PULASKI, Tenn. – The William Carey Baseball team wrapped up their series against UT-Southern, falling in game one 13-7 but bounced back to take game two 7-4 Saturday afternoon.
Head Coach Bobby Halford said, "we were fortunate to be able to bounce back in a rough environment in the second game and win especially after the first game when everything fell apart and we made some errors, leading to nine runs in the first inning. We were able to come back and make a game out of it and then we gave it up. I am proud of our guys the way we came back in the second game in a tough situation and hopefully we are ready to go Tuesday afternoon at 4:00 against an undefeated and number one team in the country LSU Shreveport."
Things did not go well in game one for the Crusaders, as the Firehawks raced out to a nine-run advantage in the first inning on six hits and two errors. Carey got one run back in the second on a Tyler Ducksworth RBI single and added four more in the third on RBIs by Deejay Booth, Preston Ratliff, and Brady Logan with a wild pitch scoring a run.
Pinch hitter Cam Trosclair cut the deficit to three with an RBI double to left in the fifth and after a leadoff triple by Eli Collins in the sixth, Booth cut the lead to two runs on an RBI groundout. However, Carey would get no closer, as UTS pulled away for good with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Game two saw the Crusaders get off to a much better start, taking an early lead with three runs in the first inning. Ratliff started the scoring with a single to left and after an error put runners on first and second, Josh Alexander made it 2-0 WCU on a double down the left field line with a balk scoring the third run.
The Firehawks chipped away at the lead with a run in the third and fifth inning to get within one, but WCU extended their lead to four with three runs in the seventh inning. A wild pitch allowed Bridley Thomas to score the first run of the frame. Booth scored Collins on a double to center with a sac fly by Alexander pushing across the final run of the inning.
Those three extra runs proved valuable, as UT-Southern pushed across two runs in the eighth on an RBI groundout and a single to right field. Carey picked up another insurance run in the ninth on an Alexander double for the final margin. In the bottom of the of the inning, the Firehawks put two runners on base with no outs, but relief pitcher Ratliff worked out the jam, retiring the next three batters on strikeouts.
Carey is back in action Tuesday, March 4, as they take on #1 LSU-Shreveport. Play is set begin at 4:00 pm at Milton Wheeler Field.
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