No. 4 Senators rout Vol State in TCCAA opener

COLUMBIA, Tenn. — Walters State's mastery of Volunteer State on the baseball diamond continued Monday afternoon when the fourth-ranked Senators came within an out of a shutout in its TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII Tournament opener at Columbia State's Dave Hall Field.

The Senators used a six-run fourth inning to blow open a close game, and they did not allow a run until two outs were recorded in the ninth inning in a 9-2 victory over the Pioneers to advance to the winner's bracket semifinals of the tournament.

With the win, Walters State has won 21 of its last 22 games against Vol State, with that loss coming in the second game of a three-game series on March 22-23 in Morristown earlier this season. Walters State (47-9) improved to 22-4 since that loss, and the tournament's No. 1 seed will take on fourth-seeded Chattanooga State (32-13) at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon for a spot in the winner's bracket final. The Tigers advanced with an 8-5 victory over fifth-seeded Columbia State.

The other semifinal will pit sixth-seeded Dyersburg State (34-18) against the winner of the last game between No. 2 seed Motlow State (36-14) and seventh-seeded Jackson State (30-20). Dyersburg State provided the tournament's first upset with a 3-2 victory over third-seeded Cleveland State in the third game of the day.

The loss dropped the Pioneers to 20-28 on the season and into an elimination game at 10 a.m. Tuesday against Columbia State (21-26). The other elimination game will see Cleveland State (27-19) face the loser of the late game with survival on the line. The defeat was also the eighth loss in the last 12 games for Vol State.

The Senators were paced in Monday's victory by Brayden Combs, who belted three hits, including a double, while driving in two runs in the contest. Drew Haynie, Jerry Hammons, Mason Streater and Braydon Runion each added two hits, with Runion clubbing his 10th home run of the season and driving in three runs as well. Streater had two doubles, while Alex Bibb added a two-bagger in the win. Haynie and Bryce Hodge each added two RBIs in the win.

Zeke Lecomte led the Pioneers with two hits, while Chris Barnes had a double and Noah Brock drove in both runs in the loss.

Zebulon Matthews (7-2) picked up the win, tossing five shutout innings and allowing just two hits while fanning three batters in the contest. Zach Joyce, Jack Collins and Andrew Lindsey each added a scoreless frame, with Lindsey giving up one hit, before Drew Vaden pitched the ninth inning and allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits in closing out the game.

Chase Haley, the first of seven pitchers for the Pioneers, took the loss and dropped to 1-5 after giving up six runs (two earned) on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings.

WSCC jumped on top 1-0 after one inning on an RBI single from Combs before the Senators blew the game wide open three innings later. Haynie had a two-run single in the fourth, Hodge delivered an RBI on a grounder, Combs drove in his second run with a a two-bagger and Runion hammered a two-run homer to left to make it a 7-0 lead.

The Senators scored their final two runs of the game in the fifth, as Hodge singled in a run and Runion plated the final tally when reaching on an error to increase the lead to 9-0.

WSCC kept the goose egg on the board for the Pioneers until Brock's two-run single with two outs in the ninth to make the final score 9-2.

COLUMBIA, Tenn. — Walters State's mastery of Volunteer State on the baseball diamond continued Monday afternoon when the fourth-ranked Senators came within an out of a shutout in its TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII Tournament opener at Columbia State's Dave Hall Field.

The Senators used a six-run fourth inning to blow open a close game, and they did not allow a run until two outs were recorded in the ninth inning in a 9-2 victory over the Pioneers to advance to the winner's bracket semifinals of the tournament.

With the win, Walters State has won 21 of its last 22 games against Vol State, with that loss coming in the second game of a three-game series on March 22-23 in Morristown earlier this season. Walters State (47-9) improved to 22-4 since that loss, and the tournament's No. 1 seed will take on fourth-seeded Chattanooga State (32-13) at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon for a spot in the winner's bracket final. The Tigers advanced with an 8-5 victory over fifth-seeded Columbia State.

The other semifinal will pit sixth-seeded Dyersburg State (34-18) against the winner of the last game between No. 2 seed Motlow State (36-14) and seventh-seeded Jackson State (30-20). Dyersburg State provided the tournament's first upset with a 3-2 victory over third-seeded Cleveland State in the third game of the day.

The loss dropped the Pioneers to 20-28 on the season and into an elimination game at 10 a.m. Tuesday against Columbia State (21-26). The other elimination game will see Cleveland State (27-19) face the loser of the late game with survival on the line. The defeat was also the eighth loss in the last 12 games for Vol State.

The Senators were paced in Monday's victory by Brayden Combs, who belted three hits, including a double, while driving in two runs in the contest. Drew Haynie, Jerry Hammons, Mason Streater and Braydon Runion each added two hits, with Runion clubbing his 10th home run of the season and driving in three runs as well. Streater had two doubles, while Alex Bibb added a two-bagger in the win. Haynie and Bryce Hodge each added two RBIs in the win.

Zeke Lecomte led the Pioneers with two hits, while Chris Barnes had a double and Noah Brock drove in both runs in the loss.

Zebulon Matthews (7-2) picked up the win, tossing five shutout innings and allowing just two hits while fanning three batters in the contest. Zach Joyce, Jack Collins and Andrew Lindsey each added a scoreless frame, with Lindsey giving up one hit, before Drew Vaden pitched the ninth inning and allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits in closing out the game.

Chase Haley, the first of seven pitchers for the Pioneers, took the loss and dropped to 1-5 after giving up six runs (two earned) on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings.

WSCC jumped on top 1-0 after one inning on an RBI single from Combs before the Senators blew the game wide open three innings later. Haynie had a two-run single in the fourth, Hodge delivered an RBI on a grounder, Combs drove in his second run with a a two-bagger and Runion hammered a two-run homer to left to make it a 7-0 lead.

The Senators scored their final two runs of the game in the fifth, as Hodge singled in a run and Runion plated the final tally when reaching on an error to increase the lead to 9-0.

WSCC kept the goose egg on the board for the Pioneers until Brock's two-run single with two outs in the ninth to make the final score 9-2.