NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Stillman Tigers (3-4) fell in a doubleheader against Xavier University of Louisiana on Saturday afternoon.
Game One: Stillman 4 XULA 5
The pitchers shined early on for both teams in game one, as both teams went three up, three down to begin the game.
After the Tigers saw their batters retire in order again, the Gold Rush stepped up and hit a double down the right field line for the first hit of the game. Then starter John Roland walked the next batter to put two on with no outs.
However, Roland struck out the next batter and forced a pop-up in foul territory to be an out away from ending the inning. Unfortunately, a single up the middle brought the first run home, then a fielding error put a runner on third. Next, a passed ball scored an extra run to put Stillman down two.
In the top of the third, Jonathan Philips led off the inning with a single. However, Phillips was thrown out at second on a fielder's choice, but a throwing error allowed Robert Gage to reach second. Later, Gage was caught trying to steal second, and Daniel Salter struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Tigers managed to get another runner in scoring position at the top of the fourth but could not bring him home. XULA scored a few insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth to go up 5-0.
Facing a five-run deficit, Stillman began to turn the tide. A double from Mekha Hicks put another runner in prime position. After a groundout brought the Tigers to two outs, Tory Huddleston Jr. smacked a two-run shot to left, cutting the lead to three.
Zach Munger relieved Roland in the bottom of the sixth, and after allowing back-to-back hits, Munger picked off the runner at second and forced a groundout to quickly put two outs on the board. Then Munger struck out the next batter to give Stillman three more outs to take the lead.
Kane Shellhouse led off the seventh with a walk, then Phillips hit one to right-center, putting runners at the corners with no one out. Next up was Gage, and he hit a sac-fly to score Shellhouse to make it a two-run game.
A batter later, Philips stole second, then Salter hit one through to score Phillips and put the tying run on with one out.
Gavin Rehorn stepped into the box and unfortunately grounded into a double play to end the game.
Game Two: Stillman 5 XULA 6
Stillman hit the ground running in game two, quickly loading the bases thanks to a pair of walks and a hit by pitch. Next to the plate was Roland, and he drew the third walk of the inning, putting the Tigers ahead. Then Davion Wilkins stepped into the box and was hit by a pitch, plating Phillips. Up next was Emile Butler, who hit a sac-fly to score Gage before the inning ended.
The Gold Rush responded fast in the bottom of the first, scoring two runs to cut the lead to one. Later, in the top of the fourth, Stillman added another run off a throwing error from the first baseman to hold a two-run lead.
Unfortunately, a four-run inning for XULA put them out in front by two. Later, the Tigers cut the lead to one in the seventh. Down to their last out, Stillman had a runner on second after Wilkins drew a walk and stole second. However, the rally came to an end as Butler struck out swinging to end the game.
The Tigers (3-4) will return home to face former SSAC conference foe UT Southern (5-3) on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 12:00p.m.
