The LBWCC Saints’ baseball team picked up a pair of wins Saturday at home with a 4-3 win over Central Alabama and 6-2 victory over Enterprise State.

 

LBWCC 4, CENTRAL ALABAMA 3

Jordan Tharpe took the hill for the Saints in the opener on Saturday and pitched well despite not factoring into the final decision. Tharpe allowed four hits and one earned run in five-and-a-third innings of work, and also struck out four batters.

In the top of the first inning, Tharpe retired the first two Trojan hitters, but then back-to-back base hits put Central Alabama in scoring position. Tharpe produced a ground ball from the next batter and second baseman Brandon Cobb fielded the ball cleanly and fired to first to retire the side.

Cobb led off the bottom of the first inning for the Saints and ripped the first pitch he saw over the head of the Trojans’ sprinting left fielder. When the dust settled, Cobb stood on second base with a leadoff double.

Gunner Hendrix followed with a laser beam into the outfield for a single, but the ball reached the outfield in such a hurry that Cobb was held up at third base.

The Trojans picked up an out via strikeout on the next better, but Taylor Fought slapped a ball on the right side of the infield allowing Cobb to come across on the fielder’s choice.

Tharpe started off the top of the second inning by inducing a groundball, but a throwing error allowed the Trojan runner to reach first. The next Trojan laid down a sacrifice bunt that moved the runner up to second base. Hendrix made a great play on then next batter when he fielded a soft chopper down the line and made an on-target throw to first for the second out. The play, however, led to the Trojan runner moving to third base. The Trojans tied the game up on the next batter when a passed ball allowed the runner to score from third.

After another error, Tharpe ended the Trojans’ half of the inning with a strikeout.

In the bottom of the second inning, the Saints looked to have something going when Tyler Johnson led the inning off with a walk and then Justin Byrd was hit by a pitch, but three straight outs followed to leave the game tied 1-1 after two innings of play.

Hendrix made another strong play at third base to start the third inning. When a Trojan player attempted a bunt, Hendrix came charging up making a barehanded grab and then fired a missile to first for the out. After allowing a hit to the next batter, Tharpe retired the next two batters to end the Trojans’ half of the third.

The Saints went three-up-three-down in their half of the third inning to leave the score tied 1-1 heading into the fourth.

The Trojans picked up a walk to start the fourth inning and then after a fielder’s choice for the first out the Trojan runner stood at third. Parker Moman then ripped a double to put Central Alabama on top 2-1. Moman then moved to third base on a fielder’s choice, but Cobb ended the threat with a nice play at second base.

LBWCC didn’t manage anything in the bottom of the fourth inning and neither teams produced runs in the fifth.

After retiring the first batter of the sixth inning, Tharpe’s day came to and end and Rush Hixon entered as a relief pitcher for the Saints.

Central Alabama added to their lead in the top of the sixth inning with another RBI off the bat of Moman to give the Trojans a 3-1 lead with just six outs remaining for the Saints.

The Saints decided they didn’t need to use all six of the remaining outs and instead got RBIs from Johnson, Byrd and Hunter Baggett in the top of the sixth inning to put LBWCC on top 4-3 heading into the final frame.

Hixon finished off the Trojans in the top of the seventh inning to give the Saints a 4-3 victory.

Hixon was the winning pitcher for the Saints, pitching and inning and two-thirds with one strikeout and one earned run allowed.

The Saints picked up only two hits in the contest with a double from Cobb and a single from Hendrix. Fought, Johnson, Byrd and Baggett each finished with one RBI.

 

LBWCC 6, ENTERPRISE STATE 2

In the second game at LBWCC on Saturday, the Saints topped Enterprise State 6-2.

The Saints jumped on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning to take a 1-0 lead.

Enterprise State battled back to tie the game 1-1 in the top of the third, but the tie didn’t hold up long as the Saints added three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 4-1 lead.

In the top of the fourth, Enterprise cut the Saints’ lead to 4-2, but LBWCC responded in the home half of the fourth with two more runs to go on top 6-2.

Roquel Marsh entered the game in the top of the fifth inning as a relief pitcher for the Saints and held off Enterprise over the final two innings to give the Saints the victory.

Starting pitcher Zack Moore picked up the win on the mound for the Saints with one strikeout, one earned run and just two hits over three innings of work.

Fought and Kyle Mosley each went 2-for-3 in the victory. Hendrix led the way for the Saints with two RBIs. Mason Rogers, Matthew Jones and Fought each had one RBI for the Saints.