Hawks One Win Away From CCS Title After Knocking Off Belhaven

MARYVILLE, Tenn.- Earning their spot in the championship match of the 2025 Collegiate Conference of the South Baseball Tournament, the #5 seeded Huntingdon Hawks found themselves in a tournament rematch with the #2 overall seed, Belhaven University. 

After falling to the Blazers 16-1 in the opening game of the conference tournament, the Hawks rebounded in a major way, claiming victory 2-1 to force a "win or go home" matchup between the two teams at Maryville College tomorrow. 

How it happened

The bats were still hot for the Hawks in their second game of the day, as they struck first in the opening frame with Dalton Kuhn's fielder's choice play scoring Cade Morgan to give Huntingdon the early advantage. On the other side of the field, the Hawks saw excellent play on the mound throughout the contest, particularly in the earlier stages of the game from Jable Ramey. Through the first four innings of play, Ramey held the Blazers to just one hit per frame to maintain Huntingdon's lead. Jabez Sampson took advantage of Ramey's strong start on the mound, singling through the left side of the field in the fourth inning, bringing Blayne McDaniel across home plate to extend the Hawks lead to 2-0. 

The Blazers finally found some life in the fifth inning, recording three hits before capitalizing on a Hawks throwing error that scored their first run of the game, bringing Belhaven within one run coming down the stretch. Huntingdon made their first pitching substitution in the seventh inning, calling on Will Argo to close things out, to which he answered. In a little over two innings of play, Argo held Belhaven to just three hits, keeping the Blazers off the scoreboard as Huntingdon looked to pull off the upset. CCS All-Conference performer Brent Cadenhead stepped onto the mound from third base in the 9th inning, and the rest was history, as he forced three outs in as many batters to secure victory for the Hawks. In doing so, Cadenhead picked up his eighth save of the season, placing him inside the top 10 in all of NCAA Division III.

Up Next

The Hawks return to action against Belhaven at the Scotland Yard tomorrow, May 5th, at 11:00 AM ET in a showdown to determine the conference champion.