ALC Eagles baseball earns trio of victories, defeat Defiance and Bluefield

Pippa Passes, KY: After a stretch of poor weather forced the cancellation of several conteswts, the Alice Lloyd College Eagles baseball team returned home for a series of games. Due to winter forcing contests to be shifted around, ALC would face NAIA foe Defiance College in a four-game series spread over two days. They then played the Bluefield College Rams in a single contest. Despite a tough schedule, the Eagles would wind up winning three games.

February 24th

Game 1

Alice Lloyd: 12 - Defiance-1

The hosts opened the series clicking on all cylinders as they dominated the first game.

The Pippa Passes posse started the scoring in the second by plating a pair of scores (2-0). They followed up in the third by plating 3 more scores to leap ahead, 5-0.

The Yellowjackets produced a single score in the fourth (5-1) only to watch the hosts earn that run back in the bottom of the fifth to move ahead, 6-1.

In the sixth, the Caney Creek clubbers blew the game open by delivering 6 big scores. This pushed the advantage to 12-1. From there, the Ohio club went down quickly in their last at-bat to hand the victory to the home club.

On the mound, Dawson Beckett took the win, giving up just 1 run on 4 hits with 4 strikeouts. Colton Lovelace was impressive in relief, facing 9 batters, allowing 0 hits and whiffing 2.

At the plate, Cory Jefferson, Diego Rodriquez, and Carson Tate each had 2 hits with Jefferson knocking in 3 runs.

ALC prevailed in hits, 11-4 and both teams committed 1 error.

Game 2

Alice Lloyd: 5 - Defiance-6

The hosts scored all of their runs in the third inning, but could not produce the key run in the late innings when they needed it.

The Ohio squad scored 1 in the first, before putting up a big 4-spot in the third, fueled by a triple (5-0)

ALC responded in the bottom of the inning as they loaded the bases. The big hit in that inning was a two-run single by Jayden Huff (LF). A pair of sacrafice flies would deliver another pair of runs, and a hit batsman knotted the score up at 5-5.

The Yellowjackets singled in the go-ahead run in the fourth (6-5), but from that point, pitching suddenly took over as neither club could produce any more runs. The hosts would place Huff on base in the sixth when he smacked a double, but he would not advance. The Caney Creek squad would go down in order in their final-at-bat.

 On the mound, Gage Hensley started the game and suffered the loss., allowing 6 hits and 5 runs in a pair of innings He was was relieved by Trenton Williams who only gave up 3 hits and 1 run. Both pitchers whiffed 2 batters.

At the plate, Huff had 2 hits and 2 RBI's to pace the crew.

The visitors outhit the Eagles 9-5, and ALC hurt themselves with 3 costly errors.

February 25th

Game 1

Alice Lloyd: 3- Defiance-9

The Kentucky club would fall behind 5-0 in the first before a double by Hensley (LF) earned a run back (5-1).

The score remained the same until the fifth when the Yellowjackets earned a score (6-1). They then pulled away in the seventh when a 3-run blast made it 9-1.

The home club tried to come back in their last-at-bat, using four consecutive singles to plate a pair of scores (9-3). Unfortunately, the next three batters lined out to hand the win to the Buckeye squad.

 Tyler Brammer started on the mound for ALC, allowing 4 runs and 1 hit while walking 3. He would take the loss. Matthew Hebar and Cain Flynn would both appear in relief a trio of innings. They combined to allow 9 hits and 5 runs. 

At the plate for ALC, Diego Rodriquez (SS) and Kyle Johnson (CF) each provided 2 hits. 

The Eagles were outhit 10-8 and committed the games lone error.

Game 2

Alice Lloyd: 6 - Defiance-2

The hosts prevailed in a pitching duel by delivering a walk-off homerun in the final inning.

The Pippa Passes posse opened the scoring in the third on a Rodriquez double (1-0) only to witness the Ohio squad score twice in the fifth with a well-laced single, to pull ahead, 2-1.

In the sixth, with a man on base Cory Jefferson (C) singled home the tying run to knot the score at 2-2.

After the Yellowjackets went down in order in the seventh, ALC looked to take over. Things started well when Rodriquez opened with a huge triple, but a fielders choice led to him being tagged out at home. However, a pair of walks then loaded the bases with one away. Knowing a hit would bring in the winning run, Jefferson left no doubt as he unloaded on a fast ball and smashed it over the left field fence for a grand slam homer to win the game.

On the mound, Jacob Ayers went the distance to earn the victory. He allowed 7 hits and just 2 runs  while striking out 5.

At the plate, Jefferson had 2 hits and 5 RBI's to pace the crew. while Rodriquez also delivered 2 hits

The visitors tied ALC with 7 hits, but had the games lone error.

Game 3

Alice Lloyd: 8 - Bluefield-4

The hosts jumped out to a 8-0 advantage and made it stand to take the single-game victory.

The Caney Creek clubbers opened the scoring in the first on a Huff single (1-0). Then, in the fifth, they feasted with 5 big runs. The breakout hit was a nice double from Colton Lovelace (SS) that brought home a score.

In the seventh, Huff delivered the goods once more with a nice two-run double. This gave the Bluegrass boppers a 8-0 cushion

The Yellowjackets provided some drama in the ninth when they used a pair of hits to slice the deficit in half (8-4). Happily for the home fans, ALC would slam the door shut in the ninth to preserve the victory.

On the mound, five different Eagles would make an appearence with Ryan Grubbs taking the win on six innings of 4 hit ball. He added 3 K's in a steady performance.

At the plate, Huff, Lovelace and Connor Mahoney (C) had 2 hits 5 RBI's to pace the crew. while Rodriquez also delivered 2 hits

The visitors tied ALC with 7 hits, but had the games lone error.