Huntingdon baseball bounces back with a win over Mississippi College

Huntingdon baseball bounces back with a win over Mississippi College

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon baseball team took advantage of its opportunities on Saturday to pick up its first win of the season. Huntingdon built a six-run lead at Posey Field and held on for an 8-5 win over Mississippi College.

A day after stranding eight runners and committing four errors, the Hawks (1-1) made just one error on Saturday and took advantage of their scoring opportunities.

"After Friday, it was big to be able to bounce back today. We played much better today," Huntingdon baseball coach D.J. Conville said, referring to a 7-3 loss to the Choctaws in the season opener. "We've been practicing hard, but we didn't play like that on Friday. Today, we played like we practice. We made a couple of mistakes but we competed at a higher level. If we can continue to compete like this and keep getting better, we have a chance to have a good club."

The Hawks scored four runs in the second inning and two in the third inning to build a 6-0 lead. Mississippi College (1-1) answered with two runs in the fourth and three in the seventh to make it a 6-5 game. Huntingdon pushed two runs across in the bottom of the seventh and only allowed one Choctaw on base in the final two innings.

"Getting four runs in the second and being able to add two runs the next inning, that was important," Conville said. "Then when they cut it to one run, we kept our composure and took advantage of the opportunities they gave us. They gave us a couple of scoring opportunities and we were able to capitalize on them."

Huntingdon's final two runs came on a Caleb Astin single that scored Keegan Lambeth and a miscue on the base paths. Junior Trey Smith got caught between third and home, but avoided the tag and returned to third. Astin, who had advanced to third as Smith headed home, started back to second as Smith returned to third.

Astin, now caught between second and third, was able to avoid the out and reach second safely as Smith ran home for the final run.

Huntingdon's earlier runs came in a more conventional manner.

After the Hawks loaded the bases, with just one out in the second inning, junior Seth Currie drew a walk to bring in Astin for the first run of the game. Austin White made it 2-0 when he scored on a wild pitch. A Mississippi College error allowed Currie and Lucas Tucker to score the final two runs of the inning.

In the third inning, White doubled in Smith and Astin scored on a wild pitch.

Astin finished 4-for-4 with an RBI, two runs and two stolen bases. White finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run.

Cory Belyeu (1-0) picked up the win and freshman Tyler Spivey picked up the save in his first appearance for the Hawks. Spivey pitched the ninth inning, striking out the final two batters.

Huntingdon returns to action on Friday at Rhodes.