DII/CIAA/Baseball
Chowan Sports Information
MURFREESBORO- The Chowan University baseball team concluded the four-game series against West Liberty University on Sunday. The Hawks topped the Hilltoppers 14-7 in the first game before dropping a 17-5 decision in the nightcap.
West Liberty starts the season with a 3-1 record while Chowan moves to 3-4 on the year.
The Hilltoppers struck first in the opening frame. DJ Busby opened the contest with a double down the left field line and later scored when Anthony Pierro was caught in a run-down.
Will Gurganus drew a walk in the home half of the frame and later scored on Tyler Burden’s triple. Stephen Hux’s base hit up the middle sent Burden home, giving the Hawk s a quick 2-1 lead. With runners on second and third, Blake Eure’s sacrifice fly to left allowed Hux to score and Jacob Nestor’s bases loaded walk gave the Hawks a 4-1 advantage. Marvin Harrell Jr.’s two-run single extended Chowan’s lead to 6-1 before the end of the first inning.
A Hawk error in the top of the second and RBI single by Busby allowed West Liberty to cut the deficit to 6-3 in the top of the second. A two-run homerun by Tim Hughes made the score 6-5 in the top of the third but Hux’s two-run double in the home half of the frame pushed the Hawks ahead 8-5.
Pierro’s two-run homerun in the top of the fourth put West Liberty back within striking distance. Holding a narrow 8-7 lead, Aaron Flanagan’s two-run triple shifted the momentum back in favor of the Hawks and extended Chowan’s lead to 10-7. Gurganus’ RBI single, Hux’s sacrifice fly and Kyle Cross’ single to right field left the Hilltoppers trailing 13-7 after four innings complete.
Blake Eure’s RBI single to left field in the bottom of the sixth gave the Hawks an additional run. Will Edwards held West Liberty scoreless in the top of the seventh to secure the 14-7 victory for the Blue and White.
Flanagan paced the Hawks offensively in game one with three hits and two RBI. Burden, Eure, Gurganus, Hux and Josh Martin all had two hits in the victory with Hux knocking in four RBI.
Will Edwards tossed four innings in his first appearance on the mound for the Blue and White. He held the Hilltoppers to four hits and two runs while striking out three to earn the victory.
Sean Pare took the loss on the mound for West Liberty. Busby, Tim Hughes and Pierro each had two hits in the loss.
In the nightcap, the Hilltoppers scored 11 runs off eight hits in the top of the second inning to quickly put the game out of reach. West Liberty plated two additional runs in the third using Jordan Meyer’s RBI double and Michael Adams’ sacrifice fly to pull away 13-0.
Chowan used a West Liberty error to score two runs in the bottom of the third but the Hilltoppers scored two runs of their own in the top of the fourth with Haddox’s RBI single and Meyer’s RBI double.
Trailing 15-2 in the fifth, the Hawks used Flannagan’s two-run homerun to plate two additional runs. In the bottom of the sixth, Burden hit a solo homerun to centerfield but West Liberty added two more runs in the seventh using a passed ball and Tim Mirandy’s RBI double.
Chowan was unable to answer back in the bottom half of the frame and suffered the 17-5 loss.
Austin McGhee took the loss on the mound for the Hawks while Yale Hughes earned the win.
Burden had two hits in the loss while Flanagan knocked in two RBI. Meyer led West Liberty at the plate with four hits and four RBI in the victory. Adams had four RBI as well.
Chowan returns to action on February 11th when the Hawks travel to Barton College for a nonconference doubleheader. First pitch is slated for 1:00pm.