Bucs Bash Cougars; Sweep Series

BIRMINGHAM - The sixth-ranked Shelton State baseball team scored 18 runs on 21 hits in the double header sweep of Lawson State at Roy Johnson Field on Friday afternoon.

The Bucs posted a 5-1 win in game one and won the nightcap 13-5 to complete the four-game series sweep. 

Sophomore DH Mason Steele belted two home runs and had six RBIs in the double header. He smacked a two-run homer in game one and added a three/run home run in game two.

Shelton State (28-6, 12-4 ACCC) has won five straight games.

Lawson State (4-30, 1-15 ACCC) has lost five in a row.

The Bucs pounded out 14 hits in game two, with seven different players getting at least one hit 

Sophomore left fielder Trenton Shirley and Steele reached base eight times in the second game and scored eight runs.

Shirley scored four runs and posted three hits and two RBIs. Steele fell a double short of the cycle and finished 3–for-4 with four RBIs. He had an RBI triple in the second and three-run homer in the fifth. 

Freshman right fielder Jackson Henderson belted a solo home run to dead centerfield in sixth. He finished with three hits and two RBIs.

Freshman shortstop Slade Sullivan added two hits, including an RBI double.

The  Bucs used seven pitchers in the game. 

Freshman RHP Gunner Dodd (3-0) fired two shutout innings for the win. Sophomore RHP Bryant Akridge retired all five batters he faced with three strikeouts. Sophomore LHP John Michael Pickens got the final two outs with a double play.

The Bucs turned two double plays in game two and have now turned 26 double plays this season, second most in the nation.

Former Bucs player Will Elrod had three hits, including two doubles, and two RBIs in the two games.

 Shelton State won the opener 5-1. 

The Bucs scored two runs in the third inning to grab the lead. 

Sophomore centerfield Pierce Dutton drove in the first run with an RBI ground out. Sophomore first baseman Hayes Alford made it 2-0 with a straight steal of home.

Carson Gillian delivered an RBI single in the fourth for the Cougars' first run of the series.

The run snapped the Bucs streak of 24 2/3 consecutive innings without an earned run.

Steele's two-run home run in the fifth extended the Bucs lead to 4-2.

Shirley led off the seventh with a double and scored on sac fly by freshman right fielder John Robicheaux.

Freshmen RHPs Eli Driskell, Kenneth Diddell and Landon Shumate covered the seven innings on the mound.

Driskell (5-1) worked 4 2/3 innings for his team-leading fifth win. He allowed one on four hits and struck out five.

Diddell retired four of the five batters he faced, with two strikeouts. Shumate worked a perfect seventh inning.

The Bucs return to action next weekend against Wallace State Hanceville. The two teams will play Thursday, April 3 at  2 p.m. in Hanceville, and Saturday, April 5 at 2 p.m. in Tuscaloosa.