Bucs Split Doubleheader; Takes Series

TUSCALOOSA - The No. 8 ranked Shelton State baseball team split a Saturday double header with Gadsden State.

The Bucs clinched the series with a 6-2 win in game one, but came up short in a 10-8 loss in the nightcap.

Shelton State (23-6, 8-4 ACCC) scored in five of the six innings in the opener, including single runs in the first four innings.

The Bucs put the first three runners on base in the first inning, but scored only one run on a sacrifice fly by freshman second baseman James Graphos.

The Bucs took advantage of two errors to take a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Sophomore shortstop Landen Ingram's safety squeeze plated the run.

The Cardinals made five errors in the game.

Shelton pushed the lead 3-0 in the third on freshman third baseman Slade Sullivan's two-out single.

Gadsden State plated two runs in the fourth to cut the deficit to 3-2. Jackson Morgan had an RBI single.

The Bucs tacked on another run in the fourth when Ingram walked and moved to third on a single by sophomore left fielder Hayes Alford. Sophomore right fielder Mason Steele followed with a sac fly.

Steele finished 3-for-5 with one run, two RBIs and three walks in the double header.

Shelton State scored two runs in the sixth to make it 6-2. Alford singled and later scored on a ground out. Steele had a bunt single and scored on Graphos' RBI single.

Alford finished with three hits and scored two runs in game one.

Freshman right-hander Kenneth Diddell (2-0) retired eight of the nine batters he faced for the win.

Brayden Cooper (1-3) took the loss.

Gadsden State (17-19, 6-6 ACCC) scored two runs in the ninth inning to post a 10-8 victory in a back-and-forth game in the nightcap.

Gabriel Brito was hit by a pitch with one out and was replaced by pinch runner  Chris McNeill. Eli Whitfield followed with an RBI triple to left to left to plate the go-ahead. Whitfield scored on a sac fly to give the Cardinals a 10-8 lead.

Brandon Fears (3-0), lost the lead in the eighth, worked scoreless ninth for the win

JD Wilkins (3-3) pitched the 10th inning and took the loss.

Both teams scored three runs in a controversial eighth inning. 

The Cardinals took an 8-5 lead after loading the bases with one out on a hit batter, walk and hit batter.

Aaron Wallace, who had his 14-game hitting streak snapped on Saturday, plated a run with a sac fly. Cooper Jarvis delivered an RBI single.

The inning supposedly ended when Jayden Roberts was out attempting to steal home.

After a conference between the umpires, the base umpire ruled interference on the Bucs catcher Lawson Neel and awarded Roberts the run.

The reversal loomed large as the Bucs scored three runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game rather than take the lead.

Neel and Ingram drew back-to-back walks and Alford came up with his biggest hit of the game as he laced a bases-clearing triple to left center field.

Alford scored the tying run on Dutton's sacrifice fly to knot the score at 8-8.

Alford went 5-for-10 in the double header with four runs scored, two extra base hits and two RBIs.

The Bucs trailed 5-3 in the fifth inning before scoring single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game.

Dutton tripled and scored on freshman DH John Robicheaux single to make it 5-4. Waugh led off the sixth with a single and scored on Ingram's two-out bunt single to tie the game 5-5.

Ingram had the best series of his career, going 6-for-10 with four runs scored, three sac bunts and his first career home run.

The Bucs took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Alford stroked a leadoff double and scored on Dutton's sacrifice fly. Robicheaux delivered a two-out double and scored on Waugh's single.

Gadsden State tied the game on Roberts' two-run home run in the second inning.

Shelton State regained the lead with a run in the bottom of the second. Freshman catcher Grant Browning reached on a lead off single and scored on Steele's two-out single.

Whitfield stroked a two-run triple to give the Cardinals a 4-3 lead in the third.

Brito's sacrifice fly inn in the fifth extended the lead to 5-3.

Shelton State returns to action on Monday, March 24 at Wallace State Selma. The game begins at Noon.