LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The University of West Alabama baseball team defeated Tuskegee University 7-5, in a midweek contest Wednesday afternoon from Tartt Field.
UWA ends a two-game losing skid and improves to 7-5 overall, while TU drops to 2-8.
Tuskegee, after a single and a two-base error that put James Slaughter at third base, Scott Williams brought him home on a sacrifice fly.
After facing the minimum through the first three innings, West Alabama finally got to starter Daniel Williams Jr. After
Houston Kitterman reached on a seven-pitch walk and a hit by pitch by
Ryan Fletcher to put runners on first and second,
Blake Vineyard got the Tigers on the board with a knock through the left side.
Three batters later,
Ryan Fletcher made it a 2-1 lead after a passed ball by Jerald Bush.
Following a
Jacob Messina walk to load the bases,
Will Wood walked in a run to make it a 3-1 score.
Chase Dejean added the team's fourth run of the inning after
Bryce Newman reached first on the bobble by shortstop Ryan Morrow.
TU added a run in the sixth on a failed pickoff attempt that saw Morrow score from second base.
The Tigers added three insurance runs, one in the seventh and two in the eighth to extend the lead to 7-3. In the seventh, after Newman extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a double, he later scored on a wild pitch.
In the eighth, with two down, Newman reached on an infield hit to shortstop that saw Dejean score on the play. During
Kyle Vogler's at bat,
Thomas Watson, who entered the game as a pinch runner also scored on the play.
Tuskegee did not go away quietly. In the ninth, the Golden Tigers scored twice, capped by an Alex Glass base hit up the middle. After Jerald Bush put the tying run on base with a base hit,
Gates Pee slammed the door with a strikeout and a flyout to secure the win at home.
In the second-ever meeting between the two schools on Wednesday, UWA earned its first win over TU.
Bryce Newman,
Blake Vineyard and
Cade Horton all had multi-hit games for the Tigers in the win. Newman and Horton each laced a double. Newman and Vineyard also had an RBI each.
West Alabama was patient at the plate today, forcing Tuskegee pitching to eight walks.
Jacob Messina had three of those free passes.
James Slaughter led the Golden Tigers with a 2-for-4 day at the plate with two runs scored.
For UWA,
Graham Holland (1-1) picked up the win in relief, tossing three innings and punching out six as the Tiger pitching staff punched out 14 on the day. Holland allowed two hits and one unearned run on the bump.
Daniel Williams Jr. (0-1) could not get out of the fourth inning, going 3.1 innings with two hits, four runs, three earned, three walks and a strikeout.
West Alabama will step back into conference play this weekend with No. 16 West Florida coming to Livingston. The series starts at 5 p.m. on Friday evening from Tartt Field.
