Huntingdon baseball splits with Rhodes in Sunday doubleheader

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon baseball team started slow on Sunday, but the Hawks came alive late to salvage a split with Rhodes College.

After dropping the first game 2-0 at Posey Field, Huntingdon responded with an 11-7 win in the second game. Due to the doubleheader, Game 1 was seven innings and Game 2 was nine innings.

"We didn't play very well in the first game. Their pitcher dominated us," Huntingdon baseball coach D.J. Conville said. "But we kept our composure and bounced back in Game 2. We swung the bats better and pushed runs across. We've just got to keep working and continue to get better."

After being held to three hits in Game 1, Huntingdon (3-2) had a season-high 13 hits in Game 2. The Hawks scored one run in the first and four runs in the third inning to take a 5-1 lead. Rhodes (3-1) cut it to 5-4 before the Hawks opened the game back up with six runs.

Leading by a run in the sixth, an Evan Agnew triple scored Austin White. In the seventh inning, a Keegan Lambeth sacrifice fly scored Caleb Astin. An error on the play allowed Cameron Lewis and Joseph Odom to score. Grant Brown and Chad Baxley scored the Hawks' final two runs on a Trey Smith single in the eighth inning.

Earlier in the game, an Odom single opened the Hawks' scoring in the first inning. A sacrifice fly by White, a two-run double by Agnew and an RBI single by Baxley accounted for four runs in the third.

Through five games, Astin leads Huntingdon with a .526 batting average. His 10 hits and five runs also lead the Hawks. Astin was 0-for-4 in Game 1 but was 3-for-4 with two runs in Game 2. Baxley, who earned his first two starts of the season on Sunday, was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run in Game 2.

Agnew had two hits, three RBIs and a run and Smith had two hits and two RBIs. Odom had two hits and two runs and Lewis scored twice.

Parker Adams (1-0) picked up the win in two innings of relief of starter Cory Belyeu, striking out two and allowing two hits. Belyeu went four innings, striking out five, walking two, allowing five hits and one earned run.

Josh Olejnik took the loss for the Lynx in 2 1/3 innings of work.

In Game 1, Brown had two hits and Lambeth had one hit for the Hawks.

John Rice (0-2) took the loss for Huntingdon, striking out seven, allowing seven hits and surrendering one earned run in five innings.

Jackson Baker picked up the win, striking out nine, walking three and allowing three hits in a complete game.

Huntingdon returns to Posey Field on Tuesday for a 3 p.m. game with Oglethorpe.