TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Stillman College saw a pair of Southern States Athletic Conference games slip away Sunday afternoon to University of Tennessee Southern, 12-2 and 11-5.
Stillman trailed by one in the first game, 3-2, before allowing nine in the top of the seventh. In the second game, the Tiger rallied to tie the game in the ninth, 5-5, but allowed six runs in the top of the 10th inning.
GAME 1: UT SOUTHERN 12, STILLMAN 2
A nine-run top of the seventh put the game out of reach as UT Southern locked up the conference series win.
Stillman took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when
Geoff Grier walked and scored on a
Griff Minor RBI single. Tiger starting pitcher
Dylan Speakman did not allow a hit until the fourth inning. Noah Junker singled to start the fourth and later scored on a Rhett Birdsong single to tie the game.
In the bottom of the fourth,
Kobe Lewis doubled to left with two outs. He moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error by the catcher to regain Stillman's lead, 2-1. However, that was the last Stillman run, as UT Southern regained the lead in the top of the sixth. The tying run scored on a failed pick off move before Cameron Siniard singled to left for the go-ahead run, 3-2.
Dylan Speakman (1-4) recorded the loss, allowing four earned runs, five total, off eight hits. He struck out four. Blake Birdsong (1-1) pitched the complete game for UTS, allowing two runs, one earned, off two hits and four walks. He also struck out four.
GAME 2: STILLMAN 11, UT SOUTHERN 5 (10 INNINGS)
Trailing by two, Stillman created its first run when
Matt Rivers scored on a delay steal as part of a rundown by
Dylan Speakman between first and second in the third inning.
The Tigers took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth. After
Geoff Grier drew a lead off walk,
Sieas Elliot pushed a line-drive bunt in the air through the hole between first and second. He legged it into a double. With one out and the bases loaded,
Josh Wilson grounded into an RBI fielder's choice at second to tie the game. Gabe Sibert's attempted double-play throw to first went wide, allowing Elliot's courtesy runner, Samuel Elliot, to score for the Tigers' lead.
UTS evened the score in the top of the fifth, 3-3, when Sibert drove in Landon Rogers, who tripled to start the inning. Rogers also singled to start the first and third innings, scoring all of UT Southern's first three runs in the game.
In similar action, Rhett Birdsong tripled to right to start the sixth inning and scored on a Chandler Jordan RBI ground out to regain the Firehawks' lead, 4-3. It became 5-3 in the top of the eighth after a Birdsong double and Jordan sac fly.
Stillman grabbed a run in the bottom of the eighth on singles by Speakman and
Devin Kelly. A wild throw on a failed pick off move by Logan Parrott moved Speakman from first to third to set up Kelly's RBI.
Elliot led off the bottom of the ninth with a game-tying solo home run to left field. Samuel Elliot, who entered the game defensively in the top of the ninth, delivered a two-out single to left center that looked to be the walk off hit, but pinch runner
Thomas Stovall was thrown out at home after stumbling when running around third base.
Rhett Birdsong singled to start the 10th and scored on an RBI single by Ty Garrett off reliever
Raymond Clark. Five unearned runs followed, as one run scored on an error, one on a passed ball and two more on a single to left by Sibert. Rhett Birdsong also singled in a run as the Firehawks batted around.
Raymond Clark (0-1) earned the loss in relief, allowing six runs off three hits.
Griff Minor was the starter, and
Bobby Woodard was effective through three innings of relief. Gerry Wayne Davis (1-3) collected the win with two shutout innings in relief for UTS.
NEXT: Stillman (8-12, 3-10 SSAC) is scheduled to travel to Tuskegee University on Wednesday, March 13 for a noon non-conference game at Washington Field. The games were originally scheduled for March 12.
