Hawks score late to beat Hampden-Sydney

MONTGOMERY, Ala.  – The Huntingdon baseball team scored four runs in the eighth inning to rally past Hampden-Sydney for a 6-3 win on Tuesday night.

The two teams traded runs early and were tied 2-2 after four innings. Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Huntingdon sent nine batters to the plate and scored four runs to take the lead for good.

Andrew Knight drove in Cullen Stafford and Danny Coleman Jr. with a two-run single to give the Hawks the lead. Jacob Pitts drove in Knight with a ground out and Bradley Harris singled to drive in Hall Billings for the final run.

In the ninth inning, winning pitcher Kyle Phillips (1-0) forced a line out, struck out one batter and forced a fly out to end the game. The Hawks used five pitchers in the game. Phillips earned the win in two innings of relief. Starting pitcher John Crawford went six innings, struck out seven, walked four, scattered six hits and gave up one earned run.

Nick Swisher was 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI for the Hawks. Swisher had a solo home run, a double and a single in the game. Coleman was 3-for-4 with a run. Knight was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run and Pitts was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Chris Fisher had two hits, Harris had one RBI and Stafford and Billings each scored one run.                        

Records: Huntingdon (9-6); Hampden-Sydney (11-4)                               

Coming Up: Huntingdon will host Brevard in a three-game USA South Athletic Conference series this weekend. Game 1 is set for 6 p.m. on Friday.