No. 2 Walters State splits doubleheader with Gaston College

GASTONIA, NC – No. 2 Walters State split a doubleheader with Gaston College on Sunday afternoon, taking game one 4-1 before falling in game two 4-2. 

With the split, Walters State moved to 4-1 on the season.

GAME ONE: No. 2 Walters State 4, Gaston College 1

Landon Crumbley (2-0) pitched a gem in game one for Walters State as the Senators scored two in the fifth and two in the seventh to take home the victory. 

Crumbley threw five innings in the contest, allowing one run on one hit while striking out six. Crumbley threw 4.2 innings before allowing the lone hit for Gaston College. 

Brayden Matthews replaced Crumbley in the sixth and threw the final two innings, picking up his first save of the season while allowing one hit. 

At the plate, the Senators totaled 10 hits. Kruise Newman led the way with a home run and a double while Deniel Ortiz and Cole McCallum also had two hits apiece. 

After four scoreless innings to start, the Senators finally broke through in the fifth. With one out, Angus Pence doubled and then moved to third on a bunt single by Caleb Marmo. Ortiz was next up and gave the Senators a 1-0 lead with an RBI single. The Senators added one more run in the inning on a wild pitch that scored Marmo. 

Gaston answered back in the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run to cut the lead to 2-1. However, the Senators added two insurance runs in the seventh. With one out, Newman drove in the first run with a solo home run, his third homer of the season. Then with two outs, Ray doubled and scored on a McCallum single to make it 4-1.

GAME TWO: Gaston College 4, No. 2 Walters State 2

In game two, Walters State fell behind by four runs before mounting a seventh inning comeback. However, with the tying run on second, Ortiz struck out to end the game. 

Landon Slemp (0-1) got the start on the mound and threw three innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out one. Bradley Gagen replaced Slemp in the fourth and threw two innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits. Ty Cobb and Blake Cooper combined to throw the final inning with Cobb allowing a run on two hits. 

At the plate, the Senators managed just four hits. Cooper Torres drove in a run while the other run scored on a passed ball. 

Gaston College got the scoring going in the fourth with a two-RBI single before adding one in both the fifth and sixth innings to go up 4-0.

Needing a comeback to keep the game going, Walters State just about did it in the top of the seventh. Ray led things off with a double before Kurtis Reid was hit by a pitch with one out. Zion Taylor then loaded the bases after an error by the shortstop. 

Torres was next up and put the Senators on the board with a sacrifice fly. Then, during Caleb Marmo's at-bat, Reid scored on a passed ball to make it 4-2. Marmo would eventually draw a walk and moved to second during Ortiz's at-bat. However, Ortiz struck out to end the game. 

Up Next:

Walters State will be back in action on Tuesday as they travel to take on USC Union. It will be a doubleheader with game one starting 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