Senators blast six homers in opening win over Southwest Tennessee

MORRISTOWN, TN – Last Saturday, Jarrett Martin just missed hitting a moonshot home run down the left field line, the ball blowing just foul.

On Friday afternoon against Southwest Tennessee, Martin hit a bomb down the left field line that was eerily similar. This time, he didn't miss. 

Martin's grand slam in the fifth inning on Friday was his second homer of the game and ended things in five innings, the No. 2 Senators hitting six home runs on their way to a 20-10 win over Southwest Tennessee.

With the win, Walters State improved to 29-4 on the season and 8-2 in TCCAA play. 

"I thought it was just like the one the other day that went foul," Martin said of his walk off grand slam. "The wind got this one and blew it fair. Glad to get another one over there that stayed fair." 

Along with Martin's two home runs, Caleb Marmo, Kruise Newman, Deniel Ortiz and Cole McCallum each homered in Friday's game. The six home runs moved the Senators season total to 74, 11 home runs more than the second-place team in the country. 

"One through nine, everyone can bang one over the fence," Marmo said. "It's just so unpredictable for a pitcher. It's scary I bet for a pitcher. We're all just trying to keep our approaches and not get too big and use our field to our advantage." 

Things didn't start well for the Senators in the game as Southwest scored four in the first inning. However, the Senators scored one in the bottom of the first and then nine in the second to take a lead they would never relinquish. 

"It's a Walters State thing," Marmo said about not being fazed early. "We bang in the box. That's something that we always have trust in and always trust each other to do the job. That's what we did today. That's all you can ask for." 

At the plate, Martin had five RBIs while McCallum and Newman each knocked in three runs. Marmo, McCallum, Ortiz, Martin and Keaton Ray all had two hits in the game. 

On the mound, Landon Slemp (4-1) got the start. Slemp threw 3.2 innings, allowing nine runs on 10 hits while striking out one. Blake Cooper replaced Slemp with two outs in the fourth and threw 1.1 innings, allowing one run on two hits while striking out two. 

After Southwest's four runs in the top of the first, the Senators cut into the lead with a run in the bottom half on a fielder's choice that scored Marmo. 

Then, in the second the Senators broke the game open with four homers. Martin got things started with a solo shot before Marmo drilled a three-run bomb to give Walters State a 5-4 lead. The lead was 7-4 after McCallum smacked a two-run homer. Newman capped the inning off with a three-run shot that made it 10-4.

Southwest got three runs back in the third to make it 10-7, but the Senators scored four more in the bottom half as McCallum singled in Marmo, Shaw tripled to score McCallum and then Shaw scored on an error and Ortiz hit a solo homer that made it 14-7. 

Southwest picked up three more runs in the fourth to make it 14-10, but Walters State got a run in the fourth on a Marmo RBI single. Then in the fifth, Ortiz singled home a run before Martin hit his grand slam to end things. 

"It was huge," Marmo said about getting that opening win. "Energy was up all day. We were pretty energized even before we got to the field." 

Up Next:

Walters State will be back in action against Southwest Tennessee for a doubleheader tomorrow. First pitch is set for 12 p.m. 

"Tomorrow is going to be a dog fight," Martin said. "They have two really good pitchers going to the mound. We just have to stay within our approaches, play as a team, scratch some runs out and get two more wins tomorrow."

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics