Hawks close conference play with sweep of Berea

BEREA, Ky. – The Huntingdon baseball team closed out conference play with a 27-17 and 19-4 sweep of Berea on Friday. Game 2 was shortened to seven innings.

Game 3 of the series is canceled due to the weather and will not be made up.

Huntingdon (18-16) ends conference play with a 10-7 record and will return to action in the USA South Athletic Conference Tournament. The conference tournament begins on Wednesday in LaGrange, Ga.

Tournament seeding will not be finalized until after the final regular-season conference games are played on Sunday.

Despite the final score in Game 1, Huntingdon was unable to put Berea away until the ninth inning. The Hawks fell behind 5-0 in the first inning and were tied 6-6 after four innings. Entering the seventh inning, Huntingdon trailed 9-7.

Huntingdon used an 11-run seventh inning to take an 18-9 lead. Huntingdon sent 15 batters to the plate in the seventh inning and put together 10 hits, including a two-run home run by Taylor Fought, a two-run double by Garrett Headley and a two-run double by Joseph Calvert.

But Berea answered with four runs in the bottom of the seventh and two runs in the eighth to cut Huntingdon's lead to 18-15. The Hawks pulled ahead for good in the ninth inning, sending 13 batters to the plate and scoring nine runs. A two-run double by Fought and a two-run double by Chandler DeRieux highlighted the inning.

Fought finished the game 4-for-7 with four RBIs, four runs, a home run and two doubles. Jud Owens was 3-for-5 with four RBIs and four runs, DeRieux was 3-for-6 with five runs and two RBIs and Calvert was 3-for-5 with four RBIs, three runs, two doubles and two stolen bases.

Chris Fisher was 3-for-6 with two runs, an RBI and two doubles and Will Cosby had three RBIs, two runs and a triple. Bradley Harris had three runs, two RBIs and two hits, Headley had three RBIs and two runs and Wes Powell had two runs and an RBI.  

Carden Mellown (6-2) picked up the win in Game 1.

In Game 2, Huntingdon led 5-2 after four innings and put the game away with seven runs in the fifth inning and seven runs in the seventh inning.

Fought had four RBIs and two runs in Game 2 and Cosby was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs. Powell was 3-for-4 with three runs and an RBI and Harris was 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs. 

Coleson Taylor and Calvert each had two hits, two RBIs and two runs, Headley had two RBIs and two runs and DeRieux and Fisher each had two runs and an RBI.

Brooks Freeman (4-3) was the winning pitcher, striking out eight, walking one, allowing four hits and two earned runs in six innings.

Records: Huntingdon (18-16, 10-7 USA South); Berea (4-28, 0-17 USA South)

Coming Up: Huntingdon returns to action in the USA South Athletic Conference Tournament in LaGrange, Ga. The opponent and time will be determined on Sunday.