MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Auburn Montgomery baseball team dropped both games of a Saturday doubleheader to the Skyhawks of Point University on Feb. 9 from the AUM Baseball Complex.
NOTES
- AUM fell 13-8 in game one, and 2-1 in game two.
- With the losses, AUM's 2019 record drops to 4-3.
- The losses snap a four-game win streak for the Warhawks over Point, and brings their all-time series advantage over the Skyhawks to 11-3
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Will Sheffield made his debut on the mound for AUM in game number one.
GAME ONE
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
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Matthew Zielonko clubbed a team-high three hits in game one, including his first home run of the 2019 campaign. The senior outfielder also drove in and scored a team-high three runs.
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Dalton Cobb logged his second multi-hit game of the season, while also driving in two runs.
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Brett Lightsey collected his first base hit of the 2019 season in the game, while also scoring a pair of runs.
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Josh Flowers scored a pair of runs in the contest.
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Wade Bannister tossed two innings of shutout relief, while striking out one.
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Connor Smith (0-1) took the loss for AUM on the mound. The senior righty allowed three earned over the first two innings of the game, while striking out one.
- Sheffield,
Alex Graulich and
William Gibson provided the final five innings of relief for AUM out of the bullpen, with Gibson accounting for a game-high three innings of relief.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Point would provide the first runs of the game in inning number one, capitalizing on a dropped fly ball by AUM to plate a pair of runs and take an early 2-0 lead.
- AUM would respond in their first at-bat with a pair of runs off of a Point fielding error and a Zielonko RBI single up the middle, to even the game at two-all.
- Point would go on to retake the lead at 4-2 in the second inning, but the Warhawks would cut that lead in half in the third inning, courtesy of Zielonko's solo blast to left field to make it 4-3.
- The Skyhawks would continue to push across runs, scoring a trio of runs in the fifth, sixth and eighth innings to climb out to their largest lead of the day at 13-3.
- AUM would battle back in the eighth inning, pushing across three unearned runs, and would push across two more in the ninth in a last-ditch effort, before giving way to the 13-8 final score.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- AUM tallied double-digit hits for the second consecutive game with 10, while Point knocked 15 base hits.
- Game one saw both teams commit a combined nine errors, with the Warhawks accounting for five of the nine.
- AUM left eight runners on base, while the pitching staff stranded 11 Skyhawk base runners in the game.
- The Warhawks used a season-high five different pitchers in the loss.
GAME TWO
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Cobb logged his second consecutive multi-hit game in game number two, pushing his 2019 multi-hit game total to a team-best three.
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Sage Smelley was responsible for the Warhawk's lone RBI, while
Zach Feaster recorded a hit and a run scored.
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Micah Henderson(0-1) took the loss on the hill for AUM. The junior right-hander allowed just one earned run over five innings of work, while striking out four.
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Todd Burkett retired all six batters that he faced in the sixth and seventh innings, while also striking out a pair of Skyhawk hitters.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Point University cracked the scoreboard first in game number two, when an errant throw to left field by Feaster, in an attempt to throw out Kyle Kelly at third base, resulted in him reaching home to allow the Skyhawks to grab the early 1-0 advantage.
- The Skyhawks would go on to double their lead in the fifth inning, on an RBI groundout to second base. A triple to right-center by Dayton Cook one batter earlier provided the Skyhawks with the run-scoring opportunity.
- The Warhawks would answer back in their next at-bat, however, to trim their deficit in half at 2-1. Feaster led off the inning with an infield single and a throwing error by the Point shortstop that allowed him to reach second. A
Hunter Hillyer sacrifice bunt, followed by an RBI groundout to second base by Smelley, saw AUM's deficit sit at just 2-1 at the end of the fifth.
- The Warhawks put a pair of runners on base in the sixth, and got the tying run on the base paths in the seventh, but could not cash in for a run, giving way to the 2-1 final.
QUOTING THE COACH
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- The Warhawks outhit the Skyhawks in game number two, five to two.
- AUM left six runners on base, while the Warhawk staff stranded four Point base runners.
- The Warhawk pitching staff allowed just one earned run for the second time this season in the game.
UP NEXT
- The Warhawks will return to the diamond on Tuesday, Feb. 12 when they take on Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, Ga. First pitch is slated for 5:00 p.m. (CST)
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