By Alan Wiederhold
HT Athletic Communications
TOUGALOO, Miss. – Huston-Tillotson University's baseball team opened its weekend HBCU Athletic Conference series at Tougaloo College on a high note as they swept a Saturday doubleheader from the Bulldogs.
The visiting Rams won the opener 6-2 and then want game two by a score of 7-0. Both games were scheduled for seven innings.
HT and Tougaloo conclude their series Sunday afternoon with a single, nine-inning game at Earl Sanders Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Â
GAME ONE: HT Rams 6, Tougaloo 2
A two-run third inning reclaimed a lead for the Rams they would not relinquish and gave pitcher Ethan Walker enough run support to cruise to a complete-game victory.
Walker struck out eight batters and scattered six hits while not issuing any walks en route to his conference-leading fifth win of the season. He retired 10 of the last 11 hitters he faced, including nine in a row between the fourth and seventh innings.
Trailing 2-1 in the third inning, Jacob Perez knocked an RBI double to right field that advanced Trey Garza to third base and scored Alijah Merkson. Noah Alvarez then picked up the game-winning RBI with a sacrifice fly that sent Garza across home plate.
The Rams added a run in each of the final three innings. Alvarez finished the game with two RBIs, including an RBI groundout in the seventh.
Perez and Garza each had three hits and one RBI in the game; Garza was 3-for-3 and also scored three runs. Josh Wilk went 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Â
GAME TWO: HT Rams 7, Tougaloo 0
Tougaloo's bats remained quiet in Saturday's second game as HT's Weston Bailey tossed a three-hit shutout.
Bailey, a senior from Austin and a transfer from NCAA Division II Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) allowed only five baserunners on his own, scattering three hits and hitting two batters, while not giving any walks. He did not allow any Tougaloo runners past second base in the game.
Jaden Corzine's second-inning RBI single to score Josh Perez proved to be the game-winning run. Corzine scored from third base later in the inning on Joseph Brown's RBI groundout.
Christian Medina knocked a two-RBI single in the fifth to stretch HT's lead to 5-0. Corzine then drove in two more runs as part of a five-run Ram fifth inning.
Wilk collected two hits for a second time Saturday, while Perez scored twice in the game.
– HT –
Â
