Huntingdon College battled in a midweek match up at Striplin Field.
Huntingdon struck first with a solo home run by senior Mathew Robinson in the bottom of the 2nd. Byron McClain found himself on base by a Panther error and then advanced to third via stolen base and wild pitch. Back to back singles by Jordan Raley and Jabez Sampson scored two more, giving the Hawks an early 3 run lead.
Huntingdon infielder Cade Morgan led off the top of the third inning with a single through the right side followed by and BSC error to load up the bases. Christian Lasecki reached base via and RBI walk to earn a 4-0 lead for the Hawks through 3 innings.
Birmingham-Southern got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third thanks to an Andrew Dutton hit-by-pitch and RBI single for Ian Hancock.
BSC found more success at the plate in the fourth inning after a lead-off walk for Shane Nelson and single for Ty Truett. Grant Morgan also walked, loading up the bases for Eli Steadman who delivered a two RBI single, closing the deficit to 4-3. Andrew Dutton kept the offensive momentum with with a 3 RBI long ball over the right field wall, his second home run of the season, earning a 6-4 Panther lead.
The Panthers remained consistent at the plate, putting up another run in the bottom of the 5th after a lead off double by Shane Nelson and RBI ground ball for Ty Truett. BSC added 2 more insurance runs in the bottom of the 7th from a Ty Truett opposite field single followed by a Grant Morgan home run. BSC led by a score of 9-4 going into the 8th inning.
BSC pitched by committee for the match up, each arm handling two innings. Dominick Scalese earned the win throwing his two innings with no earned runs and just two hits. Trip Barron also carried weight on the mound, throwing an impressive four strikeouts in his two shutout innings. Freshman pitcher Tams Mullins closed the game where he dominated the Hawks, earning 3 strikeouts and retiring 6 straight batters.
The bottom of the 8th inning ended up being the final inning of the game due to an impressive offensive performance by BSC. Ian Hancock got things started with a single to right-center followed by a smoked single by Jakob Zito down the 3rd base line. Two Panthers got hit by pitch and the Hawks committed an error, scoring two runs and loading up the bases for pinch hitter Forrest Lietz. Lietz earned an RBI walk, making the score 11-4. Eli Steadman and Andrew Dutton had back-to-back bases loaded walks, scoring two more runs for the Panthers. Dutton's plate appearance made the score 14-4 and walked off the game in run-rule fashion.
