Huntingdon baseball takes two from U.W.-Platteville

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Huntingdon faced adversity early in Friday's doubleheader with the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

But the Hawks responded with a 9-4 win and a 5-2 win over the Pioneers at Posey Field. The second game of the doubleheader was a 7-inning game.

Weather permitting, the two teams are scheduled to play again on Sunday at 1 p.m.

"We picked up two good wins today," Huntingdon baseball coach D.J. Conville said. "We took a big blow in the first game when Caleb Astin got hurt. He's a team captain and a leader, but our guys kept their composure, competed hard and did what it took to win."

Astin, a junior shortstop, had to leave the game in the top of the first inning of Game 1 with a leg injury. Through the first part of the season, Astin has been the Hawks' leader in batting average, hits and runs.

The Hawks (6-2) got help from several areas to pick up the two wins. In Game 1, sophomore first baseman Tyler Blackwell and sophomore catcher Joseph Odom combined for five hits and eight RBIs. In Game 2, winning pitcher Cory Belyeu (2-0), carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning and finished with a two-hitter in six innings. He also struck out six, walked three and allowed two earned runs. Will Davis picked up the save, pitching the seventh inning, forcing two ground outs before striking out the final batter.

"Belyeu and Davis looked good in the second game," Conville said. "Belyeu seems to get better each time out and tonight he did what we needed him to do to give us a chance to win."

In both games, the sixth inning was pivotal for the Hawks. In Game 1, Huntingdon scored five runs on two hits and two errors in the sixth. In the second game, the Hawks scored three runs on three hits and an error in the sixth.

Tied 2-2 in the sixth inning of Game 2, with runners on the corners, Evan Agnew singled in Trey Smith for the go-ahead run. Jordan Freeman followed with an RBI single to score Austin White and Agnew closed the scoring on a Pioneer error.

A White single and an U.W.-Platteville error accounted for Huntingdon's first two runs. Smith scored both runs and finished the game with three runs scored.

Bobby Patton took the loss for the Pioneers (0-2).

White and Agnew each had two hits and were the only players on either team to finish with multiple hits in Game 2. Agnew was 4-for-4 on the day with an RBI and four runs.

Blackwell led Huntingdon in the first game, going 3-for-4 with five RBIs and a run and Odom was 2-for-4 with a solo home run and three RBIs.

Grant Lowman (1-0) got the win in the first game, striking out four, scattering five hits, walking three and allowing two earned runs. Freeman and Joseph Fincher combined for seven strikeouts in four innings of relief.

Despite Odom's first home run of the season, the Hawks fell behind 2-1 early in the first game. The Hawks scored two runs in the fourth when Agnew and Kevin Plyler scored on a Blackwell single.

The five-run sixth inning all but put the game away. With the bases loaded, Blackwell singled in two runs and Chad Baxley scored on an error on the play. Odom added two more runs on a single.

Blackwell's fifth and final RBI came on a single in the seventh inning.

"Tyler has been out of the lineup for a couple of games and we put him back in today," Conville said. "He's been working hard, got his confidence back up and he looked comfortable at the plate today. You have to give him credit for getting in there and getting the job done. His first at-bat today, the bases were loaded and he came through for us."

Bill Oppriecht took the loss in Game 1.