The Golden Tiger baseball team took a 2-1 series win over LeMoyne-Owen with scores of 11-8 and 7-6 before falling 6-2 in the final of three games, all at Washington Field over the past two days.
Tuskegee 11, LeMoyne-Owen 8
Both teams got on the board early in the first game, with the Magicians scoring a pair of runs to take a 2-0 lead.
The Golden Tigers responded to take control of the score in the bottom half of the frame, starting with a two-run homer from Caleb Cobb (Hockley, Texas). After two consecutive walks and an error to load the bases, Richard Smith (Birmingham, Ala.) drove in another pair of runs on a single to center field, scoring Jameson Eichelberger (McDonough, Ga.) and Mark Hatch (Chicago, Ill.). Smith later scored off a single from Russell Coleman (Laurel, Miss.) to extend the lead to 6-2 after one.
Tuskegee added another score in the third after Harrison Barnes (Cincinnati, Ohio) started off the inning with a leadoff triple and scored on the next at-bat after a sacrifice fly to center from Alex Glass (Birmingham, Ala.).
LeMoyne-Owen responded in the fifth and sixth innings, scoring twice on an RBI double to left center, followed by another score after an RBI bunt single to pull within two at 7-5.
The Golden Tigers got another leadoff triple in the sixth, this time from Glass, who later scored on a wild pitch. Meanwhile, Smith crossed the plate again for the second time off a sacrifice fly from Coleman.
After a run from the Magicians to put the score at 9-6, Tuskegee scored off a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly to score Eichelberger for the 11th run leading into the eighth and held LeMoyne-Owen to just two more runs in the game to take home the win.
Savontae Williams (Riverdale, Ga.) picked up the win and the complete game, striking out 12 batters and allowing eight hits while facing 40 batters. The Golden Tigers recorded seven hits in the game, while Barnes, Cobb, Eichelberger, and Smith all scored a pair of runs.
Tuskegee 7, LeMoyne-Owen 6 (7 Inn.)
Tuskegee stole the lead late in the second game in a 7-6 victory over Lemoyne Owen College. The score was tied at five with the Golden Tigers batting in the bottom of the sixth when the game was suspended and resumed on Monday afternoon.
The Magicians started the scoring in the second inning with a sacrifice fly to right, followed by a pair of runs in both the third and fourth innings to take a commanding 5-0 lead heading into the third.
The Golden Tigers found their offense in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four runs, with Coleman, Corey Stallings (Richton Park, Ill.), and Cobb all recording RBIs in the frame, with Stallings driving in two with a triple to center field.
Two straight doubles tied the game for Tuskegee in the bottom of the fifth as Glass led the inning off and scored on the hit from Smith. They later loaded the bases with the game still tied before play was suspended.
With play resuming on Monday, the Golden Tigers took their first lead of the game with a sacrifice fly from Stallings to drive in a run, followed by another from Cobb to go up 7-5. The Magicians scored a run in the top of the seventh but could not complete the rally.
Jalan Daniels (Atlanta, Ga.) got the win for Golden Tigers, pitching six innings. The junior allowed five runs on five hits and recorded nine strikeouts. Deangelo Nowell (Atlanta, Ga.) worked an inning in relief, facing four batters.
Yosvany Marquez toed the rubber for Lemoyne Owen College, working five innings and allowing four runs on eight hits, while striking out one. Jonathan Williams threw one inning in relief out of the bullpen.
Tuskegee totaled ten hits in the game, including four batters recording multiple hits, led by Smith and Stallings at two hits and three RBI and two hits and two RBI respectively. Cobb and Coleman also had two hits each.
LeMoyne-Owen 6, Tuskegee 2
After scoring the first run in the final game in the first inning with an infield single from Albert Gonzalez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to score Stallings, Tuskegee could not add to their run total until the sixth.
LeMoyne-Owen tied the game in the second on a groundout that brought a run home and later took the lead for good in the third with an RBI double. The Magicians added two more to extend their lead in the sixth followed by another pair of scores in the ninth for the 6-2 final.
Jonathan Williams got the win for LeMoyne-Owen, working a complete game and allowing two runs on five hits and six strikeouts.
Hunter Hudson (Montgomery, Ala.) took the loss in the final game of the series, allowing eight hits and four runs over seven innings and striking out five. Gonzalez led the Golden Tigers at the plate, going 2-for-3 and driving in a run, while Smith went 2-for-4 with a double.