CHATTANOOGA, TN – No. 1 Walters State came into Wednesday's contest against Chattanooga State looking to make their path to a TCCAA/Region VII Championship a bit easier.
They did just that.
Facing the second-seeded Tigers, the Senators scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back on their way to an 11-1 victory in five innings.
With the win, Walters State improved to 54-5 on the season and will play in the championship game at 4 p.m. on Thursday.
"Getting five in the first inning was huge for us," Walters State starting pitcher Jake Knapp said. "It gives me all the confidence in the world. It's really easy to pitch when your offense is able to work like that."
Knapp was excellent on the mound on Wednesday as he improved to 14-1 on the season. Knapp threw all five innings, allowing one run on three hits.
"I was primarily working with my fastball today, they were swinging early in the county," Knapp said. "I got a lot of weak contact with it and that was my goal to get weak contact early in the count. It worked out well."
Knapp had help behind him in the game too as the defense was everywhere. At third base, Noah Gent made multiple impressive plays to record outs, including a quick scoop and tag to end the game in the fifth inning.
"They were unreal today in the infield," Knapp said. "Dalton McLain was going and getting balls in center, and Kory Klingenbeck was huge behind the plate too. It makes my job a lot easier."
At the plate, Klingenbeck led the charge with a 3-for-3 day, including a home run and four RBIs. The home run for Klingenbeck capped off the first inning scoring and put the Senators up 5-0.
"We knew coming into this park that it was pretty large and there weren't going to be a lot of home runs," Klingenbeck said. "I just knew I had to stay with my approach and if he was going to give me a fastball, I was going to take it for a ride. I stayed back and took it out and helped the team out."
Along with Klingenbeck at the plate, six other players had hits as Colby Backus, Corbin Shaw and Kruise Newman each knocked in runs.
Maybe the biggest hit of the game came from Caleb Marmo who came off the bench and blasted a pinch-hit home run to put the Senators up 7-0.
"That was quite incredible," Klingenbeck said. "Him staying ready was awesome. You've got to love Marmo. Coming out and doing that in that situation was pretty incredible."
After a scoreless top of the first from Knapp, Walters State struck early with five runs in the bottom half. Backus got things started with a sacrifice fly that scored a run before Shaw drove in a run with his own sacrifice fly. It was 3-0 after Newman singled home a run and Klingenbeck finished things off with a two-run blast.
Following an unearned run in the second that made it 6-0 in favor of Walters State, the Senators added two more in the third as Marmo homered and a balk scored Klingenbeck.
In the fourth, the Senators put things away with three more runs as Marmo grounded out to score a run and Klingenbeck singled home two more.
The Tigers got a run in the fifth but it was too little, too late.
With the win, the Senators move one game closer to another conference and region championship. After dealing with last season when the Senators had to climb out of the loser's bracket to take home the title, sitting in the driver's seat and just one win away from the title is a spot they much rather prefer.
"It's awesome knowing we have pitching left and that the offense is clicking on all cylinders," Knapp said. "We're one away from moving on, and it's awesome. I think we're all ready to come in here and take care of business tomorrow."
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics