Grant Cobb, Staff Writer
Kevin Kim, Editor
Huntingdon 2, Berea 0
Huntingdon (1-0, 0-0 USAS)
Berea College (0-1, 0-0 USAS)
Montgomery, AL- The Berea College Baseball team traveled to Montgomery, AL to play the first of three games in the Firehouse Classic Tournament hosted at home of the minor league team, Montgomery Biscuits, Riverwalk Stadium. The day first featured Guilford College vs. Sewanee University followed by Berea and Huntingdon. Huntingdon ultimately defeated the Mountaineers 2-0 in the 9-inning contest.
The Mountaineers dueled pitch for pitch with the Hawks for the majority of the ballgame. Senior, Griffen Norris got the start on the bump and pitched a very solid opening 5.0 innings. Dylan Sallee came in the 6th in relief and held the score at 2-0 giving the Mountaineers 4 more chances to get something going offensively.
Offensively, Berea just couldn't get going. Other than sophomore, Logan Gayheart's debut (2-3, 2B and 1B), fellow sophomore, T.C. Eads produced Berea's only other hit (2B). The momentum started to swing in Berea's direction in the bottom of the 3rd, when the squad got out of a bases loaded, 1 out, jam. Huntingdon's Hunter Long lined out to Berea 3rd basemen, Cam Dacci and into an inning-escaping double play. Eads led off the top of the 4th with a double to right center, and the Mountaineers were in high spirits. However, Eads, was stranded at 2nd to end the inning, and that was Berea's last hit in the contest.
The 4th, and 5th innings both produced runs for Huntingdon. Berea's defense had escaped pressure in the 3rd, but a leadoff double was followed with an RBI producing single in the 4th. Another came in the 5th. All in all, it was a defensive outing for both teams, and can define an old-school baseball match up.
Berea will look to avenge the loss tomorrow in game 2 of the Firehouse Classic against the Sewanee Tigers, once again hosted at Riverwalk Park. The matchup will take place at 1:00 ET, and 12:00 CT.