No. 2 Walters State scores three in the ninth to walk-off Chattanooga State, 12-11

MORRISTOWN, TN – It wasn't necessarily pretty, but No. 2 Walters State found a way on Friday.

Taking on Chattanooga State, the Senators trailed 11-9 heading to the ninth inning. While not recording a hit out of the infield in the final inning, Walters State pieced together three runs, and a Luke Graham dodge of a tag at the plate was good enough to give the Senators a 12-11 win.

With the victory, the Senators improved to 15-2 overall and 7-0 in TCCAA play. 

Justin Bell led off the ninth with a hit by pitch, and Jackson Berry followed with a walk. Both players moved up a base, and after a strikeout, Graham loaded the bases after being hit by a pitch. That brought up Miles Shore, and during his at-bat, the Tigers pitcher threw a wild pitch that allowed Bell to score. The game was tied when Shore singled on an infield hit to second, and Kole Fenton was intentionally walked to load the bases. Holden Pantier was next up, and he hit a fly ball that the second baseman caught a few feet into the grass. Graham took off from third, avoided the tag up the line and slid in safely for the win. 

Kole Fenton and Drew Blalock had three hits each for Walters State in the game, and Pantier, Kenny Cox and Jaxon Walker each drove in two runs. 

On the mound, Brady Scott got the start and threw 3.2 innings. Scott gave up seven runs on six hits and struck out two. Preston Allen replaced Scott and threw the next 2.2 innings. Allen allowed three runs on one hit and struck out six. Ryan Smith then threw 1.2 innings, allowing one run on three hits, and Colton Richards (1-0) threw a scoreless top of the ninth. 

It was a phenomenal start for Walters State in the game, scoring seven runs in the bottom of the first. Fenton led things off with a single, moved to third on two wild pitches and scored on a Pantier groundout. Blalock then singled and back-to-back walks to Cox and Bell loaded the bases. Blalock scored on a wild pitch, and after a walk to Hayden Blair, Brady Dalton flew out but scored Cox to make it 3-0.

The scoring continued when Graham singled home Bell, and Walker doubled home two runs to make it 6-0. The final run came when Fenton doubled home Walker. 

However, Chattanooga State hit back with three runs in the third and six in the fourth to go up 9-7. That was the score until the sixth, when Walker walked and Fenton was hit by a pitch to put two on with two outs. That brought up Cox, and he doubled to left to score both runners and tie the game at nine.

However, Chattanooga State came back with two runs in the seventh to go up 11-9. That was the score until the ninth, when the Senators scored three runs to walk it off.

Up Next:

Walters State is back in action on Saturday, taking on Chattanooga State. The doubleheader is set for 1 pm ET.