COLUMBIA, TN – No. 1 Walters State clinched the TCCAA regular season championship for the 17th time in program history on Saturday, sweeping a doubleheader from Columbia State, 7-3 and 8-1.
With the two wins, Walters State closed the regular season at 51-5 overall and 23-3 in TCCAA play. It's the fourth season in-a-row that the Senators have won at least 50 games.
GAME ONE: No. 1 Walters State 7, Columbia State 3
Following Friday night's loss, Walters State rebounded nicely in game one on Saturday with the victory.
Kohl Drake got the start on the mound and improved to 12-0 with the victory. Drake threw 5.2 innings, allowing three runs on four hits while striking out 10. Drake now leads the nation in strikeouts with 129 for the season and also broke the Walters State record for strikeouts in a season. The previous record was 127, held by Jake Miednik in 2016.
Landon Crumbley replaced Drake with two outs in the sixth and allowed one hit and struck out one to finish off the game. It was his fourth save of the season.
At the plate, Noah Gent was the star with three hits and three RBIs. Kruise Newman had two hits in the game, as well.
Walters State got off to a quick start in the game with a run in the top of the first. Following a Caleb McNeely double to lead off the game and Newman single, Colby Backus grounded into a double-play that scored McNeely to make it 1-0.
Columbia State answered back with a run in the bottom of the second to tie the game and then took the lead in the fourth with a solo home run.
However, the Senators took the lead back in the fifth with three runs to go up 4-2. Walters State got the first two batters of the inning on and tied the game on a sacrifice fly from Declan Wiesner. Three batters later, Backus gave the Senators the lead with a sacrifice fly. Gent capped off the scoring in the inning with a single that drove in McNeely.
In the sixth, the Chargers cut the lead back down to one at 4-3 before Walters State added some insurance in the seventh with three runs. Gent gave them two of the runs with a two-RBI single and Kory Klingenbeck scored the final run with a groundout.
GAME TWO: Walters State 8, Columbia State 1
In game two, the Senators scored in all but one inning as they closed out the series win.
Jake Knapp improved his record to 13-1 with the win on the mound, throwing six innings and allowing one run on four hits while striking out six. Luke Ferguson pitched the final inning, striking out one.
Newman led the way at the plate in game two with two home runs while Klingenbeck hit one as well. McNeely and Gent both knocked in two runs.
Newman got the scoring going early for the Senators with a solo home run to deep center in the top of the first. Columbia State tied the game in the bottom half of the inning.
In the second, the Senators took the lead for good with a run as Cole McCallum scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-1. Gent made it 3-1 in the third with an RBI double and it was 6-1 after four when McNeely singled two home and Gent hit a sacrifice fly.
Walters State's final runs of the game came in the fifth on a solo home run from Klingenbeck and a solo homer in the sixth by Newman.
Up Next:
Walters State will be back in action on Monday, May 9, as they begin postseason play in the TCCAA/Region VII Tournament at Chattanooga State. The Senators will be the No. 1 seed in the tournament and are scheduled to play at 1 p.m. on that Monday.
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics