Stillman College saw two close games slip away Friday as it hosted its first Southern States Athletic Conference games of the season, falling to Talladega College 7-3 and 8-7.
GAME 1: Talladega 7, Stillman 3 (8 innings)
Stillman took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning and held its lead until the top of the seventh inning in what was scheduled as a seven-inning game. Bilal Whittle scored the first run of the game when an error occurred on Bobby Woodard‘s stolen base at second. Griff Minor followed with a two-RBI single to make it 3-0.
Talladega scored its first run on a Jeffry Roldan single in the fifth inning.
Isidro Jimenez allowed one run through six innings and carried a 3-1 lead into the seventh inning. After hitting the first batter, Jimenez exited the game in the seventh. Cody Clark took over, walking one, allowing an RBI single to Rafael Diaz and then hit a batter to load the bases. Tre’en Dorset took over and walked the first batter, tying the game at 3-3 but got a fly ball to left, in which Kelvin Reese made a diving catch to end the inning.
Stillman was retired in order in the seventh to force extra innings.
Dorsett allowed a two-out walk in the eighth to put runners on the corners, and then was called for a balk, which scored the go-ahead run. Diaz and Miguel Oropeza followed with RBI doubles to stretch the lead to 7-3. Woodard got a single for Stillman in the bottom of the eighth, but Olive Cruz struck out the next two batters for the win in relief.
Lazaro Rodriguez led Stillman with two hits in the game, hitting 2-for-2. The Tigers and Tornadoes had seven hits apiece.
GAME 2: Talladega 8, Stillman 7
Stillman rallied from a 6-1 hole to take a 7-6 lead in the fourth inning of the second game. However, after three-straight innings of producing runs, the Tigers were held scoreless in the fifth through seventh as Talladega rallied for the win.
Oropeza hit a 400-foot home run to center field in the second inning and Isaac Guzman pushed across a run with a sac fly to give Dega a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Reese delivered an RBI double for Stillman in the bottom half of the inning to make it 2-1.
The long ball continued for Talladega in the third though, as Roldan hit a solo home run to right and Adriel Acevedo had a three-run home run to make it 6-1 in the third.
Stillman answered with a four-run bottom of the third. Mason Collins doubled in two runs and two runs scored on an error to make it 7-5. Woodard singled in a run in the fourth to tie the game, before scoring on a delayed double steal to give Stillman the 7-6 lead.
Guzman evened the score in the sixth with a solo home run to left and Roldan took the lead in the seventh after advancing to third on a passed ball and scoring on a wild pitch. Woodard was charged with the loss on the mound in relief.
Woodard and Collins each had two hits in the game, while Daniel Powell, Kobe Lewis and Reese each had one. Reese and Woodard led Stillman with three total hits in the double header.