10th-ranked Hawks hold off Rhodes

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The 10^th-ranked Huntingdon baseball team scored five runs in the middle innings and held off Rhodes College in the ninth inning for a 5-4 win on Wednesday.

The Hawks (13-0) rallied from a 3-0 deficit with two runs in the fifth inning and three runs in the sixth inning and led 5-4 after seven innings. In the eighth inning, relief pitcher Colton Clark and the Huntingdon defense kept Rhodes off the bases before closer John Crawford took the mound in the ninth-inning.

Backed up by his defense, Crawford earned his fourth save of the season. The inning got off to a shaky start after a walk, a sacrifice bunt and a stolen base put the tying run on third. With one out, second baseman Jake Elrod denied the Lynx with a diving play on a lineout for the second out.

Following another walk, Rhodes stole second to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Crawford struck out the next batter, but with a dropped ball on strike three, catcher Andrew Knight made the throw to first baseman Garrett Breland to end the game.

Freshman Tucker Duke (2-0) picked up the win in two innings of relief of starter John Kelsoe.

The two teams played four scoreless innings before Rhodes (5-8) scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth, Huntingdon answered when Chris Fisher scored on a ground out by Wes Powell and Heath Haskins drove in Will Cosby with a single.

Powell drew a bases-loaded walk to score Danny Coleman Jr. and tie the game 3-3 in the sixth inning. The Hawks took the lead on a sacrifice fly by Haskins that scored Elrod. Breland drove in Fisher on a single for Huntingdon's final run.

Breland and Knight were the only Hawks with multiple hits, finishing with two hits apiece.

Records: Huntingdon (13-0); Rhodes (5-8)

Coming Up: Huntingdon will host LaGrange in a conference series this weekend. Game 1 of the three-game series is set for 6 p.m. on Friday.