No. 1 Walters State defeats Southwest Tennessee in TCCAA/Region VII Tournament opener

CHATTANOOGA, TN – No. 1 Walters State broke a 4-4 tie in the fifth inning with three runs and went on to score five more from there as they defeated Southwest Tennessee 12-4 in eight innings on Monday afternoon in their opener of the TCCAA/Region VII Tournament. 

With the win, the Senators improved to 52-5 on the season. They will face the No. 4 seed, Columbia State, tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. You can watch the game at www.jockjive.com.

Wesley Scott got the start on the mound for the Senators, throwing 4.1 innings. He allowed four runs on five hits while striking out five.

Joey Mitchell replaced Scott and got one out on a strikeout before being replaced by Geo Rivera, who pitched the remainder of the game. Rivera improved to 7-1 on the season with the win, throwing 3.1 scoreless innings and striking out five. 

At the plate, Dalton McLain was the star with a four-hit day, driving in three runs in the process. Nick Block had three RBIs as well while Caleb McNeely drove in two runs and walked three times. 

The Senators got on the board first in the matchup as they scored three in the bottom of the third. Kory Klingenbeck led off the inning with a single and McLain moved him to second with a bunt single. The bases were then loaded after McNeely was intentionally walked to bring up Block. Block came through for the Senators with a single and error that scored all three runs to make it 3-0. 

Southwest answered in the top of the fourth with two runs to make it 3-2, however, the Senators got one run back in the bottom half of the inning with a bases-loaded walk to McNeely. 

In the fifth, Southwest pieced together two runs to tie the game at four. Once again, Walters State answered in the bottom half of the inning. This time, they scored three runs and held onto that lead for good. The runs in the fifth came on a Corbin Shaw sacrifice fly and a McLain single that scored two to make it 7-4. One more run came across in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Backus that increased the lead to 8-4. 

In the seventh, the Senators scored again as McNeely crossed the plate on an error that made it 9-4. The Senators ended the game in the eighth with three runs as Kruise Newman doubled in a run, McLain singled in a run and McNeely hit a sacrifice fly. 

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics