Senators claim TCCAA Baseball Regular Season Championship with 4-0 win over Cleveland State
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 2 |
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
CLEVELAND, TN – No. 16 Walters State needed a sweep heading into its final conference series to win the TCCAA Regular Season Championship.
On Friday, the Senators accomplished what they set out to do.
Taking on Cleveland State, Walters State completed a series sweep over the Cougars with a 4-0 win. The win improved the Senators' conference record to 24-6 on the season and clinched the TCCAA Regular Season Championship.
It's Walters State's 21st TCCAA Regular Season Championship, and the Senators have won every regular season crown since 2018. Walters State will now be the No. 1 seed in the TCCAA/Region 7 Tournament and receive a bye in the opening round of the tournament.
Major Osbolt and Hayden Mills were the stars in Friday's game, combining to throw a shutout. Osbolt (6-1) got the start on the mound and threw six innings, allowing just two bunt singles and striking out 10. Mills replaced Osbolt in the seventh and picked up his first save of the season, striking out eight in three innings of work.
At the plate, Brady Dalton led the way with three hits and two RBIs. Hayden Blair had two hits and drove in two runs, while Kole Fenton also collected two hits.
It was a pitcher's duel to start as both teams threw up zeroes through the first six innings. Osbolt struck out two in the first, the side in the second, one in the third, one in the fourth and the side in the fifth.
In the seventh, Walters State finally broke through. Miles Shore walked to lead off the inning, and Jackson Berry singled him to second. After a double steal moved both runners up a base, Dalton singled in two runs to give the Senators the lead. Holden Pantier then walked with two outs to put two runners back on, and Blair followed him with a two-RBI double that made it 4-0.
That was all Walters State would need, as Mills entered in the bottom of the seventh and shut Cleveland State down. Mills left the bases loaded in the seventh, struck out two in the eighth and struck out four in the ninth, with one batter reaching on a dropped third strike.
Up Next:
Walters State closes out the regular season on Tuesday, hosting Southwest Virginia. First pitch is set for 3 pm ET.