MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The 10th-ranked Huntingdon baseball team fell behind early but bounced back to beat LaGrange 5-4 on Friday night in the first game of a three-game conference series.
The two teams will wrap up the series with a doubleheader at Posey Field on Saturday. Game 1 is set for 1 p.m.
Behind the pitching of freshman Tucker Duke and timely hitting, the Hawks overcame a 4-1 deficit to get the win. Huntingdon (14-0, 6-0 USA South) scored two runs in the fourth inning and one run in the fifth inning to tie the game.
Tied 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Danny Coleman Jr. drove in Ryan Meadows for the go-ahead run. In the top of the ninth, Duke forced a flyout before striking out the final two batters to end the game.
Duke (3-0) earned the win in relief, pitching five scoreless innings of no-hit ball. He struck out nine of the 16 batters he faced and gave up two walks.
Garrett Breland and Colton Clark accounted for five of Huntingdon's seven hits in the game. Breland was 3-for-4 with two runs and Clark was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Andrew Knight scored two runs and Meadows scored one run. Bradley Harris, Coleman and Chris Fisher each had one RBI.
Knight scored the Hawks' first run of the game on an error in the second inning. In the fourth inning, Clark singled to drive in Breland and Knight scored on a sacrifice fly by Fisher to make it a one-run game. Huntingdon tied the game in the fifth inning when Harris drove in Breland with a triple.
Records: Huntingdon (14-0, 6-0 USA South); LaGrange (10-5, 4-2 USA South)
Coming Up: Huntingdon and LaGrange will play a doubleheader at Posey Field on Saturday. Game 1 is set for 1 p.m.