ALBANY, Ga. (May 8, 2022) – The Spring Hill College (SHC) Badgers baseball team won the 2022 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Tournament Championship with an exciting 8-7 victory over the host Albany State University (ASU) Golden Rams at the ASU West Campus Stadium on Sunday.
The Badgers (38-13) got things started with one out in the top of the 1
st inning when senior right fielder
Grayson Williams blasted a solo homer out of left-center field.
First baseman
Micah Morgan later put
Grayson Williams across the plate again in the 3
rd inning with a double down the right line.
ASU took a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the 3
rd inning off an RBI-single that was followed by a Grand Slam, but Badger catcher
Bryce Walker mashed a 3-run homer out of right field in the top of the 4
th frame to knot the game at 5-5.
In the 6
th inning, controversy occurred when Walker drove a run-scoring single to right to put the Badgers up 6-5, but the umpires ruled that his bat had lost its validation sticker, thus ruling him out and returning the baserunners to 2
nd and 3
rd base with two outs. A foul pop-out to left then ended the inning.
Spring Hill responded to the challenge in the top of the 7
th inning when Morgan doubled in Williams and shortstop
Norris McClure followed with a double to score Morgan. Left fielder
Luke Sweeney then picked up what would prove to be a crucial RBI with a groundout to 2
nd base to plate McClure as SHC built an 8-5 advantage.
The Golden Rams (31-13) recovered from the blow to score two runs via a double off the wall in right-center in the bottom of the 7
th inning, but center fielder
Gage Ragona came up with a laser of a throw to cut down the tying run at the plate and end the inning.
Senior relief pitcher
Michael Romano came on in the bottom of the 8
th inning and got the Badgers out of a 2
nd and 3
rd bases jam with a strikeout and then proceeded to sit the Rams down in order in the 9
th frame to secure his third save of the year as pandemonium erupted from the Badger bench.
Following the game and awards presentation, SHC head coach and Tournament Coach of the Year
Frank Sims said, "I am so proud of our players right now. They wanted this and they went out and took it. It was all them. They play the games, so it was up to them to do it and they lived up to the challenge."
Morgan finished the day with a 4-for-5 performance including four RBI and the Tournament Most Valuable Player Award while his teammates Williams, McClure and designated hitter
Grant Akridge joined him on the All-Tournament team. Williams was 2-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored to tie the SHC career runs-scored record of 190 trips across the plate. Akridge enjoyed a 3-for-4 outing.
All told, SHC collected 14 hits with two walks and five strikeouts versus three Rams pitchers.
The Badgers used four pitchers with
Kaleb Bush (5-1) earning the win in 3.1 innings of relief of starter
Alex Holz. Bush allowed just two hits with four walks and four strikeouts while Holz went 3.0 innings with five hits, two walks, and one strikeout.
Matthew Delcambre registered a hold of two-thirds of an inning with two hits allowed and Romano faced just seven batters in 2.0 innings with one hit and three strikeouts.
Spring Hill will now advance to the NCAA Division II South Region Championship Tournament at a date and location yet to be determined.
(The SHC Sports Information Department apologizes for the tardiness of this post - transportation complications delayed our efforts)
