MORRISTOWN, TN – Colby Backus blasted a pair of home runs and drove in four runs in game one of Saturday's double header but the 12th-ranked Dyersburg State Eagles were able to avoid a three-game sweep of the weekend series with a 10-9 win over top-ranked Walters State at Ken Campbell Field in game two.
Walters State is now 46-4 and remains atop the baseball standings in the conference at 21-2. The Eagles' mark is now 35-10 overall and 18-6 in league play.
Game One: WSCC 7, Dyersburg State 3
Backus was 2-for-2 with a walk, two home runs, four RBIs and three runs scored. He also added a highlight reel catch in left field when he robbed Dyersburg State's Pierre Seals of what looked like was going to be a sure double in the fourth inning of the first game. It's been an eventful week for Backus who committed to play at Tennessee next season. "I felt locked in that first game and I have been looking forward to this weekend for a while," the Johnson City native said. "I was able to relax in there but in the second game, we got down and I pressed a little bit and I kind of felt like our whole team was pressing. It was a really good feeling in that first game though."
Starting pitcher Cole Drake went 5.2 innings with four hits given up, one walk, two runs and 11 strikeouts.
Backus started things off with a bang as he connected on a moon shot homer to left in the first inning and Noah Gent followed right behind him with another solo blast to make it 2-0. In the third, Declan Wiesner began the bottom of the inning with a single and Caleb McNeely followed with a double to put two on. They didn't stay there for long, however, as Backus went yard for the second time for a three-run homer that made the score 5-0.
The final two runs for the Senators came in the home half of the fifth inning. Backus drew a walk and advanced to third on a single by Gent. Walters State head coach Dave Shelton called up the double steal and it was executed to perfection as Backus came home. Corbin Shaw batted in Gent with a double to left center.
The Eagles finally got on the board in the sixth when they scored three runs. Jalen Fithlan singled to left and came home when James Dodd hit a jammed-up single to right. Seals connected on a two-run home run to left to make it 7-3. Mitchell retired the next four batters he faced to close things out in the win.
Game Two: Dyersburg State 10, WSCC 9
In the second game of the day, a disastrous sixth inning for the Senators allowed the Eagles to score six runs. Walters State made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh when they had the winning run at second base, but the Senators couldn't get the runner home as Dyersburg State snapped a 26-game winning streak with a 10-9 victory.
Seals drove in four runs in the second contest for the Eagles as did Andy Martin who hit a grand slam in the six-run fourth inning. Kruise Newman had a three-run triple in the third for the Senators and Kory Klingenbeck went 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs driven in batting in the nine spot.
The Eagles struck first when Martin doubled, Lukas Cook drew a walk and Dodd reached on an error in the top of the first inning. Seals had a sacrifice fly to plate a run and then Morrquise Charles hit a two-run double to get Dyersburg State of the gates early with a 3-0 lead. They tacked on another run in the third when Seals singled in Martin who had singled to start the inning. The Senators battled back to tie things up at 4-4 in the bottom of the third. Andrew Ott drew a walk and Klingenbeck followed with a double to center field. After Caleb McNeely singled to load the bases, Newman drove in three runs with a rope down the first base line. "My mindset up there was we had to get something going," Newman said of the big three-run hit. "They had a guy who was throwing a pretty good four-seam fastball that tried to jam you inside. I just got my hands to the ball and once I saw it hit the line, I knew I had to get to three. That was the spark and kind of what got us going so I felt pretty good as I was able to stand out there and watch my teammates cheer. That was a great experience."
All the momentum switched back to Dyersburg State in the fourth. Cooper Miles and Gabe Brionas singled and Jalen Fithian drew the base on balls to load the bags with Birds. Martin was true on a grand slam to left field and later in the inning, Seals had a two-run single to put the visitors up 10-4. The Senators got one run back in both the fourth and fifth innings as Klingenbeck went yard on a solo shot and Backus came home from third on a fielders' choice. Walters State had a golden opportunity to do more damage in the fifth as they had bases loaded and no one out but Backus' run was the only one produced. Landon Crumley kept the Eagles at bay once he came into the game in relief as he retired 11 batters in a row in relief of Senators' starting pitcher Jake Kemp.
The Senators wouldn't go quietly in their last at-bats. After the Eagles recorded the first two outs of the inning, Gent was hit by a pitch and Nick Block doubled to center. Corbin Shaw brought a run in with a single to right and then with the bases loaded, Ott was plunked to drive home another run. Klingenbeck drew a bases-loaded walk to plate another run and move the winning run to second base. The Eagles got out of the jam and won the game when second baseman Fithian made the last of his several athletic plays to snag what looked to be a sure hit and record the final out by throwing to first.
UP NEXT
The Senators return to action on Monday as they travel to Young Harris. "We have to fight complacency," Backus said when asked the team's mindset going into the final week of the regular season. "We have had several times where we have been complacent where we are at and we need to keep our heads down and keep grinding."
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics