LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The University of West Alabama baseball team used two home runs and timely pitching to defeat Mississippi College, 3-2, in a Gulf South Conference contest on Friday evening from Tartt Field.
UWA picks up the series-opening win for the second straight week and improves to 15-17 overall and 8-11 in the league. MC falls to 13-16 and 5-11.
Bryant Quimby had a quick start on the mound, retiring the side in order on eight pitches. Holland Townes, on the other hand, was not as lucky. On his second pitch,
Bryce Newman sent a ball over the left field fence for a lead off solo shot to get the Tigers on the board first.
Unfortunately, the lead would not last long, as Wesley Sides led off the inning with a solo shot to left in the top of the second. Cole Drake followed with a bunt single. After taking second on a stolen base and third on a sacrifice bunt, Beau Kirsch gave the visitors a 2-1 lead with a sacrifice fly.
Things stayed quiet on both sides, but the Tigers had a threat in the bottom of the fourth. After a three-up, three-down inning by Quimby in the top half, the Tigers had two runners on base with two outs after
Nick Thibodeau had a single and
Chase Dejean reached on an error by the shortstop. However, the threat ended thanks to a Townes's strikeout.
The Choctaws had a golden opportunity to add on to their 2-1 lead in the sixth with runners at second and third and less than two outs. However a Korey Cooper fielder's choice saw JT Vance be retired in a rundown between third base and the plate.
Now with runners at first and second, Beau Kirsch laced a single to
Blake Vineyard and he fired a strike to the plate to retire Sides trying to score from second.
From there, the Tigers could feel the momentum shifting back to their dugout on the first base side. After two quick outs, Thibodeau reached with another single, but this time, he would score on the play. Dejean sent a ball over the fence for what would be the go-ahead two-run shot to give UWA the 3-2 lead.
Quimby, in his last inning on the mound, threw just seven pitches and retired the Choctaws in order for the third time in the game.
"He came out and threw well and set the tone for us early on. He had a good first inning and ran into some trouble in the second, but he was able to put up five zeros after that," said assistant coach
Brock Ward.
Laney Keeton hurled the final two innings for the Tigers, but the eighth inning was a little shaky at the start. After a lead off two-bagger by Caleb Reese, Keeton worked around it with three straight outs to keep the Tigers with the lead.
Retiring the final six batters he faced after allowing the double to start the eighth, he had a 1-2-3 top of the ninth to seal his second save of the year.
With the lead off home run, UWA improves to 8-3 when they score in the first inning and 8-4 when scoring first in general.
This was the 13th one-run game in 32 games played for West Alabama. After Friday's win, they are now 8-5 this season in such instances.
Bryant Quimby (4-2) tossed his second straight seven-inning performance, matching a UWA high. Allowing two runs on six hits, 11 of the 21 outs he recorded were fly outs.
"Quimby's hitting his stride right now as we all are in the middle of the season. We need him to get going; he's our Friday night starter. He's helping our team a chance to win by giving us a quality start on the mound," added Ward.
Chase Dejean and
Bryce Newman both had their second homers of the year in the win. Newman posted a 2-for-4 night at the dish, while Dejean had two RBIs off his home run.
For the Choctaws, Holland Townes (3-3) tossed the complete game, allowing three earned runs and striking out seven batters.
UWA and MC will wrap up the series with a twin bill from Tartt Field on Saturday at 1 p.m.
