FROM STAFF REPORTS

The University of Montevallo baseball team played its longest game since joining the NCAA in 1996 in an 8-5 loss to Armstrong Atlantic State University in a Peach Belt Conference game March 25.

The game lasted three hours and 51 minutes from first pitch to final out. The game headed into extras after being tied 4-4 at the end of nine innings. Each team posted a run in the 12th inning before the game ended in the 13th with Armstrong Atlantic scoring three unanswered runs.

The Falcons (14-13 overall, 4-6 in Peach Belt Conference) and Pirates, who entered the contest ranked No. 12 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division II poll, each used four pitchers in the contest.

Montevallo’s starter, sophomore Will Dismukes, went seven innings with five strikeouts and four walks. Dismukes gave up three runs, including two earned runs. Freshman Edward Brandsema pitched the next inning while holding the Pirates to just one hit. Junior Wes Rich, a Pelham graduate, went the next three innings with three strikeouts and a walk. Rich gave up just one run while scattering four hits.

Senior Joey Noro took home the loss as he pitched the final two innings. Noro gave up five hits and four runs as his record fell to 2-2 on the season.

Montevallo had 11 hits in the game, with senior Josh Dabbs, junior Josh Headley and freshman Pablo Martell leading the way with two hits each.

Dabbs was 2-for-4 with a run scored. Headley was 2-for-5 with two runs scored. Martell went 2-for-6.

Montevallo had four different players with one RBI each. Sophomore Devon Davis, junior Duston Daugherty, freshman Will Fulmer and junior Blaine Rosenberg, an Oak Mountain graduate, each drove in a run.

The Falcons had four extra-base hits. Daugherty, a Hoover graduate, and junior Chris Ross, a Pelham graduate, each had a double. Rosenberg had a triple and Fulmer had a home run.

The Falcons took the early lead in the game, scoring a run in the first and second innings. Fulmer hit a solo homer in the first, while Davis singled home a run in the second. Armstrong Atlantic answered with a run in the third inning and two runs in the fourth inning to take a 3-2 lead.

Montevallo answered in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Daugherty hit an RBI double down the left-field line to score Dabbs.

Montevallo eventually retook the lead in the eighth inning as Rosenberg hit an RBI triple to left field, which scored sophomore Andrew Hill, a Pelham graduate. The Pirates had back-to-back hits to open up the ninth inning, which eventually led to an RBI fielder’s choice to tie the game at 4-4.

The Pirates took the lead in the top of the 12th inning with a pair of hits, but Montevallo answered in the bottom half as it loaded the bases with just one out. A fielder’s choice stopped the Falcons at home plate to make it bases loaded with two outs. The Pirates’ second basemen bobbled a ground ball, which allowed the Falcons to score on their next at bat. Montevallo was unable to score the go-ahead run as the game moved to the 13th inning.

The Pirates put the game away as they scored three runs off of three hits in the top half of the 13th inning. Montevallo went three-up, three-down in the bottom half to end the game.

The Falcons will return to action March 26 at 1 p.m. as they complete their series with Armstrong Atlantic State University.