CLINTON, Miss. – The No. 6 University of West Alabama baseball team used a dominant offensive performance to defeat Mississippi College, 15-7, in a midweek non-conference matchup on Tuesday evening at Frierson Field.
With the win, the Tigers improve to 29-8 on the season, continuing their strong run with a series win over the Choctaws earlier this year now followed by a convincing road victory.
West Alabama wasted no time getting on the board, as Rashad Robinson opened the game with a leadoff home run to give the Tigers an early 1-0 advantage. UWA added another run later in the inning on an RBI groundout by Aaron Wallace to take a 2-0 lead.
Mississippi College responded quickly, capitalizing on a wild pitch before Jake LaRocca launched a three-run home run to give the Choctaws a 4-2 lead after the first inning. The Tigers answered right back in the second, tying the game at 4-4 behind RBI efforts from Robinson and Hudson Walburn.
After the Choctaws briefly reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the second, West Alabama continued to chip away offensively. Layth Holiday delivered an RBI single in the third to even the score, and the Tigers took control in the fourth with RBI hits from Nick Wilson and Kaiden Jones to make it 7-5.
Mississippi College trimmed the deficit to one in the fifth, but West Alabama broke the game open in the sixth inning. The Tigers plated four runs in the frame, highlighted by a two-run single from Austin Thacker, along with capitalizing on defensive miscues to extend the lead to 11-6.
The Choctaws added a run in the bottom half of the sixth, but UWA single from Will Wood and an RBI knock from Robinson. Wood later capped the inning with an aggressive steal of home to push the lead to 15-7.
Offensively, West Alabama tallied 14 hits and drew nine walks in the contest. Robinson led the way, going 2-for-6 with three RBIs, while Holiday finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Wood added two hits and two RBIs, and Walburn scored three times in the win.
On the mound, Jacob Marshall earned the victory in relief, improving to 2-0 after tossing 2.1 innings and allowing just one run. The Tigers' bullpen settled things down after a rocky start, combining for over eight innings of work while limiting the Choctaws to three runs the rest of the way. Nolan Phillips and Camden Lyke were particularly effective late, helping close out the game with scoreless innings.
Mississippi College was led by LaRocca's four RBIs, while Creek Robertson added a home run in the loss.
West Alabama will look to carry this momentum forward as the Tigers return to conference play against West Florida in a three-game series, beginning on Friday, April 10th at 5 PM.
