McNeely triples, homers in Senators win over Roane State

HARRIMAN, TN – No. 2 Walters State started the weekend off strong on Friday afternoon against Roane State, taking down the Raiders 9-1 in seven innings. 

With the win, Walters State improved to 37-3 on the season and 14-1 in TCCAA play. They have now won 17 games in-a-row.

Caleb McNeely led the way for Walters State with a three-run homer and RBI triple. His home run was his 16th of the season, putting him back in first place in the NJCAA. 

Along with McNeely's three hits and four RBIs, Colby Backus, Noah Gent and Andrew Ott each drove in runs. 

Wesley Scott got the win on the mound for the Senators, throwing six innings of shutout baseball. Scott struck out 12 in his outing, moving his season total to 84. That is good enough for third best in the NJCAA.

Landon Slemp pitched the final inning of the game, allowing one run but striking out the side. 

After a scoreless inning to start the game, Walters State plated three runs in the second to take an early lead. The three runs came courtesy of McNeely's home run that scored himself, along with Dalton McLain and Ott. McLain walked to start the inning and Ott followed with a bunt single. 

In the fifth, the Senators added two more runs to increase the lead to 5-0. Gent led off the inning with a single and scored on an error. Kruise Newman, who reached in the inning after getting hit by a pitch, scored on the next at-bat as Ott hit a sacrifice fly to center. 

Walters State kept the offensive momentum going in the sixth with two more runs. McNeely scored one of the runs on a hard hit ball by Gent that was misplayed in the infield. Nick Block would then score on a wild pitch. 

The Senators capped off their scoring in the seventh with their final two runs. Those runs came courtesy of a McNeely triple that scored McLain and a Backus single that scored McNeely. 

Up Next:

Walters State will be back in action on Saturday for two more games with Roane State. The doubleheader is set to begin at 1 p.m. 

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics