Hawks complete sweep of Blackburn

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Trey Smith drove in the first run and scored the final run for Huntingdon in Saturday's doubleheader with Blackburn College. In between, the Hawks racked up 25 hits, 19 runs and four home runs in a sweep of the Beavers.

Huntingdon took the first game 12-0 in seven innings and won the second game 7-3. Game 2 was a regulation nine-inning game. The Hawks beat Blackburn 19-4 on Friday.

"Overall, this was a good weekend for us," Huntingdon baseball coach D.J. Conville said. "We were able to get a lot of guys in and let them get some at-bats. It's always good to get a sweep, but our guys understand that we have a lot of room for improvement.

"We have a solid team, but just because we're winning that doesn't mean we're doing everything as well as we should be. We're still having good innings and bad innings and we've got to learn to be consistent the whole game. We're going to keep working and keep trying to improve."

Smith and catcher Joseph Odom led the Hawks (15-4) at the plate. Smith, a leftfielder, was 8-for-9 with seven RBIs, four runs, two home runs and two stolen bases in the two games. Odom was 4-for-6 with an RBI and four runs, including a solo home run.

A Smith RBI single in the first inning opened the scoring in Game 1. Smith's first home run of the day, a two-run homer, came in the third inning. Smith finished the first game 5-for-5 with four RBIs and two runs. He was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs, two stolen bases and a three-run home run in Game 2.

Freshman shortstop Kevin Plyler was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a run in the first game. Austin White had two hits, two RBIs and a run and Jordan Freeman and Tyler Blackwell each scored twice. Trammell DeJarnett and Seth Currie each had an RBI and a run and Keegan Lambeth also had an RBI in the first game.

Odom's solo homer opened the scoring in Game 2. A Cameron Lewis single made it 2-0 in the fifth inning before Huntingdon hit two home runs in the sixth. Grant Brown led off the inning with a solo homer and Smith followed up with his three-run blast. Smith scored the Hawks' final run of the day on a Blackburn error to make it 7-0 in the bottom of the eighth.

The Beavers scored three runs in the top of the ninth.

Brown finished the second game 2-for-4, Evan Agnew had an RBI and Chad Baxley scored once.

Caleb Cofield (2-0) got the win in Game 1, striking out four, walking one and allowing one hit in two innings of relief. Grant Lowman started the game and went four innings, striking out four, walking two and allowing two hits.

Cory Belyeu (4-0) picked up the second win, striking out six, walking three and allowing six hits in six innings.

Huntingdon returns to action in its first Great South Athletic Conference series of the season. The Hawks host Covenant on March 16 at 7 p.m. The two teams will play a doubleheader on March 17. Game 1 is set for 1 p.m.