BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – GAME 2 – Blue Mountain Christian and Middle Georgia State got back at it Saturday in their SSAC Series of the Week, with the Toppers taking Game 2 by a score of 12-2.
The Toppers got a stellar pitching performance from
Austin Garrison (1-2), as he would toss a seven-inning, complete game, allowing only one earned run on eight hits with four strikeouts.
Blue Mountain would score two runs in each of the first three innings, including a pair of two-run singles by
Chris Smith and
Hayden Redding, followed up by an RBI triple by
Tyrese Roberson.
An offensive outburst by the Toppers in the fourth would seal the game, as
Gavin Coles had a two-run single and Roberson had a two-run double down the line.
Roberson finished with three hits, three RBI and two runs scored, while
Chris Hoing had two hits in the win for BMCU.
Josiah Rivera would score a pair of runs, as did
Hayden Arant. Redding would kick in two RBI for the Toppers.
Garrison absolutely stifled the Knight offense, not allowing an earned run until the final inning on a sac fly.
GAME 3
In the series decider, Middle Georgia would stage a comeback to take Game 3 and the series from the Toppers 8-5.
After three innings, it looked like the Toppers would cruise to the series victory, as
Chris Smith and
Josiah Rivera both had RBI singles and gave Blue Mountain a 3-0 lead.
The Knights would finally score in the fourth against BMCU's
Matthew Koch (2-3), getting a two-run double and a sac fly to tie it at 3-3.
The Toppers jumped back up 5-3 in the fourth, as Ty Roberson jumped on a fastball from Dylan Dickert to plant it over the right field wall for a solo homer and Smith had an RBI single up the middle.
MGA would have a big seventh inning, as they would get a trio of RBI singles to seal the series.
Evan Boyle would come on in relief for MGA for the win, locking down the Topper offense for 5.2 innings of work, allowing no runs, four hits and striking out four.
Koch suffered the loss, tossing 6.1 innings, giving up seven runs on nine hits with five Ks.
Smith had a solid game at the plate in the loss for BMCU, collecting four hits with two RBI and two runs scored, while
Carson Gault and Rivera had two hits each. Rivera would also knock in two runs.
Of note, national home run leader Arderrius "Peeko" Townsend had a triple for the Toppers in Game 3.
BMCU (21-9, 7-8 SSAC) returns to SSAC action Friday and Saturday next week against (RV) Thomas University in Thomasville, Ga.
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