PENSACOLA, Fla. – Fueled by four Warhawks recording multiple hits and a NCAA-Era single-season record broken, the Auburn Montgomery baseball team bested No. 23 West Florida 11-3 on Saturday afternoon in the final contest of a three-game Gulf South Conference series.
NOTES
• AUM improves to 17-24 overall, 6-18 in Gulf South Conference action.
• West Florida falls to 27-12, 17-6 in GSC play.
• Senior
Nathan Langley set the program's NCAA-Era single-season record for hits, currently having 57 on the campaign.
• The victory marks the program's first Gulf South Conference victory on the road.
• The 11 runs scored is the most West Florida has given up in a home contest this season.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• Langley went 3-6 in the batter's box with three runs scored while logging 5.2 innings of work on the mound, allowing one run off eight hits with two strikeouts, en route to the victory.
• Senior center fielder
Donovan Chandler boasted a career-high four RBI while going 3-3 at the plate with three runs scored and two RBI.
• Junior second baseman
Logan Nix went 2-4 with a run scored and two RBI.
• Freshman shortstop
Sam Steigert went 2-5, hit first multi-hit outing as a Warhawk, with his first collegiate run scored.
• Junior left fielder
Matthew Zielonko went 1-4 with two RBI and a walk.
• Redshirt junior righty
Connor Smith tossed 3.1 innings with two runs allowed off five hits to get his first save of the season.
• For West Florida, Nick Kerkmann went 3-5.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Back-to-back hits from Langley and Chandler to begin the top of the first scored Langley to give AUM it's first lead of the weekend while a groundout for senior first baseman
Curtiss Johnson platted Chandler to extend the lead to 2-0.
• Leading off the top of the second with a single, Steigert touched home plate on a two RBI single from Chandler that also sent Langley home. Chandler rounded the bases on the following at bat, a single from Nix, to create a 5-0 advantage.
• Loading the bases off singles from junior center fielder
Aaron Hill and Langley plus a hit by pitch for Chandler, singles from Nix and Zielonko in back-to-back at bats scored all three Warhawks. Nix touched home plate off a single from junior third baseman
Todd Burkett, extending the separation to 9-1.
• West Florida scored their first run of the contest in the bottom of the fifth, getting Mike Branche on base via a leadoff single with the Argonaut scoring on a double play to make it 9-1.
• The Argos cut into the separation in the bottom of the eight, leading off the stanza with a Matt Sullivan double before a single from Joey Bend platted Sullivan, making it 9-2.
• AUM added a pair of insurance runs to their lead in the top of the ninth, using a RBI groundout by Hill to send sophomore catcher
Kyle Khoury home before a double from Chandler scored Hill to extend the lead to 11-2.
• UWF tried to stage a comeback in the top of the ninth, scoring Matthew Estrada off a RBI groundout before a strikeout for the following Argo ended the contest.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Both sides had 13 hits.
• AUM and West Florida each stranded 11 runners on base.
• West Florida recorded three errors.
UP NEXT
The Warhawks trek to Florence, Ala., on Tuesday, April 17 to take on North Alabama in the second leg of a home-and-home midweek series. Start time is scheduled for 5 p.m.
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