SAVANNAH, Ga.- Khayld Cox singled to center field to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning and scored when
Bryce Luken hit into a fielder's choice as Savannah State edged Mount St. Mary's 9-8, in a game played at Tiger Field.
Greg Smith was the winning pitcher for the Tigers. Smith pitched the final four innings and gave up two hits, no runs and no walks.
Mount St. Mary's took the early lead with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning. The Tigers answered with three runs off of two hits in he bottom half of the inning with
Jorge Lopez,
Jalen Atterbury and
Bernard Barnes crossing home plate.
Both teams scored one run in the fifth. Alex Kriss hit a RBI double for the Mountaineers and Atterbury singled home a run for the Tigers to give the home team a 4-3 lead.
Joshua Lenig hit a two-run double as part of a five run sixth for Mount St. Mary's (0-11) as the visitors from Emmitsburg, Maryland went ahead 8-4.
SSU tied the game in the bottom of the sixth with four runs off of five hits.
Barnes led off with a single which was followed by a strikeout by
Jacob Lightle and a single by
Kyle Gerdts.
Bryce Luken flied out for the second out of the inning but Davis followed with a RBI single that scored Barnes. Lopez doubled to left field which allowed Gerdts to score and Atterbury hit a single to right field that scored Davis and Lopez.
In the bottom of the ninth, SSU received consecutive singles by Cox, Barnes and Lightle. Barnes was thrown out at second on Lightle's hit but Gerdts was intentionally walked to load the bases. The next batter, Luken hit the ball to the second baseman who threw out Gerdts but it was enough to allow Cox to score the game winner.
Atterbury and Cox had three hits apiece. Atterbury drove in three runs while Lopez scored three times. Barnes and Lightle each contributed two hits.
Vaughn Parker was the losing pitcher. Parker pitched 1.2 innings and gave up six hits and five runs.
Tyler Post had two hist and scored twice in a losing effort.
Savannah State (9-8) had 15 hits on the day but left 12 men on base. The Mountaineers collected nine hits and stranded four base runners. Both teams made three errors each.
