PENSACOLA, Fla. - UWF baseball (29-16, 20-10 GSC) claimed its last home GSC series of the year over Mississippi College (27-19, 18-12 GSC) on Senior Day at Jim Spooner Field on Saturday afternoon.
A decorated class of 13 seniors played in what is, for now, their last series at the Spoon:
Dom Presto,
Parker Tubb,
Brett Rowell,
Cade Easterbrook,
Jadon Fryman,
Dean Hotz and a group of seven pitchers in
Grant Adams,
Jacob Heath,
Kade Manderscheid,
Dalton Neuschwander,
Gabriel Moorer,
Chase Stanhope and
Caidan Peeples.
UWF 5, Mississippi College 3
Easterbrook had a nearly flawless Game 2 to follow up his walkoff RBI single on Friday night, going three-of-four with two RBI and runs scored to kick off his Senior Day. Fryman was responsible for two more RBI despite being held hitless. Presto provided the fifth RBI. Rowell and
Tanner Taylor were each two-of-four with a run scored. The Argos tallied 11 hits and three earned runs off starter Caleb Peterson, who struck out six in the losing effort.
Manderscheid earned himself a winning record at 4-3 after dropping his first three results this season as he fanned six across eight innings while allowing just one run on seven hits and two walks.
Blake Thomas earned his first save of his Argonaut career as the Gulf Coast State transfer pitched the final inning, working around an inherited runner on a walk from
Colton Dorsey, three singles and two runs scored. A double play emptied first and second base as the pinch runner from the leadoff walk scored from third. Jordan Evans singled, stole second and scored on the single from Blake LaRocca, but Thomas induced a flyout to left to seal the series win.
Easterbrook and
Ben Maskin led off the second inning with a single to center and a bunt single, respectively, and moved up 90 feet as
Zack Stokes reached on an error. Presto hit a single to short to score Easterbrook before Maskin came home for a 2-0 lead on Fryman's sac fly. One inning later, after a leadoff single from Rowell, Easterbrook doubled the lead with his second home run to right field of the weekend.
The Choctaws got on the board the next frame before defense reigned for the next four innings as Manderscheid and the Argo defense stranded six runners from the fourth to the eighth. After two quick outs in the bottom of the eighth, Taylor and Stokes hit singles before a hit-by-pitch to Presto loaded the bases and ended Peterson's day. Taylor scored the final run as Fryman reached on a fielder's choice.
Mississippi College 12, UWF 1
An
Alex Urias triple to lead off Game 3 ended in no points on the tail end of a double play following a lineout as Urias tried to head home, and that was as close as the Argos would get as all their other baserunners were via walk, hit-by-pitch or error. After four clean innings, three strikeouts and two runners stranded in the second, the wheels came off for
Jacob Heath in the fifth with four runs off three hits, a walk and a plunked batter. The Argos would not have any more momentum until the seventh with two outs to play, when two walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases and a walk to Presto scored Maskin before the ending groundout.
Still one game out of fourth place in the conference thanks to the series win, third-place UWF wraps up the regular season on the road at second-place Valdosta State next weekend. The series begins on Friday, April 25, at 5 pm ET/4 pm CT before a Saturday doubleheader at 1 pm ET/noon CT.
