No. 2 Walters State hits eight home runs in doubleheader sweep of USC Union

MORRISTOWN, TN – No. 2 Walters State entered Wednesday with the NJCAA's highest home run total and added to it against USC Union.

The Senators hit a combined eight home runs in both contests, making it 71 homers on the season, as they run-ruled USC Union twice, 10-0 in five innings and 15-5 in six innings. 

With the sweep, Walters State improved to 32-3 on the season. They've won 12 games in-a-row. 

Much like last season, the Senators have proven they can hit the long ball. Along with their 71 home runs, Walters State has a team slugging percentage of .629. 

"I think we just try and get our pitch and hit a mistake," Noah Gent said. "We don't get many mistakes and get pitched off, but whenever we get a mistake, we hit it." 

Gent was the star at the plate in the game, hammering two home runs to go along with four hits and three RBI's. For the season, Gent is now hitting .350 with seven home runs and 28 RBIs.

"It felt good," Gent said. "I finally had some good luck go my way. At practice, we've been focusing on hitting line drives backside. I've been seeing a lot of fastballs as well and so I've just had a mindset of a 'yes, yes, yes' approach."

Game One: No. 2 Walters State 10, USC Union 0 (5 Innings)

In game one, the Senators hit five home runs to go along with a complete game shutout from starting pitcher Landon Crumbley as they cruised to the victory.

Crumbley allowed two hits and struck out five in five innings of work. For the season, Crumbley is now 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 15.2 innings of work. 

"It feels better when the bats are going especially," Crumbley said. "That gets me fired up. My changeup worked well. When the guys are fielding everything to them, the innings go quick and it's easy. 

Crumbley had some help from his defense as Gent especially made great plays in both games to get outs. Colby Backus had a sliding grab in left field as well. 

"It's a confidence booster for sure knowing that your guys have your back in the field and at the plate," Crumbley said.

At the plate, Gent led the way with two home runs and three RBIs. Walters State hit five home runs as a team with Backus, Caleb McNeely and Declan Wiesner hitting the other three. McNeely's home run gave him the lead in the NJCAA at 14 home runs for the season. Wiesner's was his first of the season.

Backus got things going first for Walters State in game one with a solo home run off the batter's eye in center field in the bottom of the first. In the second inning, Wiesner made it 3-0 with a two-run shot that scored him and Andrew Ott, who reached on a fielder's choice.

After a scoreless third, Walters State added three more runs in the fourth. Gent led off the inning with a home run and McNeely followed suit shortly after with a two-run bomb. 

The Senators ended the game early in the fifth with four runs as Gent hit a two-run home run, McNeely singled in a run and Nick Block singled home Wiesner. 

Game Two: No. 2 Walters State 15, USC Union 5 (6 Innings) 

In game two, Walters State added three more home runs as Backus hit his second of the day in the six-inning victory. 

Backus had three hits in the game, including his 11th home run of the season, and knocked in five runs. 

Along with Backus, Block and Jackson Bryan hit the other two home runs for the Senators. Bryan's was a pinch-hit blast in the fifth inning. 

Luke Ferguson got the start on the mound, throwing a scoreless inning to open up the game. Nolan Letzgus replaced him in the second and fired three innings, allowing five runs, just two earned, on seven hits. He struck out two.

Joey Mitchell pitched the final two innings, picking up the win in the process to improve to 3-0 on the season. Mitchell gave up one hit and struck out one. 

Walters State wasted no time in game two getting on the board as it was Backus again in the bottom of the first with an RBI double to score McNeely. Backus would score on a wild pitch to make it 2-0 before Block smacked a home run. Walters State added two more runs in the inning on an Ott bases loaded walk and a wild pitch that sent Corbin Shaw across the plate. 

Following a run in the second on a Shaw groundout, USC Union hit back in the top of the third with four runs to cut the lead to 6-4. However, the Senators immediately answered with five runs in the bottom half. Those runs came courtesy of a Backus three-run home run, an RBI groundout from Shaw and an error that allowed Cole McCallum to score. 

USC Union added one more run in the fourth off a solo home run before the Senators ended it with a run in the fifth and three in the sixth. The run in the fifth came courtesy of Bryan's pinch-hit home run. The three runs in the sixth came from a Backus RBI double, a Nick Dagnello RBI fielder's choice and an error that scored Block.

Up Next: 

Walters State will be back in action on Friday as they begin a three-game series with Volunteer State at home. Friday's nine-inning game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. 

"I think we just need to make sure to not get too big," Gent said. "I think the wind is supposed to be blowing in this weekend, so we just need to stay true to ourselves and try and hit backside line drives." 

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics