HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The William Carey baseball team overcame a slow start, to defeat Point University 7-2 Saturday afternoon at Milton Wheeler Field.
"Proud of our guys for not panicking when we had two hits through five innings," said Head Coach Bobby Halford. "Their guy was tough, but we were finally able to get his pitch count up. It was a very emotional and draining day yesterday with Bridley and Eli sustaining serious injuries and we were a little sluggish coming out of the gate."
Pitching was the highlight of the final game of the series, as there were a combined nine hits given up over the first six innings with the Skyhawks having six of those hits. Point picked up three of their hits in the third leading to one run with a wild pitch allowing another run to cross the plate to give Point the early lead.
The Crusaders remained steadfast and in the sixth finally broke through the armor of the Skyhawk starting pitcher. After back-to-back walks and wild pitch put runners on second and third, Josh Alexander picked up the third hit for Carey with a single to right, to tie the game.
WCU carried the momentum into the seventh. With the bases loaded and one out Preston Ratliff delivered the big hit, driving in two runs on a single to center field with an error on the same play making it 5-2 Carey. The Crusaders were not done, as Tyler Ducksworth and Alexander went back-to-back with doubles to right center to score the final runs of the game.
Relief pitcher Bobby Magee did the rest, allowing only two hits over the final two innings to seal the victory. Starting pitcher Conner Wilson earned the win on the mound going seven innings allowing two runs on six hits.
"I thought we did a good job of battling when we had too with the big hits by Josh and Preston to get us going," said Halford. "Rigoberto continues to step up in the leadoff spot and another great effort by Conner today."
Carey is back in action Tuesday, March 11, as they head to Livingston, Ala. to take on West Alabama. Play is set to begin at 4:00 pm.
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