LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The University of West Alabama baseball team picked up a doubleheader split on Saturday against Mississippi College. After the Choctaws forced the rubber match with a 9-4 win in game one, the Tigers responded with six unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth to win the game two and the series, 6-1.
UWA goes to 16-18 and 9-12 in league play, while MC moves to 14-17 and 6-12.
GAME 1: Mississippi College 9, West Alabama 4
West Alabama kept the power going from Friday night's win at the start of the twin bill. After a lead off walk by
Bryce Newman,
Blake Vineyard followed with a two-run bomb over the left field fence to see the Tigers striking first.
Next up,
Houston Kitterman followed suit with a first-pitch long ball for the 3-0 lead.
In the third, JT Vance cut the Choctaw deficit to 3-2 with a two-run home run, and the power display continued in the fourth with another two-run shot to give the visitors the 4-3 edge.
In the fifth, Vineyard started off the frame with a double, and after Kitterman moved him over to third,
Cade Horton pulled UWA back even at four runs apiece with his sacrifice fly.
Unfortunately, Mississippi College put up five runs in the sixth to put the contest away.
Blake Vineyard hit his third homer of the year and finished with a 2-for-4 day at the dish with two runs and RBIs each.
Houston Kitterman added his second home run of the year in the loss.
GAME 2: West Alabama 6, Mississippi College 1
The nightcap saw zeros in the first three innings. However, in the fourth, after JT Vance reached on a dropped fly in center field, he later scored on a Korey Cooper RBI knock to put the Choctaws on the board first.
After
Maxwell Schumacher got into trouble in the fifth with runners on first and second and two outs, the Tigers went to the bullpen, and
Judah Buckner got JT Vance to swing and miss for the third out to keep the score at 1-0 in favor of MC.
In the bottom half of the frame, the Tigers had back-to-back hits by
Ryan Fletcher and
Kyle Vogler, and the bottom of the lineup fed the top. Newman moved over
Sam Smith, who pinch ran for Fletcher, and Vogler up 90 feet on a sac bunt. Next up, Vineyard laced a two-run single to give the Tigers the 2-1 lead.
After a bobble by Bryce LaRocca in center field that saw Vineyard take two extra bags,
Houston Kitterman immediately brought him home on a base knock to extend the UWA lead to 3-1.
A second MC error kept the inning going for
Chase Dejean, who brought home the fourth run of the frame with a single through the left side.
After Buckner worked around a lead off walk, UWA added two insurance runs in the sixth thanks to a Kitterman two-run double.
"We just beat each other up in this league, and I tell the guys that it's not easy. The guys kept battling with good AB's and we were able to bust it open in the fifth and sixth," said head coach
Eric DuBose.
Houston Kitterman posted his first three-hit game of the season and the second of his career with a 3-for-4 day at the plate with three RBIs.
Chase Dejean recorded his ninth multi-hit performance with two singles in the win, while
Blake Vineyard added two more runs and RBIs each.
Maxwell Schumacher danced in and out of trouble a couple of times in the nightcap, but he tossed 4.2 innings and allowed one unearned run and five base runners on three hits and two walks.
After Judah Bucker (1-0) posted the strikeout in the fifth and UWA taking the lead after that, he earned his first win of the season, allowing no hits and just one base runner in 2.1 scoreless innings in relief.
"Max has been a staple for us and gives us 50 to 70 pitches for every seven-inning start. Judah has been a very pleasant surprise for us coming off an injury and being a guy out of the bullpen to create swing-and-miss stuff for us," said DuBose.
For UWA, this is the time to hit their stride. With three more conference series left in the regular season heading into the month of April, the Tigers control their own destiny in getting back to the GSC Championship.
"Everything matters on every detail that we do. We're playing our best baseball right now, and this is the time to do that. We control our own destiny. We keep winning, we'll be in the tournament, and our guys are hungry for that opportunity," added DuBose.
West Alabama will head into the final month of the regular season with a non-conference contest with Southeastern Baptist on Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m., weather permitting, from Tartt Field.
