HARRIMAN, TN – No. 2 Walters State scored early and often on Saturday afternoon against Roane State, completing the series sweep with 10-0 and 15-1 victories.
With the sweep, the Senators improved to 39-3 on the season and 16-1 in TCCAA play. They have now won 19 games in-a-row. The school record for consecutive wins is 31, set last season.
Game One: No. 2 Walters State 10, Roane State 0 (6 Innings)
Seven players drove in runs for the Senators in game one as they shutout the Raiders in six innings.
Noah Gent led the way at the plate with a home run and three RBIs. Andrew Ott and Dalton McLain both hit their third home runs of the season as well. Ott drove in two runs and walked three times.
On the mound, Kohl Drake improved to 9-0 on the season with five innings of one hit baseball. Drake struck out 10 to improve his program record for career strikeouts to 203. The record was previously 184, held by Chad Bell.
Luke Ferguson pitched the final inning, striking out the side to finish the game off.
Gent got the Senators started early in game one with a three-run blast in the top of the first. Gent scored Colby Backus, who doubled in the inning, and Nick Block, who reached on an error.
The Senators added to their lead in the second with three more runs. Ott led off the inning with a solo home run. Declan Wiesner followed up with a double and scored as Caleb McNeely singled him home. The final run of the inning came on a Shaw RBI single that scored McNeely to make it 6-0.
The Senators pieced together a run in the third on a Backus RBI single that scored Ott and finished things with two runs in the sixth. Those runs came on a McLain solo home run and Jackson Bryan RBI double that scored Ott.
Game Two: No. 2 Walters State 15, Roane State 1 (5 Innings)
In game two, Walters State scored all 15 runs in innings two through four to break the game open on their way to the run-rule victory.
Kruise Newman led the way in game two as he blasted his ninth and 10th home runs of the season. He drove home four runs as well.
Along with Newman, Gent knocked in three more runs while Backus, Block and Shaw drove in two runs each. Block walked in all four plate appearances.
On the mound, Jake Knapp improved his NJCAA-leading record to 11-0 with the win. He threw four innings, allowing one run on two hits while striking out seven. Geo Rivera pitched the final inning, striking out one.
It was Roane State who got things going first in game two with a solo home run in the bottom of the first. However, the Senators quickly responded with seven runs in the second. McNeely drove in the first run of the inning to tie the game, reaching on an error that scored McLain.
Backus gave the Senators the lead one batter later with a bases-loaded walk before Block also walked in a run to make it 3-1. Gent followed them up with a double-play that scored McNeely before Shaw singled in a run. Newman capped off the inning with a two-run blast that made it 7-1.
Walters State followed up the second inning with five more runs in the third to put the game away. Gent started the scoring off with a two-RBI single before Shaw singled home another run. Once again, Newman capped off the inning with a two-run home run.
Walters State concluded their scoring in the fourth with three more runs. The runs came courtesy of a Backus bases-loaded walk, a Block bases-loaded walk and a Gent groundout that scored a run.
Up Next:
Walters State will be back in action on Tuesday at home to take on Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute in a doubleheader. Caldwell is currently ranked No. 3 in NJCAA DIII. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics