MOBILE, Ala. – The Spring Hill College baseball team completed a sweep of the three-game series over LeMoyne-Owen by taking both games of the doubleheader this afternoon. The Badgers took game one 8-1 and picked up a 13-1 win in game two.
The Badgers are now 25-13 and 204 in the SIAC, while the Magicians fall to 15-23 and 6-17.
Spring Hill is on the road Tuesday, April 7, when it travels across town to face the University of Mobile at 5 p.m.
Game 1: Spring Hill 8, LeMoyne-Owen 1
With one down in the bottom of the first,
Jordan Black doubled down the left field line and then scored off
Jaylen Jones' two-run home run down the right field line to give Spring Hill a 2-0 lead.
The Badgers added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth when
John Webb doubled and moved to third on a balk following an out. He later scored when
Andrew Juez singled to left to push the lead to, 3-0.
Spring Hill in the top of the fifth continued to add to its lead. With one down, a pitch hit
Alex Roux, and then back-to-back balks moved him to third.
Jordan Black's sacrifice fly to center allowed Roux to score and give the Badgers a 4-0 lead.
The Magicians in the top of the seventh ended their scoreless drought as they pushed a run across to make it, 4-1.
In the bottom of the eighth, Spring Hill plated four runs on three hits to take an 8-1 lead.
LeMoyne-Owen, in the top of the ninth, looked to rally as it put two runners on, but it was unable to score them as the inning ended.
Starting pitcher
Wyatt Brown stayed perfect as he picked up the win to improve to 5-0. He allowed five hits over five plus innings while striking out five.
Reliever
Nathaniel Helton picked up his second save of the season as he went two and two-thirds innings and did not allow a run. He struck out four in the process.
Jones and Webb paced the Badgers at the plate with two hits each. Jones went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, a run scored, and a home run.
Webb finished the game going 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored, while
Robby Lopez was 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Teammate Juez also tallied two RBIs and a hit.
Game 2: Spring Hill 12, LeMoyne-Owen 1 – 7 innings
The Badgers grabbed an early lead in game two, starting in the first inning. With one out, Black reached first on a throwing error by the shortstop and then moved to second when Jones was plunked. Spring Hill loaded the bases when Webb hit an infield single to second. The Badgers took a 1-0 lead when a wild pitch allowed Black to score and advance the other runners 90 feet. Jones later scored off Moran's sacrifice fly to left to push the lead to, 2-0. Juez's RBI single to center scored Webb to put Spring Hill up 3-0, and then an error by the centerfielder allowed Juez to take second.
George Bode kept the inning alive when he reached first on a throwing error that allowed Juez to score. Bode came around to score to push the lead to 5-0 when
Angel Rivera singled through the left side. The Badgers plated another run when Rivera scored off
Eli Benoit's RBI double, and then he scored off Roux's RBI single to right center to put the Badgers up, 7-0.
Spring Hill added a run in the bottom of the second to take an 8-0 lead into the third where the Magicians scored their first run to cut the lead to, 8-1.
The Badgers broke the game open when they plated four runs in the bottom of the third to go up 12-1 headed into the top of the fourth.
Spring Hill in the bottom of the fifth added a run on a groundout to make it, 13-1.
Starting pitcher Ray Ocha picked up his fifth win of the season to improve to 5-2. He threw a complete game, allowing one run on five hits, while fanning six.
Roux and Webb each tallied two hits to pace the Badgers at the plate. Roux went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, while Webb was 2-for-2 with a run, a walk, and an RBI.
Black, Jones, Rivera, Benoit,
Ethan Davis, and Juez each talked a hit. Jones and Benoit registered a pair of doubles, the team's only extra-base hits of the game.
