ROME, Ga. - The Shorter Hawks dropped a pair of games to Gulf South Conference opponent North Alabama, 8-7 and 10-0, on Saturday afternoon in Rome, Georgia.
In the first game of the double header, the Hawks surrendered three runs to the Lions of UNA in the top of the third inning, but answered with four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. A single by Sean Acevedo and walk by Raul Cortes put two runners on for Shorter. Sheldon Drake grounded out before Blaze Vazquez was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with only one out. Dustin Lawson proceeded to double to left field, batting in three runs and tying the score. The next batter, Patrick Sanderson, singled, scoring Lawson and giving the Hawks a 4-3 advantage.
Shorter scored twice in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a single by Vazquez and heads up base running by Drake. Vazquez singled with two on, batting in Cortes and allowing Drake to advance to third. As Lawson stepped to the plate, Vazquez got caught in a run down and was tagged out, but Drake scored on the play, helping the Hawks take a 6-3 lead.
UNA cut Shorter's lead to 6-5 in the top of the sixth, scoring two runs off a pair of singles. The Lions went ahead, 7-6, in the top of the seventh inning. Kevin Hall led off the inning with a walk and advanced to third on a Kyle Hubbuch double. Hall scored on a Dylan Calhoun groundout, and Hubbuch crossed home plate thanks to a double by Davis Elliott.
Down 7-6, the Hawks tied the game in the bottom of the eighth. A leadoff walk by Ty Cherry, followed by a sacrifice bunt by Brian Cabrera, gave SU a runner in scoring position with one out. Nate Bock, who pinch ran for Cherry, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch.
In the top of the final inning, the Lions scored what would be the game winning run. Dylan Calhoun singled, and Taylor Hayes reached on an error, with Calhoun advancing to third. Elliott's sacrifice fly scored Calhoun, giving North Alabama an 8-7 lead. Although Shorter limited the damage to one run, the home team went down in order in the bottom of the ninth, falling by a final score of 8-7.
Micah Wyatt took the loss for the Hawks. Wyatt pitched 5.2 innings and gave up four earned runs.
In game two, the Hawks struggled, falling 10-0. North Alabama scored three times in the second to take a 3-0 lead, and adde another run in the fifth inning.
The Lions added insurance in the sixth, scoring five times to increase their lead to 9-0. They scored one final time in the top of the seventh, making the score 10-0.
Shorter managed two hits in the game, one by Cortes, and the other by Lawson. Cortes singled in the bottom of the first and made it to second on a wild pitch, but got no further. Lawson singled in the bottom half of the fourth but was picked off, ending the Hawks inning.
Jacob Farmer took the loss for Shorter, while Todd Gibson earned the win for North Alabama.
The Hawks record now stands at 7-7 (1-4 GSC). The team returns to action tomorrow for a third contest against the Lions. First pitch is set for 1 PMÂ EST from the Ledbetter Baseball Complex in Rome, GA.
