MORRISTOWN, TN – No. 2 Walters State picked up two wins on Friday afternoon, taking down Roane State. The Senators won 10-0 in game one and 4-1 in game two.
With the sweep, the Senators improved to 15-2 on the year.
"I'm thankful we got to play this weekend," Walters State coach Dave Shelton said. "Big thanks to Roane for coming up here to play on short notice. There's not a lot of teams that would choose to do that.
"Obviously from watching us, we needed to play. Some of that had to do with Roane and things they did today, but we just need to work on our mental focus. That falls on me. I have to make sure our guys are ready to play and remain mentally locked in."
The Senators got two great starts on the mound from Landon Crumbley and Brayden Matthews. Crumbley improved to 5-0 on the season with the win while Matthews moved to 2-0.
"They were great," Shelton said. "That's what we're going to need in the long run. We're going to need pitching to step up and guys to separate themselves as starters. Those two have. They have performed basically every time out. Really proud of them. Hopefully, they're going to keep it up because we're going to need them."
At the plate, Cole McCallum was the workhorse. McCallum had four hits on the day, including a home run in game one.
For the season, McCallum is hitting .479 with two home runs and 14 RBIs.
"He's been great for us," Shelton said. "Cole is a guy that does everything right. He does what you ask, works hard and is in the batting cages hitting extra. It's great to see good things happen to him. It should be a message to our younger guys that this is what you should strive to become."
GAME ONE: No. 2 Walters State 10, Roane State 0 (6 Innings)
In game one, the Senators put up nine hits and scored four in the bottom of the sixth to end the game early.
McCallum led the way at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a home run and an RBI. Along with McCallum, Preston Wright, Keaton Ray, Kurtis Reid and Kruise Newman each knocked in two runs.
Crumbley (5-0) pitched five innings in the contest, allowing zero runs on two hits. He struck out four. Blake Cooper replaced Crumbley in the sixth and pitched a scoreless inning.
Things started quick for Walters State in the bottom of the first as McCallum homered three batters in and Ray doubled two runs home to make it 3-0.
The Senators added two more runs in the third on a Reid two-RBI double and then made it 6-0 in the fourth, as Ortiz was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
In the sixth, the Senators ended the game early as Wright hit a pinch hit two-run double and Newman singled two runners in that made it 10-0.
GAME TWO: No. 2 Walters State 4, Roane State 1
In game two, the Senators got a great start from Matthews on the mound that carried them to the victory.
Matthews (2-0) threw four innings, allowing no runs on two hits while striking out five. Matthews has thrown 13.2 innings to start the year and has yet to allow a run.
Landon Slemp replaced Matthews in the fifth, allowing one run on one hit in his inning of work. Riley Franklin pitched the last two innings, allowing no runs on one hit while striking out two. It was Franklin's second save of the season.
At the plate, McCallum had half of the Senators hits with two. The other two hits came from Caleb Marmo and Newman. Newman's hit was his fourth home run of the season.
Following a scoreless first inning, Walters State got on the board in the bottom of the second with a fielder's choice by Ray that scored Cooper Torres. It was 2-0 in the third after McCallum doubled home Marmo.
In the fourth, the Senators added to their lead as Newman blasted a solo home run to right-center. The Raiders would get the run back in the top of the fifth with a solo home run, but Walters State made it 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth with a fielder's choice by Torres that scored Reid.
That was all the scoring as Franklin shut the Raiders down the final two innings to end things.
Up Next:
Walters State will be back in action next Friday, March 3, as they travel to Motlow State for the beginning of conference play. The Senators will play a nine-inning game on Friday at 3 p.m. before playing two seven-inning games on Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m.
"The preseason is now over, and it's conference time," Shelton said. "I tell our guys every year that you can't hang a banner on the fence or win a trophy in the early part of the season. Now in conference play, we're playing for a championship. Conference is one of the championships you strive for every year, along with being able to go to Grand Junction and to compete for a National Championship. This is when it really starts to count and hopefully our guys take that to heart and are ready to go."
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics