Cabbage walks off Cleveland State to complete doubleheader sweep

MORRISTOWN, TN – Down two runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and the bases empty?

No problem for No. 2 Walters State. 

Taking on Cleveland State on Thursday afternoon, Nate Conner started the two-out rally for the Senators with a double down the line. Jack Vogele, who smashed a two-run home run in the fifth inning, was next up and ambushed the first pitch, sending it way over the scoreboard to tie the game. 

Following a single by Tyler Myatt and a hit by pitch to Holden Pantier, Carson Cabbage pinch-hit for the Senators. Cabbage fell behind 0-2 but worked a 3-2 count. On the ninth pitch of the at-bat, Cabbage lofted a ball into shallow center that found grass and gave Walters State a 7-6 victory.

The Senators won game one of the doubleheader, 6-2. With the wins, Walters State improved to 46-6-1 on the season and 24-5 in TCCAA play. Walters State has now won 12 games in a row. 

GAME ONE: No. 2 Walters State 6, Cleveland State 2

In game one, it was the Tyler Myatt show as he crushed two home runs and drove in five runs. 

Myatt is now hitting .506 with 25 home runs and 94 RBIs for the season.

Along with Myatt, Kole Fenton had three hits and an RBI while Taylor Harris recorded a double. 

On the mound, Walker Morgan got the start and threw four innings. Morgan gave up one run on four hits while striking out one. Jace Kirby (2-1) replaced Morgan in the fifth and pitched the final three innings. Kirby allowed an unearned run on one hit and struck out four. 

Myatt's first home run of the game came in the bottom of the third as he smacked a two-run shot to give Walters State a 2-0 lead. 

Cleveland State scored a run in the fourth and a run in the fifth to tie the game, but Myatt was there again to respond for the Senators. Fenton singled with one out to start the rally, and Conner followed him up with a single. Following an out, Myatt stepped up and hit a three-run homer off the scoreboard that gave Walters State a 5-2 lead. 

The Senators got an insurance run in the sixth on an RBI single by Fenton, and Kirby shut the Cougars down in the seventh to win the game. 

GAME TWO: No. 2 Walters State 7, Cleveland State 6

Game two started strong for the Senators, building an early lead, and ended well with the walk-off win. 

At the plate, Vogele led the way with his two home runs and four RBIs. Vogele is now hitting .438 with 15 home runs and 76 RBIs on the season. 

Along with Vogele, Holden Pantier hit his 11th home run of the season and drove in two runs. 

On the mound, Aiden Robertson got the start and threw 4.1 innings. Robertson allowed six runs on five hits and struck out five. Brady Scott (3-0) replaced Robertson with an out in the fifth and was excellent in the final 2.2 innings. Scott allowed no runs on two hits and struck out four. 

The Senators struck early as Pantier mashed a two-run home run in the second inning to put Walters State in front, 2-0. However, Cleveland State scored the next six runs to take a 6-2 lead. 

That lead was cut in half in the bottom of the fifth, as Vogele hit a two-run homer to make it 6-4. That was the score until the seventh when the Senators won the game with their three-run, two-out rally. 

Up Next:

Walters State and Cleveland State will play one final game on Friday morning. The nine-inning game is scheduled to begin at 10 am ET.