HATTIESBURG, Miss. – GAME 1 – Blue Mountain Christian opened its three-game SSAC series with a whopping 19-5 win over state rival William Carey here Friday.
The Toppers would pound out 16 hits and draw 11 walks in the mercy-rule shortened contest.
Cole Giordano got the call to toe the rubber in the opener, while Carey's Andrew Shirah got the ball for his team.
The Crusaders got a run in the first, but the Toppers would tie it in the second when
Gavin Coles scored on a Carey error.
Carey put up two more in the third on a two-run single by Bailee Hendon to make it 3-1.
The Toppers cut the lead in the fourth when
Josiah Rivera jumped on a pitch from Shirah, planting it over the left-center fence for a solo homer, his fourth of the season.
The Toppers put in a big inning in the fifth, scoring four runs, highlighted by a two-run single from
Hayden Redding, an RBI single by
Austin Garrison and a sac-fly from
Chris Smith, giving BMCU a 6-3 lead and chasing Shirah from the game.
In the sixth, Redding singled in another run to right-center and Rivera had an RBI single to push the Toppers out to an 8-3 lead.
Giordano's (3-2) night was complete after a solid five innings, holding the Crusaders to just four hits and three runs with three Ks to pick up the win.
The Toppers weren't finished offensively, as they plated three more in the seventh on an RBI double by
Tyrese Roberson and a two-run homer by
Carson Gault, his eighth of the season.
Carey would score two in the bottom half of the seventh, but the Toppers continued to pile on in the eighth as Carey pitching struggled mightily. BMCU would score seven runs on two hits in the frame, including a two-run single from Gault while Carey pitching issued five free passes.
Gault, Redding and Garrison all had three hits each for BMCU, while Rivera, Crawford and Coles had two hits each. Gault drove in four, Redding and Rivera had three RBI each and Smith and Garrison had two each.
The two teams will decide the series Saturday in Hattiesburg in a doubleheader with first pitch set for 1 p.m. CT.
Find us here:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
