CLEVELAND, Miss. – The 16th-ranked
University of West Alabama baseball team
concluded its season in a 9-7 loss to top
seeded Delta State at Dave “Boo” Ferriss
Field on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers
(45-13) wrap up the season tying the school
record for wins.
Trailing
7-6 after six innings, Chris Ransburgh
knotted the outing with a solo homerun to
left field, but the Statesmen (47-9)
regained the lead, 8-7, on a double from
Chris Clark that scored Clay Sartain. DSU
plated one more in the inning, as Rickey
Noland scored on a bases loaded balk.
UWA plated
the first run of the contest in its first at
bat, as Jake DeRoy, who led off with a
double to right center field, scored on a
Rob Dahlberg hit back to third base, but DSU
answered with seven runs in the bottom of
the second.
A Steven
Oswald double down the right field line
scored the first two Statesmen runs, pushing
Clark and Rickey Noland across the dish. J.
T. Taylor followed with a single to left
field to score Oswald and Michael Niemann.
Noland reached base, as he was hit by a
pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Taylor.
Clark plated the final two runs, as he
followed with a single up the middle to
score Sartain and Devin Goodwin.
A four run
UWA fifth inning narrowed the Green and
White lead. Todd Rea continued his hot bat
with a bases clearing, double to left center
field that scored Tres Avans, Dahlberg and
Jeremy Finney. Rea, who moved up to third on
a wild pitch, scored on a Nick Wheeler
single to right center field. The Red and
White pulled within one in the sixth inning,
when a Dahlberg double to right center
scored Finney.
Brandon Dill (10-1) suffered
his first setback of the season, throwing
seven innings, allowing nine runs on 12
hits. Cole Thornton pitched an inning in
relief, surrendering one hit in four batters
faced.
