MORRISTOWN, TN – No. 12 Walters State's Jarrett Martin homered twice in the seventh inning on Friday afternoon against Dyersburg State, including a three-run home run over the scoreboard that ended the game and gave the Senators a 15-3 win.

With the victory, Walters State improved to 42-12 overall and 20-5 in TCCAA play. 

Martin's first home run in the inning was a two-run shot and broke a two-run game open. His second homer was a three-run bomb and ended the game. Martin also walked twice. 

"I was just trying to get pitches to hit," Martin said. "I was trying to stay within my approach and stay back on balls and hit a ball up the middle. Just trying to not get pull happy."

Along with Martin at the plate, Logen Sutton had three hits and three RBI while Zion Taylor drove two runs in. 

On the mound, Karson Bonaparte (10-2) got the start and threw six innings. Bonaparte gave up three runs on five hits and struck out two. Luke Ferguson replaced Bonaparte in the seventh and threw the final inning. He didn't allow a hit. 

"They just located pitches well and attacked guys," Martin said. "They didn't give them anything to hit and forced weak contact." 

Walters State got on the board early, as Keaton Ray doubled home Nate Conner with two outs in the first to give the Senators a 1-0 lead. Dyersburg tied the game at one in the top of the third and could have had more, but Kurtis Reid made a stop deep in the hole and made a long throw to first for the final out.

In the bottom of the third, Walters State took the lead for good with four runs. Those runs came on a Sutton RBI single, a Taylor two-RBI double and an error that scored Taylor to make it 5-1. 

Dyersburg tried to get back into the game with a solo homer in the fourth and a run in the sixth, but Walters State ended the game in the seventh with 10 runs. Those runs came on a two-run home run by Martin, a Jack Vogele RBI double, an error on a Deniel Ortiz single that scored two runs, a Sutton two-RBI single and Martin's three run homer over the scoreboard. 

"It's huge for us to jump on a team early and put them away in seven," Martin said. "It saves our pitching for tomorrow. Hopefully, we can continue to do that in the postseason." 

Up Next:

Walters State will be back in action on Saturday for their final two games of the regular season. The doubleheader against Dyersburg is set to begin at 12 p.m., with a Sophomore Day ceremony to precede the two games. 

"We just need to do the same thing as today," Martin said. "Just jump on guys early and have great pitching and just do our job." 

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics