No. 16 Walters State's offense shines in 22-9 win over Volunteer State

MORRISTOWN, TN – No. 16 Walters State scored 22 runs on 21 hits Friday afternoon against Volunteer State, going on for a 22-9 win in seven innings. 

With the victory, the Senators improved to 38-10 on the season and 19-6 in TCCAA play.

Jackson Berry led the way at the plate for Walters State with four hits, a home run and five RBIs. Luke Graham had four hits and scored four runs, as well, and Drew Blalock and Holden Pantier each homered. Pantier had three hits and three RBIs, while Blalock drove in four runs and Miles Shore had three hits and drove in two runs. 

On the mound, Preston Allen (6-0) got the start and remained undefeated. Allen threw 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on two hits and striking out five. Lorenzo Atwell replaced Allen with two outs in the fifth and threw the next inning, allowing three runs, one earned, on two hits, and Logan Quales threw the final 1.1 innings. Quales gave up three runs on two hits. 

The Senators got things started in the bottom of the first, scoring three runs to take an early lead. Hayden Blair drove home the first run with a groundout that scored Kole Fenton, and Blalock followed with a two-run blast. 

In the second, Walters State upped its lead to 5-0 with two runs. Graham led off the inning with a single, stole second and scored on an error. Another error scored Jaxon Walker later in the inning. 

The third inning was more of the same for Walters State. Shore doubled to start the inning, and Berry singled to score him one batter later. Graham was next up, and he doubled to score Berry and make it 7-0. Later in the inning, the Senators added one more run when Blair walked with the bases-loaded to score Graham. 

The fourth-inning blew the game open, as the Senators scored seven more runs. Those runs came across on a Berry solo home run, a Fenton two-RBI double, a Blalock two-RBI single, a Shore RBI single and a Berry RBI single that made it 15-0.

Volunteer State got on the board in the fifth with four runs, but Walters State answered in the bottom of the inning with six more. Pantier got things started with a three-run blast, and Shore singled home Blair to make it 19-4. The final two runs of the inning scored on a Berry two-RBI single. 

The Pioneers scored two more runs in the sixth, but the Senators concluded their scoring in the bottom of the sixth as Luke Jenkins doubled to score Fenton to make it 22-6. Volunteer State scored three in the seventh, but that was all. 

Up Next:

Walters State is back in action on Saturday, taking on Volunteer State. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for 12 pm ET.