Sampson's Grand Slam Propels Huntingdon To Victory Over Covenant

MONTGOMERY,Ala.- In the final game of their conference-opening series, Huntingdon baseball (11-8 overall, 2-1 CCS) defeated the Covenant Scots(8-13 overall, 1-2 CCS) 10-6. The Hawks went ahead early, only to fall behind until Sophomore outfielder Jabez Sampson drilled the first grand slam of his career to give the Hawks the lead for the remainder of the game.

Highlights

• Following a scoreless first inning, Matthew Robinson drilled a home run over the left field fence to put the Hawks ahead 1-0

• Later in the same frame, Jordan Raley singled to left field, allowing Davis Johnson to cross home plate and give Huntingdon a 2-0 lead entering the third inning

• After shutting the Scots down again in the third inning, they responded with a two-run home run in the fourth to even the score at two

• Covenant earned two more runs in the frame to hold a 4-2 advantage heading into the bottom of the fourth

• Following a Christian Lasecki single, the Hawks found themselves with bases loaded and no outs on the board. Jabez Sampson stepped up to the plate and hit the second home run of his career, and his first ever grand slam, to bring home Daniel Patton, Davis Johnson, and Lasecki to flip the lead back to Huntingdon at 6-4

• Three at bats later, Noah Phillips hit a double that secured a run for Jordan Raley, putting the Hawks ahead 7-4 entering the fifth inning

• With no runs scored by either side in the fifth inning, Covenant opened up the sixth with a double that brought home two Scots to shrink the Huntingdon lead to 7-6

• Huntingdon responded in the following frame, with a walk bringing in Daniel Phillips for Huntingdon's eighth run of the afternoon, which was followed by sacrifice groundout from Daniel Patton to secure a run for Cade Morgan to give Huntingdon a 9-6 lead

• Following a scoreless seventh inning, the Hawks scoring came to a close with an error allowing Daniel Phillips to give Huntingdon a 10-6 victory.

On the mound

• Michael Driver started on the mound for the Hawks, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits with 3 strikeouts in 3.5 innings

• Jackson Joiner followed Driver and earned the win for Huntingdon, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits through two innings

• Seth Killam relieved Joiner in the sixth inning and earned his first save on the season, not allowing any runs on 4 hits and throwing 3 strikeouts

The Hawks resume play on March 29th, when they travel to Berea to take on the Mountaineers for their second conference series. Gametime is scheduled for 6:00 PM CT.