Golden Eagles snap skid with 14-13 win over South Alabama
With one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning Ryan Hopkins came in to pitch for the Golden Eagles and try to preserve a slim two-run lead.
MOBILE, Ala. – With one out and the bases loaded in the
bottom of the ninth inning Ryan Hopkins came in to pitch for the
Golden Eagles and try to preserve a slim two-run lead. And he did
just that, forcing back-to-back ground balls to earn the save and
give the Tennessee Tech baseball team a 14-13 win over South
Alabama Wednesday afternoon.
The Golden Eagles tallied 14 runs on 20 hits and it proved to be
just enough, as Tech escaped with the road win over the Jaguars to
earn a split in the two-game series.
Seth Edwards went 4-for-6 at the plate, Chad Hayes and Chad
Oberacker each went 3-for-5, and A.J. Kirby-Jones, Casanova
Donaldson, Zephan Guyear and Evan Frazier each had two hits, as
Tech reached the 20 hit mark for the second time in the young
season. The Golden Eagles improve to 5-7 on the season, and snap a
five-game losing streak. USA falls to 9-6 on the year.
The Golden Eagles came out of the gates strong, rallying for four
runs in the first inning and three in the second to take a 7-1 lead
into the third inning. But the Jaguars began chip away, and heading
into the eighth inning USA had cut Tech’s lead to just 12-10.
Both teams scored a run in the eighth inning, and Tech added
another in the ninth to go ahead 14-11. USA led off the bottom of
the ninth with a pair of walks and single to load the bases with no
outs. After a strikeout and another walk, Hopkins entered the game
and was able to get the save.
The Golden Eagles scored in every inning except for the fourth,
while USA scored a run in seven of the nine innings in the
offensive battle. Nine different Golden Eagle batters had at least
one hit in the game.
Chason Choate got the start on the mound for the Golden Eagles, and
allowed six runs on seven hits in 4.1 innings of work while walking
two and striking out two. Stephen Pryor got the win for the Golden
Eagles after pitching two-thirds of an inning without allowing a
hit or a run and striking out two batters.
A.J. Kirby-Jones hit his team-leading fourth home run of the
season, which puts him alone in fourth place on Tech’s
all-time career home run list with 29 for his career. Two of
Edwards’ four hits were doubles, and Oberacker added a double
as well for the Golden Eagles offensively. Tate McMillan drew three
walks in the game.
The Golden Eagles will return home for a four-game weekend series
against Buffalo at Bush Stadium beginning with a single game on
March 12 at 3 p.m., followed by a double-header on March 13 at 1
p.m. and the series finale on March 14 at noon. Admission to all
Tech home baseball games is free.
