Hawks Late Rally Comes Up Short Against Belhaven

MONTGOMERY,Ala.-  Despite their best comeback efforts, Huntingdon baseball(15-13 overall, 5-5 CCS) fell to the Blazers of Belhaven University(19-13 overall, 8-4 CCS) 11-10. Belhaven jumped out to an early lead and built upon it to hold a 10-1 lead entering the 7th inning. The Hawks battled back with explosive seventh and ninth innings, but came up just short.

Highlights

• The Blazers started the game with four runs in the first frame to enter the bottom half of the opening inning with a 4-0 lead

• Huntingdon got on the board with a run from Daniel Phillips off a Blazer error to bring the score to 4-1 entering the second inning

• Belhaven would go on to score five unanswered runs in the second and third innings to raise their lead to 9-1 by the fourth inning

• Each team's defense found life in the fourth inning, with neither squad being able to score over the next three innings

• Belhaven scored two more runs to kick off the seventh inning, bringing their lead to 10-1

• In the bottom of the seventh, Huntingdon found life at the plate with Dylan Hyder bringing home Davis Johnson to cut the lead to 10-2

• Later in the same frame, Cade Morgan singled, allowing John Hale and Dylan Hyder to score, bringing the deficit to 10-4

• To close the inning, Noah Phillips earned a sacrifice fly to allow Daniel Phillips to score and put the Hawks behind 10-5

• Belhaven scored a run in the eighth inning off a ground out to stop the bleeding and bring their lead to 11-5

• After being held scoreless in the eighth inning, Caleb Griffis forced three consecutive outs on the mound for Huntingdon to give them life entering the final frame

• Matthew Robinson was walked with the bases loaded, allowing Dylan Hyder to score and bring the deficit to 11-6

• Daniel Patton followed Robinson with a single that brought home Daniel Phillips to cut the lead to 11-7

• With the bases loaded and one out on the board, freshman Davis Johnson stepped to the plate and drilled a double to right center field, bringing home Daniel Patton, Matthew Robinson, and Noah Phillips to put the Hawks down 11-10

• Two consecutive outs for the Hawks following Johnson's single brought a close to the game with Huntingdon taking the 11-10 loss

On the mound

• JB Landrum started for the Hawks, allowing six runs on two hits

• Michael Driver took over for Landrum in the second inning, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits with two strikeouts

• Caleb Griffis closed the game for Huntingdon, striking out three Blazers while allowing a run off of one hit

The Hawks close their series with Belhaven tomorrow, April 20th, with a double-header. Games are scheduled for 1:00 and 4:00 PM CT.