Florence, Ala. -- After falling behind the in series, 0-2, the Hawks came back on Sunday afternoon to avoid the sweep; topping North Alabama 9-5 in the series finale.
Shorter moves to 8-5 overall and 1-5 in the Gulf South Conference; while the Lions move to 9-5 overall and 5-1 in conference play.
The Hawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a three -run fourth inning. In the inning,
Ty Cherry led off with a single and moved to second on a single from
Dustin Lawson, before coming in on a single from
Blaze Vazquez. With one out,
Raul Cortes reached on a fielder's choice, bringing in Lawson. And, Vazquez scored on a double steal attempt, in which Cortes was thrown out at second.
UNA rallied for one in the fifth to cut into the lead, and took the lead 5-3 in the eighth with four runs.
Only to have the Hawks rally for six runs in the top of the ninth to earn the win. Lawson and Vazquez each singled to lead things off, and
Patrick Sanderson loaded the bases when he was hit by a pitch.
Bailey Gerstner then brought in Lawson as he reached on an error by the third baseman. Cortes was then hit with a pitch with the bases loaded to tie the game, 5-5. And, with one out,
William Winslow delivered an RBI single to put the Hawks up, 6-5; before
Jack Leech tallied a bases clearing double to bring Shorter's advantage to 9-5.
In the bottom of the inning,
Banks Woodley struck out the side to preserve the victory, and earn his first career win.
Cherry, Lawson, Vazquez, and Gerstner each tallied two hits in the game, while Leech and Cortes added multi-RBI days.
Jerry Liang made the start, allowing one unearned run on four hits with three strikeouts, through 5.1 innings of work. While,
Jason Gifford pitched 2.1 innings of relief, allowing three runs on two hits with four strikeouts. Before giving way to Woodley for the final 1.1 innings; where he allowed one run on three hits with four strikeouts.
The Hawks will be back in action Wednesday afternoon as they travel to Franklin Springs, Ga. to take on Emmanuel College in a non-conference matchup. Game time is set for 3:00pm.
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