MARIANNA, FL – No. 5 Walters State closed out their time in Florida on Saturday, falling 10-0 to Southern Union before bouncing back with a 13-4 win over Chipola.
With the split, Walters State moved to 6-4 on the season.
GAME ONE: Southern Union 10, No. 5 Walters State 0
In game one, Walters State couldn't get the bats going and struggled on the mound in the loss.
Gage Peterson (0-1) got the start on the mound and threw one inning, giving up three runs on one hit while striking out two. Drew Horn pitched the next 2.2 innings and gave up four runs, two earned, on four hits, before Ryan Bender pitched a scoreless 1.1 innings.
Luke Beam was next in line and gave up two runs on three hits in an inning. William Wexler got two outs in the seventh, before Matthew Porchas got the final out.
At the plate, Walters State had five hits in the game. Those hits came from Zion Taylor, Brantley Bamberg, Walker Morgan, Jack Vogele and Ethan Bosely.
GAME TWO: No. 5 Walters State 13, Chipola 4
In game two, Walters State got back in their rhythm from Friday.
At the plate, Deniel Ortiz, Sutton and Vogele each had two hits. Taylor, Ortiz and Kurtis Reid all knocked in two runs, while Jarrett Martin walked four times.
On the mound, Manning West got the start and threw three innings. West gave up three runs on three hits and struck out four. Ethan Walker (1-1) replaced him in the fourth and threw three innings, allowing one hit and striking out three. Rowan Park pitched the final inning, giving up one run on one hit.
Chipola got on the board first with two runs in the first and one in the second. However, Walters State answered in the fourth with five runs. Those runs came on an RBI single by Vogele, an error that allowed Andrew Grande and Vogele to score, an Ortiz RBI single and a Sutton double that scored Taylor to make it 5-3.
After Walters State added two more runs in the sixth on a wild pitch that scored Grande and a wild pitch that scored Ortiz, the Senators broke the game open with six runs in the seventh. Reid started things off with a two-RBI single, before Ortiz was hit by a pitch to score Grande and Reid scored on a balk. It was 12-3 on a bases-loaded walk to Martin and 13-3 on a Bamberg sacrifice fly.
Chipola got one run in the bottom half of the seventh, but that was all.
Up Next:
Walters State will be back in action on Friday at home against Georgia Highlands. First pitch is set for noon, with game two coming at 3 p.m.
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics