GALLATIN, TN – No. 2 Walters State scored four runs in the third inning to take an early lead over Dyersburg on Tuesday evening but could not hold onto it as they fell to the Eagles, 20-9, in the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII winners bracket championship game.
Walters State will now take on Motlow State on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET in an elimination game. The winner will face Dyersburg at 6 p.m. ET.
On Tuesday, Walters State was led in the game by Jerry Hammons, Alberto Osuna and Andrew Ott. Ott led the team with three hits while Hammons and Osuna each knocked in three runs.
On the mound, Walters State used seven pitchers to get through the nine-inning contest. Bright spots included Matt Dailey, who threw two scoreless innings, and Drew Honeycut, who pitched a scoreless eighth. Jake Knapp got the start and lasted just three innings, allowing six runs on four hits.
Dyersburg started things off first in the second inning with a two-run home run. However, Walters State got the bats going in the bottom of the third. The Senators loaded the bases with three straight hits by Ott, Silas Butler and Caleb McNeely. Hammons drove all three runs home to give Walters State the lead with an RBI single before Osuna scored Hammons with a single.
Unfortunately for Walters State, the lead wouldn't last long as the Eagles scored six runs in the fourth. Walters State would add two more runs in the bottom half of the inning with an Osuna single but still trailed 8-6.
The lead was 10-6 for Dyersburg before Walters State made one last push in the fifth when Ott and Butler both singled in runs. McNeely singled in a run in the seventh to score Walters State's final run of the contest.
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics