No. 17 Walters State wins opener over USC Salkehatchie, 17-1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 17 | 10 | 0 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
ALLENDALE, SC – No. 17 Walters State scored early and often on Saturday afternoon in their season opener and allowed just two hits, as the Senators grabbed a 17-1 win in eight innings over USC Salkehatchie.
With the victory, the Senators moved to 1-0 on the season. Walters State have now won nine straight season openers.
Walker Morgan (1-0) got the start on the mound for Walters State and picked up the win. Morgan threw four innings, allowing one hit and striking out six. Gage Peterson replaced Morgan in the fifth and threw three innings, not allowing a hit and striking out three. Brayden Blankenship pitched the final inning, allowing one unearned run on one hit while striking out one.
At the plate, Holden Pantier pinch-hit and went 2-2 with a home run and three RBIs. Along with Pantier, Jack Vogele, Nate Conner and Kenny Cox each drove in two runs while Kole Fenton and Jack Torbett had two hits each.
Walters State got on the board in the first inning, as Conner hit a sacrifice fly that scored Taylor Harris. Following a run in the second on a bases-loaded walk to Conner, Conner made it 3-0 in the fourth with an RBI double. Vogele was up next, and he made it 4-0 with an RBI double. The Senators scored one more run in the inning as a balk scored Vogele to make it 5-0.
In the sixth, Walters State crossed the plate two more times as Atticus Goodson grounded out but scored Brantley Bamberg and Fenton doubled home Hayden Blair. Pantier made it 9-0 with a two-run home run in the seventh, and Walters State piled on eight more runs in the eighth. Those runs came on a balk that scored Drew Blalock, a fielder's choice by Vogele, a Pantier RBI single, a Cox two-RBI single, a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded, a wild pitch that scored Blair and a Torbett RBI single that made it 17-0.
USC Salkehatchie got on the board with a run in the bottom of the eighth, but that was all they could muster.
Up Next:
Walters State and USC Salkehatchie will play two more games on Sunday to close out the series. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for 12 pm.