ROME, Ga. - The Shorter Hawks defeated the visiting Mississippi College Choctaws in two Gulf South Conference games on Saturday afternoon, 5-1 and 5-2.
Micah Wyatt earned the win for the Hawks in game one, throwing 7.1 innings.
"That's why he gets the game one ball. He continues to improve and impress," said first year head coach Wes Timmons.
Neither team managed any runs in the first two innings of the contest, but in the top of the third, Mississippi College scored its only run, taking a brief 1-0 lead.
Shorter scored five total runs in the fourth and fifth innings. The Hawks scored twice in the fourth, before tacking on an additional three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Dustin Lawson led off the fourth inning with a double and was batted in via a Patrick Sanderson single. Sanderson advanced to second when Ty Cherry walked, and scored on Raul Cortes' single to left field.
Leading 2-1, Shorter extended its lead to 5-1 in the fifth. Nate Bock reached on an error, and Lawson singled, putting runners on first and second for Blaze Vazquez. Vazquez doubled, scoring Bock and advancing Lawson to third. Cherry then added a 2-rbi single to his statistics, allowing both Lawson and Vazquez to cross home plate.
The five runs were all the Hawks needed, as they defeated the Choctaws in the opening game of the series, 5-1.
In Saturday afternoon's final game, Shorter defeated Mississippi College, 5-2.
The Choctaws got on the board in the top of the second, taking a 1-0 lead, but the Hawks answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Cherry started things off with a single, before Brian Cabrera and Cortes were both hit by pitches with one out. Jacob Ramos stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and became the third batter to be hit by pitch, thus allowing Cherry to score. Cabrera scored the second SU run of the inning on a wild pitch, giving the home team a 2-1 lead.
Each team managed a run in the fourth inning. Shorter held a slight 3-2 advantage heading into the fifth, where it scored its final two runs of the game. Lawson began the inning with a double, but was eventually thrown out at third base as Vazquez reached on a fielder's choice. Cherry singled and Vazquez advanced to third, giving the Hawks two runners on. Next, Shorter managed a double steal. Vazquez stole home, while Cherry took second base and advanced to third when Mississippi College failed to tag out Vazquez. With his team up 4-2 and Cherry on third, Sanderson's sacrifice fly gave SU a three-run lead.
The Hawks advantage remained at three runs for the rest of game two, as they defeated the Choctaws, 5-2.
Patrick Busscher earned the win for Shorter, while Jacob Ramos received the save. Ramos also recorded a save in game one.
The Hawks record now stands at 9-9 (3-5 GSC), while Mississippi College falls to 7-9 (1-7 GSC).
The two teams return to action tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is set for 1 PM EST from the Ledbetter Baseball Complex in Rome, Georgia.
