JACKSON, Tn. - The Shorter baseball team dropped the rubber match to the Union University Bulldogs, 14-4, on Sunday afternoon in Jackson, TN.
Shorter (7-5, 1-2) got on the board in the top of the first inning.
Sheldon Drake singled to begin the Gulf South Conference matchup and advanced to second on a
Brian Cabrera groundout. With two outs,
Dustin Lawson stepped up and doubled to right field, allowing Drake to score. The Hawks took a 1-0 lead, which they held until the bottom of the second.
Union (8-3, 2-1) tied the game in the second thanks to two walks to start off its half of the inning. After a balk, those runners advanced to second and third. A third walk, this time with one out, made the bases full of Bulldogs.
Ty Cherry then threw out a Union runner at home for the second out as Austin Orr reached on a fielder's choice. With two outs, Zach Wylie scored on a wild pitch, evening the score at one.
Shorter managed its second run of the contest in the third inning. Drake once again found himself on the base paths, this time due to being hit by a pitch. Drake advanced to second on a Cabrera groundout, before crossing home plate on a double down the right field line by Lawson.
The Hawks took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the fourth, but Union answered by scoring four runs to take a 5-2 advantage. Three of the Bulldogs four runs came with two outs in the inning. Tyler Mauzy did the most damage for Union by hitting a 2-rbi double.
Down three runs, Shorter scored once in the top of the fifth.
Blaze Vazquez' shot over the right field wall brought the Hawks within two, 5-3.
Unfortunately for Shorter, the Bulldogs did most of their damage in the sixth and seventh innings. Union scored nine runs between the two innings, including five in the sixth.
Shorter scored once in the top of the seventh. After Cabrera doubled to right-center field, Lawson singled, batting in his teammate. Union managed four runs in the bottom of the inning, giving it a 14-3 lead. The game was called after seven, with the Bulldogs earning the victory.
The Hawks return to action on Tuesday, February 23, when they host Southern Wesleyan University in a non-conference game. First pitch is set for 1 PM EST from the Ledbetter Baseball Complex in Rome, Ga.
