No. 9 Senators split Saturday’s Stinger Invitational twinbill

FLORENCE, S.C. — It was a split for the No. 9 Walters State baseball team on Saturday at the Stinger Invitational with the Senators taking down Pitt Community College, 8-1, before falling to Florence-Darlington, 4-2

With the split, the Senators are 5-4 on the season.

It was all Bryce Hodge in game one against Pitt Community College. The Senators first baseman went 3-for-3 in the game with a double and five RBIs. Hodge knocked in two runs in the first, two in the second and one in the fourth. Walters State broke out to a 6-0 lead just two innings in.

Jerry Hammons and Seth Gardner each had two hits in the game and both knocked in a run. Caleb McNeely brought in the other run for the Senators.

Nolan Letzgus (1-1) got the start on the mound in game one and picked up his first win of the season. Letzgus pitched six innings, allowing one unearned run, one hit and struck out nine. Letzgus now has 17 strikeouts in his three appearances. Caleb Pearson pitched a scoreless seventh to close the game out.

In game two, the offense cooled off considerably with just two runs. Hammons knocked in one of the runs while a Hodge double-play scored another in the third. Michael Robinson and Silas Butler led the team with two hits each. Robinson had the lone extra base hit in the game for the Senators, a double in the sixth inning.

Andrew Lindsey (1-1) took the mound for Walters State and picked up the loss, throwing four innings. Lindsey struck out three while giving up three runs on six hits. Matt Dailey came out of the bullpen for the final two innings, giving up one run while striking out one.

NEXT UP

Walters State will be back in action again in the Stinger Invitational on Sunday. The Senators are set to take on East Georgia College at 12:30 p.m. and Florence-Darlington at 3 p.m.