MORRISTOWN, TN – Logen Sutton smashed a grand slam in the sixth inning to break open game one against Volunteer State on Saturday afternoon, and No. 16 Walters State completed a sweep of the Pioneers. The Senators won 9-4 in game one and 12-3 in game two.
With the sweep, the Senators improved to 32-9 overall and 15-3 in TCCAA play.
GAME ONE: No. 16 Walters State 9, Volunteer State 4
In game one, the Senators scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth to break a 4-4 tie and went on for the win.
Sutton led the way with the grand slam and five RBI, while Jack Vogele had three hits, two of them being doubles, and drove in a run.
On the mound, Ethan Walker got the start and threw 3.2 innings. Walker allowed two runs, one earned, on six hits and struck out three. Drew Horn (1-1) replaced Walker with two outs in the fourth and pitched the next 2.1 innings, allowing two unearned runs on three hits while striking out four.
Rowan Park replaced Horn in the seventh and pitched a clean inning, striking out one.
The Senators got the scoring going in the first, as Deniel Ortiz walked, moved to third on a Vogele double and scored on a Sutton groundout to make it 1-0.
In the second, the Senators added two more to increase their lead. Carson Cabbage led things off with a walk, moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on interference. Following a walk to Kurtis Reid, Cabbage scored on an errant pickoff attempt to make it 2-0. Conner made it 3-0 a couple pitches later on an RBI double that scored Reid.
Volunteer State answered back in the third with two runs and in the top of the fifth with a run to tie the game at 3. In the bottom half of the fifth, Walters State briefly took the lead back as Walker Morgan singled home Vogele to make it 4-3.
However, the Pioneers scored a run in the top of the sixth to tie things again. Needing a response, the Senators got it in the bottom of the sixth. Zion Taylor singled to start the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Reid. Conner and Miles Smith walked to load the bases with two outs, and Vogele was hit by a pitch to bring home Taylor and give Walters State the lead.
Sutton was next up and broke the game open, smashing a grand slam to make it 9-4. From there, Park got Volunteer 1-2-3 in the seventh to win the game.
GAME TWO: No. 16 Walters State 12, Volunteer State 3
In game two, Walters State collected 13 hits and scored 12 times to complete the sweep.
Conner led the way at the plate, mashing a home run and knocking in three runs. Keaton Ray had two hits, including a home run, while Vogele had two hits and two RBI.
Taz Butler (6-0) got the start on the mound and threw three innings. He allowed one hit and struck out two. Gage Peterson replaced Butler in the fourth and threw a scoreless inning, before Jonny Stevens pitched the fifth and gave up three unearned runs but struck out the side.
Aiden Robertson and Matthew Porchas finished things off with scoreless sixth and seventh innings.
Walters State scored early in game two, as Conner led things off with a solo homer and Vogele singled home Ortiz to make it 2-0. Walters State added four more runs in the second to break things open, as two errors scored two runs, Conner singled home Reid and Vogele singled in Conner to make it 6-0.
Walters State continued to take control in the third with three more runs. Those runs came on a Morgan RBI double, a Conner walk with the bases loaded and a double-play that scored Morgan to make it 9-0.
The Senators final three runs came in the fourth, as an error scored Sutton, a wild pitch scored Taylor and Ray smoked a solo homer over the fence in center to up the lead to 12-0. Volunteer got three runs in the fifth, but that was all.
Up Next:
Walters State will be back in action on Wednesday, hosting No. 9 Florence-Darlington. The doubleheader is set to begin at 1 p.m.
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics