CLEVELAND, Miss. – Marcus Morrisette proved vital for the Tigers on Saturday both at the plate and on the mound, driving in the first three West Alabama runs on a first inning homer and striking out the final batter to lead the Tigers to a 7-6 baseball win over Florida Southern in an elimination game of the NCAA South Regional at Ferriss Field.
 
The Tigers (36-20) will advance to play the winner of the No. 2 Tampa (38-13)-No.5 Valdosta State (33-21) game at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Should the Tigers win the 1 p.m. game, they will move on to face the loser of the No. 1 Delta State (42-11)-No. 3 Nova Southeastern (35-16) game at 4 p.m. on Sunday. The Moccasins (35-17) are eliminated from the tournament.
 
"When you get to this point in the post-season, every team is a quality group that deserves to be here," UWA head coach Gary Rundles said. "I'm just so proud of this team and they have battled and fought through adversity.
 
"I've said it all year, this team has more heart and more fight than any team I've ever coached. Just when you think they're down, they come back and put themselves in a position to win."
 
West Alabama drew first blood as Morrisette belted out his second three-run bomb in as many games, pushing Taylor Stafford and Luke Phillips, both reaching on a pair of singles, across the plate for a 3-0 Tiger lead after the top of the first.
 
Following back-to-back singles from Austin Mauer and Omar Villaman, Mitch Reeves drew a walk to juice the bases for Florida Southern in the bottom of the frame. Designated hitter Logan Browning cranked out a grand slam over right field on the next at-bat, erasing the UWA lead and moving Florida Southern ahead 4-3.
 
Despite the offensive explosion in the first, a defensive struggle ensued over the next five innings, ending with a Tiger breakthrough in the top of the seventh as Brock Montgomery blasted a two-run, opposite field homer to score himself and Tyler Lee, who reached on a lead-off single to place UWA back in front 5-4.
 
However, the forecasted storms approaching the Cleveland area made an abrupt appearance midway through the seventh, causing a two-hour delay in the action.
 
The long pause had minimal effect on the Moccasins as the first three batters back to the plate reached on singles, while Browning's grounder into right field was good for a run-batted-in, scoring Villaman from second to tie the game at 5-5.
 
After Nick Delgado ripped a single back up the middle to become the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth, a Moccasin throwing error allowed him to advance to second and Stafford to reach at first before a deep fly ball from Luke Phillips moved Delgado 90 feet from the plate.
 
A hard-hit grounder from Phillips on the next Tiger at-bat chased Delgado home from third to give UWA a 6-5 advantage with two away. The rally continued as a fielder's choice and the second Moccasin error of the inning loaded the bases for Josh Winningham, who walked Stafford in to push the margin to 7-5.
 
Florida Southern would not go away quietly as lead-off batter Reeves reached on a single, followed by a walk on the next at-bat, bringing Morrisette to the mound for his first pitching appearance of the season. A wild pitch carried Reeves home before an intentional walk loaded the bases with two away.
 
"We called on MJ to do something he hasn't done all year – closing out a game for us," Rundles said. "He stepped up and got two guys to pop up and struck the last guy out to end the ballgame with the bases loaded on a 3-2 count; it doesn't get more dramatic than that."
 
Morrisette snuck the 3-2 pitch past the next Moccasin batter to end the threat and seal the 7-6 victory for the Tigers.
 
"As a player, that's the type of situation you want to be in, but unless you have been there, you have no idea what it's like," Rundles said.
 
Stafford and Lee each tallied two hits to pace the Tigers at the plate, but Morrisette's three RBI led the Tiger lineup. Montgomery followed Morisette with two RBI.
 
Browning, Reeves and Villaman each contributed two hits toward the FSC offensive effort, while Browning was responsible for all Moccasin runs.
 
Brady Badon (4-1) earned the pitching win in relief, striking out one to end the FSC threat in the seventh and getting out the eighth with just six pitches before leaving the mound in the ninth. Morrisette picked up the save, disallowing a run on one hit in a single inning of work.
 
Cameron Haynes (1-4) took the loss, allowing two Tiger runs to break the tie on three hits in two innings on the mound.