No. 2 Walters State improves win streak to 15 with sweep of Volunteer State

MORRISTOWN, TN – No. 2 Walters State continued their winning ways on Saturday afternoon, completing a sweep against Volunteer State with 9-1 and 8-3 victories. 

With the sweep, Walters State improved to 35-3 on the season and 13-1 in TCCAA play. They have now won 15 games in-a-row. 

"We just have been showing up and playing everyday," Walters State's Caleb McNeely said. "We're just getting the job done and progressing during the season. I think we're meshing together as the season continues. Things are coming together nicely right now, and we just have to keep it going." 

Game One: No. 2 Walters State 9, Volunteer State 1

In game one, Walters State's Kohl Drake continued his dominance on the mound as he improved to 8-0 on the season with the victory.

Drake threw six innings in the contest, allowing one run on four hits while striking out 11. 

"I was able to fill up the zone with my fastball and my changeup was going really well today," Drake said. "I just feel like I was able to keep those hitters off balance today."

Landon Slemp pitched the final inning of the game, striking out one in a scoreless inning. 

At the plate, McNeely led the way with two hits, including his 15th home run of the season. That home run put him back in front as the solo leader in the NJCAA. 

"I didn't expect to be at this point, but it was definitely my goal to be hitting the ball this well right now," McNeely said. 

Nick Block had two hits in the game as well. Block added two more hits in game two. 

Block, who started the season hitting lower in the lineup, has moved up to the three-hole in recent weeks and has had great success in that role.

"It's definitely a different mentality being in the three-hole," Block said. "I've been getting more breaking balls. I've just tried to stay balanced and am trying not to chase those pitches." 

The two teams remained deadlocked through the first three-and-a-half innings on Saturday in game one before Walters State broke the game open with some timely hitting. 

With one out in the bottom of the fourth, McNeely came up and hit a solo bomb to make it a 1-0 ballgame. Following the second out of the inning, the Senators rallied off eight more runs to give themselves some comfort. 

The rally started as Block and Cole McCallum singled, and Noah Gent knocked in Block. Corbin Shaw then drove two more in with a two-RBI double. Andrew Ott brought the fifth run of the inning across with a single before Kruise Newman made it 6-0 with an RBI single. The scoring concluded as McNeely doubled in a run and Colby Backus doubled two home.

"That rally just shows that it's there for us when we have the right approach," McNeely said. "When we are focused and locked in, we're able to put together big innings like that." 

Vol State scored their first run of the game in the sixth but that was all. 

Game Two: No. 2 Walters State 8, Vol State 3

In game two, Jake Knapp picked up his 10th win of the season, to go with zero losses, as the Senators completed the sweep.

Knapp threw six innings, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out 10. Joey Mitchell pitched a scoreless seventh inning to finish things off. 

At the plate in game two, Block and McNeely both had two hits once again as Backus, Gent and Dalton McLain added two RBIs each. 

It was Vol State who started things off in game two with a run in the top of the first. However, the Senators responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the first as Gent singled in Backus to tie the game. 

In the third, the Senators put the pressure on with three more runs to take a 4-1 lead. The runs came from a Backus two-RBI double and Gent sacrifice fly. 

The Senators closed things out with a run in the fourth and three more in the fifth. The run in the fourth came courtesy of a McNeely walk with the bases loaded while the three in the fifth came a wild pitch that scored Block and a sacrifice fly from McLain that scored both Gent and Shaw. 

Up Next:

Walters State will be back in action on Wednesday as they get set to take on Milligan JV. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. as they look to keep their win streak going.

"I think it all depends on how we work in practice," Drake said. "If we work our tails off in practice, we shouldn't have an issue with being complacent at all." 

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics