MARIANNA, FL – No. 5 Walters State used a great pitching performance from Geo Rivera and hot bats to earn a split on Friday, taking down No. 3 San Jacinto 11-4 after falling to Chipola 12-4 earlier in the day.
With the split, Walters State moves to 7-1 on the season.
Game Two: No. 5 Walters State 11, No. 3 San Jacinto 4
Walters State scored six runs in the first three innings on Friday evening and that was plenty as Rivera and Joey Mitchell held San Jacinto at bay.
Rivera got the start, his first of the season, and picked up win number one. Rivera pitched four innings, striking out nine and allowing just a solo home run in the third.
Rivera was replaced in the fifth by Mitchell who allowed three runs in his three innings of work that ultimately led to the win. Mitchell struck out four and recorded his first save of the season.
On the offensive end, Caleb McNeely started things off with a bang as he homered on the first at-bat of the game, sending a ball over the light pole in right field. It was his fourth of the year.
The Senators would then load the bases in the first with no outs on an error and two walks. Nick Block gave Walters State their second run of the inning on a fielders choice.
In the second, the Senators added two more, with both runs coming with two outs. McNeely walked to begin the two-out rally. After Colby Backus reached on an infield error, Noah Gent singled in McNeely to make it 3-0. A delayed steal by Backus made it 4-0 after two.
Walters State was not done as they quickly added two more in the third. Corbin Shaw led things off with an infield single. Shaw advanced on a passed ball and then Kruise Newman tripled him in. A groundout from Dalton McLain scored Newman to make it 6-0 in favor of the Senators.
The fifth inning brought two more runs home for Walters State. After Shaw reached on an error, Newman was at it again as he doubled to put runners on second and third. McLain would come through with two outs for the Senators with a 2-RBI single to make it 8-1.
Keeping with the two-run trend, two more runs came across for the Senators in the sixth as Shaw and Block each scored runs with RBI singles. One more run scored for Walters State in the seventh when McLain scored on an error that gave Andrew Ott an RBI.
Game One: Chipola 12, Walters State 4
Backus hit a 3-run homer in game one, but it wasn't enough as the Senators fell in seven innings to Chipola.
Walters State gave up six runs in the first inning, and the Senators could never get momentum back in the loss.
Backus led the way with his fourth home-run of the season, belting a 3-run-home-run. He had three hits in the game. He has four homers and 15 RBIs through eight games this season.
Other hits came from Gent, Block and Cole McCallum. McCallum knocked in the other run with a single in the sixth inning that scored Block.
Nolan Letzgus got the start on the mound for Walters State but didn't make it out of the first inning, allowing six runs, only two earned, in two-thirds of an inning.
Bracken Rice replaced Letzgus with two outs in the first and got out of the jam. Rice would pitch three more innings, allowing one run while striking out five.
In the fifth, Ty Cobb came in to pitch and got one out while allowing four runs. Sebastian Fugate replaced Cobb and got the final two outs while giving up a run before Xavier Fosbenner threw a scoreless sixth inning, managing to get out of a bases-loaded jam.
Up Next:
Walters State will be back in action on Saturday, taking on both teams again. The Senators will face Chipola at 11 p.m. and San Jacinto at 1:30 p.m. to close out the weekend.
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics