Sunday, March 5, 2006

Huntsville, Ala. - Having dropped a pair of one-run contests to North Georgia on Saturday, the Alabama-Huntsville baseball team faired no better on Sunday afternoon falling 7-6 in game one of the doubleheader before losing 11-4 in the nightcap against the Saints at Huntsville's Joe Davis Stadium.

Despite jumping out to a 5-0 lead through the first seven innings, game one saw the Chargers suffer a colossal meltdown over the final two innings giving up seven earned runs.

UAH wasted no time taking the lead scoring in the first inning as senior designated hitter Wes Hopper launched a double to center bringing junior Kyle Dempsey in to score after stealing second and advancing to third on the overthrow that was mishandled by the center fielder.

The Chargers added to their lead in the fourth inning taking advantage of a Saint error when junior second baseman Will Davis singled to right scoring freshman first baseman Patrick Slattery.

A two-run monster home run to left center off of the scoreboard by Hopper capped off a three-run seventh inning as UAH pushed the lead to 5-0. That cushion would be short lived for the home team as junior starter Andy Patton, who had allowed only two hits in the first seven innings of work, reached his limit in the eighth having thrown over 100 pitches. The Saints bats came alive, scoring four runs in the frame including a two-run home run almost identical to Hopper's by North Georgia's Justin Rickett.

Clinging to a 5-4 lead, an RBI single by Charger freshman Daniel Douglas gave the Chargers an insurance measure making it a 6-4 lead but it would prove to be not enough as the Saints pushed across three runs in the top of the ninth on the UAH bullpen to take the third one-run game of the series.

North Georgia's Garrett Lussi got the win in relief tossing two-thirds of an inning while Kyle Potts earned the save. UAH's Daniel Jasper took the loss for the Chargers.

The fourth game of the series started out well for the visitors as North Georgia's Brian Lauderdale walked to leadoff the game and then came around to score after stealing second and third for a 1-0 lead. The score remained at 1-0 until the third when UAH's Will Davis came home on a wild pitch to tie the game. Freshman Patrick Slattery, then stepped up with the bases loaded and launched a double clearing the bases for a 4-1 UAH lead.

The Saints responded in the top of the fourth scoring a pair of runs off of well-hit sacrifice flies and another on a single to center off of UAH starter Andrew Reeves to tie the game at four. The score remained there until the top of the sixth when a perfect squeeze bunt single by North Georgia's Dusty Tate broke open the tie. A pair of UAH errors then opened the game up for the Saints as the visitors added a pair of insurance tallies taking a 7-4 advantage into the final frame. North Georgia then added four more runs in the seventh off of two hits, one UAH error and three hit batsman by Charger reliever Tom Longyear.

Dustin Wellborn earned the win for the Saints as they improve to 12-9 on the year with Potts earning his fourth save of the year and second of the afternoon. Reeves took the loss for the Chargers as UAH falls to 3-15 on the year.

North Georgia will host Southern Wesleyan University on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. before beginning a three game series against Barton College on March 10. The Chargers continue their home stand on Wednesday hosting a doubleheader against Freed Hardeman at 1 p.m. at Joe Davis Stadium.

Box Score, Game 1

Box Score, Game 2

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