Huntingdon baseball takes two from 16th-ranked Piedmont

DEMOREST, Ga. – The Huntingdon baseball team used strong pitching and timely hitting to shutout 16th-ranked Piedmont in a pair of conference wins on Friday.

Three Huntingdon pitchers combined to allow five hits in the two games, dropping the Lions 4-0 in Game 1 and 3-0 in Game 2. Huntingdon (21-9, 4-1 Great South Athletic Conference) and Piedmont (20-11, 2-3 GSAC) will close out the conference series on Saturday at 1 p.m.

In the first game, the Hawks scored one run in the fourth and three runs in the sixth as pitchers Grant Lowman and Parker Adams combined on a two-hit shutout. In Game 2, Huntingdon scored three runs in the fourth inning and Kevin Aaron threw nine innings of shutout ball.

Lowman (4-1) threw a one-hitter, struck out nine and walked five in eight innings to get the win in Game 1. Adams pitched the final inning, striking out one and allowing one hit. Kevin Caldwell (5-3) took the loss, striking out six, walking two, allowing seven hits and four runs in eight innings.

A Jordan Freeman triple scored Joseph Odom to give Huntingdon a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning. In the sixth inning, Trey Smith doubled to score Odom and Grant Brown and make it a 3-0 game. Austin White closed the scoring with an RBI single that scored Smith.

Aaron (3-1) picked up the win in Game 2, allowing three hits, striking out three and walking one. Caleb Cochran (6-3) took the loss, striking out seven, walking one, surrendering three runs and allowing six hits in nine innings.

A White single scored Odom and Smith for the Hawks' first two runs in the fourth inning. White scored on a Tyler Blackwell double to make it 3-0.

White finished the day 4-for-8 with three RBIs and a run. Smith had two hits in Game 1 and Brown had two hits in Game 2.