Hawks fall to Birmingham-Southern in 9th inning

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon baseball team gave up three unearned runs in the top of the ninth inning in a 12-9 loss to Birmingham-Southern on Tuesday night.

In an evenly-matched game, the two teams answered each other score-for-score until the final inning. Birmingham-Southern took a 2-0 lead in the second and Huntingdon answered with two runs in the third innings.

The Hawks went ahead by a run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Panthers answered with one run in the top of the sixth. Huntingdon scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth only to see Birmingham-Southern score five runs in the top of the seventh. Each team scored one run in the eighth.

The momentum swung Birmingham-Southern's way for good in the top of the ninth inning as the Panthers scored two runs on a Huntingdon error and added a final run on a wild pitch.

Highlighting the night for the Hawks were a pair of inside-the-park home runs in the five-run sixth inning. With no runners on base, Chris Fisher hit the first home run with a ball that got past the Panthers' center fielder. Four batters later, with one runner on, Taylor Fought duplicated the feat.

Fought and Wes Powell both finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs and Chandler DeRieux was 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Garrett Breland was 2-for-3 with two runs and a triple and Fisher had two hits, one RBI and one run. Garrett Headley and Coleson Taylor each scored one run.

Jeremy Peterson (1-3) took the loss in one inning of relief.

Records: Huntingdon (13-15); Birmingham-Southern (15-10)

Coming Up: Huntingdon hosts Covenant in a three-game USA South Athletic Conference series this weekend. Game 1 is set for 5 p.m. on Friday.