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| Peyton Irvin kept the Belhaven bats in check as the Lion offense shook off the rust as Piedmont salvaged the final game in the three game series. Piedmont athletics photo |
Piedmont found their bats again and after scoring once in a doubleheader on Friday, scored eight to salvage a win at Belhaven on Saturday. Birmingham Southern scored the first seven runs and added two late as the Pantehers defeated Oglethorpe 9-6 on a neutral field.
Saturday was the Lions' day as Piedmont coasted to an 8-1 win in the series finale behind the arm of Peyton Irvin who pitched eight innings earning the win. The Piedmont offense was electric Saturday scoring eight runs on 12 hits with six walks added in. Irvin pitched 8.0 innings allowing seven hits, one unearned run and struck out four. Justin Manus polished off the game in the ninth tossing one clean inning of work with a strike out and a pair of ground outs. Piedmont's offense was rolling quickly, striking in the first inning after Tyler Sheley led off the game with a triple to center field. Back-to-back extra base hits gave Piedmont a 1-0 lead after two batters as Kyle DeJesus doubled to drive in Sheley. The Lions were right back to work in the second inning scoring five as extra base hits continued to pile up. DeJesus tripled with the bases loaded for a bases-clearing 3-RBI triple to give Piedmont a 4-0 lead. DeJesus was driven in as the next batter Jack Bartlewski sent one out in right field for his first homerun as a Piedmont Lion. Bartlewski's homer put the Lions up 6-0 in the second with a commanding lead. Piedmont added another in the third inning to lead 7-0 after an error led to Scott Lyon scoring, unearned. Irvin never allowed more than two hits in an inning with the Blazers' lone run coming in the bottom of the seventh after the leadoff runner reached on an error. The Blazers were able to drive him in after a single and a fielder's choice. The Lions added another run in the next frame for good measure as James Whitmer had a sacrifice fly to drive in Sheley. Manus replaced Irvin to start the ninth and made quick work of Belhaven to seal the win.
Birmingham-Southern opened its 2021 season with a 9-5 win over Oglethorpe on a chilly afternoon at the Hoover Met Complex. Noah Best led the Panthers at the plate. He was 3-for-4 with two runs and a RBI. Cole Steadman and Drew Love also had three hits on the day. And Andy Hammond earned the win after going five innings and striking out a game-high six batters and giving up just one walk. The senior no-hit the Stormy Petrels for 4 2/3 innings. The Panthers, who served as the visiting, struck first with a pair of runs in the third inning. Love and Evans tallied RBI singles to give BSC a 2-0 lead. They then manufactured a run in third to extend the lead to 3-0. Best drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a sac bunt by Camden McNearney. Best moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Luke DePiero ground out. The Panthers stretched the lead to 7-0 with a four-run burst in the fifth inning. Best had an RBI single and McNearney stroked a two-run triple into the left field corner. DePiero's second RBI ground out in as many innings capped the frame. Oglethorpe (0-2) scored four runs, all with two outs, in the bottom of the inning to get back in the game. The Stormy Petrels cut the deficit to 7-5 in the eighth on Chris Kean's two-out single. Oglethorpe brought the go-ahead fun to the plate in the eighth inning but left two runners on base when Troy Bearden got Andrew Noack to ground out to end the inning. BSC made it 9-5 with two runs in the top of the ninth. Love plated a run with an RBI double and Steadman followed with a bunt single to drive in a run. The Panthers finished with 15 hits, six walks and five hit batters. Brian Williams reached base in five of six plate appearances, including three walks, one hit by pitch and one single. He added two stolen bases and scored two runs.
A big fourth inning in game one and a walk-off in extras from Jared Lorenz in game two helped propel the Lobos to a doubleheader sweep over University of Dallas. In game one the Lobos previaled 13-6. It was a close game through three innings. The fourth inning was where the Lobos broke it open. Tye Lindsey deliver3ed the big hit with a grans Slam to put Sul Ross up eight runs. Carson Thor had an impressive first showing at the plate, going 3-for-3 with four runs scored and 3 RBI. Starter Sam Russell picked up the win after throwing 5.2 innings of four strikeout, no walk ball. He surrendered five runs on six hits but only two runs were earned.
In the nightcap, it was a closer affair as the Lobos defeated the Crusaders 12-11 in eight innings. In the extra frame, tiebreaker rules now start with a runner on second base. Dallas scratched home a run in their half of the inning and up came the Lobos. Lindsey was placed on second per extra inning rules, forced to third and scored on a wild pitch. Jared Lorenz's second home run of the game provided the winning margin. Lorenz finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI.