HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The William Carey Baseball Team opened play Friday afternoon with a 9-2 victory over Campbellsville (Ky.) but fell to Missouri Baptist 12-5 Friday evening at Milton Wheeler Field.
Campbellsville took the early lead with a leadoff solo shot to right field by Yosuke Fujie in the first inning. However,
Josh Alexander copied Fujie in the bottom half of the inning, with a 400-foot solo shot of his own to right field on the first pitch of the at bat to tie the game.
After picking up two quick outs in the top pf the second. Starting pitcher
Matthew Davis issued back-to-back free passes that came back to hurt the Crusaders, as James Teets delivered a single up the middle to put the Tigers back in front.
Again though, the Tigers lead was short lived, as the Crusaders jumped out to a 5-2 advantage in the third inning, scoring four runs on three hits. With runners on first and second and one out,
Eli Collins delivered a two RBI double down the left field line.
Preston Ratliff followed Collins, clearing the bases with a 385-foot two run homerun to left field.
Carey extended their lead even further in the fourth inning, plating three runs on no hits. After loading the bases with one out the first run of the inning came in the form of a passed ball with a sacrifice fly by Ratliff making it 8-2. The final run of the frame came on a double steal by Collins and
Bridley Thomas with Thomas crossing the plate. WCU added the final run of the game in the fifth on a
Brady Logan RBI single to right center.
After giving up the early runs, Davis was brilliant on the mound, allowing just one hit over his final three innings work to pick up the win. For the game, Davis went 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on three hits with eight strikeouts.
After two scoreless innings to start the game against MBU things went downhill and fast for the Crusaders in the third inning. Starting pitcher
Josh MacCord ran into all sorts of trouble, as six straight Spartans reached base before the first out was recorded leading to three runs with a wild pitch making it 4-0.
After an infield fly for the first out of the inning, four straight Missouri Baptist players reached base scoring four more runs to make it an 8-0 lead. Carey managed to get one run back in the bottom of the third on a sac fly by Collins.
The score remained unchanged over the next three innings but in the seventh inning MBU extended their lead with four runs on four hits. In the bottom of the frame with Carey down to their final out and the bases loaded, a defensive miscue by the MBU centerfielder kept the inning alive and allowed three runs to cross the plate.
Jayden Mark followed with an RBI single to left to score Ratliff, but Spartan pitcher Skout Rallo ended any hopes of a comeback with a strikeout to end the game.
Carey is back in action tomorrow, as they take on Campbellsville (Ky.). Play is set to begin at 4:00 pm at Milton Wheeler Field.
