Staff reports
May 05, 2008 12:23 am
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MILLINGTON, Tenn. – Ryan Norman’s base hit in the bottom of the 10th inning scored Brantly Clay to give Montevallo a 6-5 victory over Valdosta State in the second round of the Gulf South Conference tournament Sunday afternoon at USA Stadium.
Clay singled to open the bottom of the 10th and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, before Norman hit a 1-0 pitch under a diving Jesse Barfield at first to score the winning run.
Valdosta State (35-17-1) jumped out to an early lead with a run in the top of the first inning. Jon Koenigsfeld worked a full-count walk to open the frame, then moved to second on a Sho Kohata sacrifice bunt. Daniel Muniz also walked, then a Blaine Wilson fly ball moved Koenigsfeld to third. Shawn Keill singled through the right side of the infield, plating Koenigsfeld to give the Blazers a 1-0 lead.
Montevallo (34-23) evened the game in the bottom of the second. Jeremy Faust and Clay singled to open the inning. A ground out moved both runners into scoring position, then Faust scored on Norman’s sacrifice fly, which tied the game at 1-1.
The Falcons took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Daniel Furuto and Dustin Rhodes each hit solo home runs, giving Montevallo a 3-1 lead.
A Clay home run with Furuto on base in the sixth pushed the Montevallo lead to 5-1.
The Blazers scored a run in the top of the seventh.
Logan Pierce walked to open the frame and moved to third two batters later on Calem Ray’s single to left center, which chased Falcon starter Jeffrey Reach. Nate Russ came on and struck out Koenigsfeld before being lifted for left-hander Garrett Mims. Mims gave up an infield single to Kohata that scored Pierce, making it 5-2. A stolen base and a walk to Muniz loaded the bases. Blaine Wilson worked a 2-2 count on Mims before hitting a slow roller to third. Chris Cooper fielded the ball and rushed a throw to first, which barely beat Wilson for the third out in the frame, ending the threat.
The Blazers further cut into their deficit in the eighth as Keill reached on a two-base fielding error and scored on a two-out triple by Sidney Spell that made it 5-3.
Then the Blazers tied the score in the top of the ninth.
Koenigsfeld drew a walk to open the ninth and moved to second on a Kohata ground out. Muniz grounded out for the second out of the frame, but then gave up an RBI single to Wilson, which scored Koenigsfeld, and Keill before being lifted for Zach Andrews.
Chase Blackwood greeted Andrews with a single that drove home pinch runner Wes Hyman, tying the score, and moved Keill to third. Three pitches later, Keill attempted to score as Norman let an Andrews pitch get away from him, but the Falcons’ catcher recovered to flip the ball to Andrews, who held on to the ball while colliding with Keill to end the inning.
Blazer starter Will Thompson surrendered six hits and three runs in five innings. Justin Lamb gave up three hits and a run in 1.1 innings to fall to 4-2. Keill tallied three hits on the day to lead the Blazers, who left 11 runners on base in the contest.
Reach surrendered just three hits and two runs in 6.1 innings. Andrews surrendered two hits in 1.1 innings to improve to 6-2. Clay had three hits for the Falcons, while Cooper, Furuto and Norman tallied two hits each.
Valdosta State returns to action Monday at 1 p.m. Eastern, when it plays the winner of Sunday’s North Alabama-West Alabama elimination game.
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