FROM STAFF REPORTS

The University of Montevallo baseball team picked up two key victories over Augusta State University at home in Peach Belt Conference action April 2.

Montevallo (16-17 overall, 6-9 in Peach Belt Conference) won the opening game in the doubleheader 5-4 before taking the nightcap 11-5.

The Falcons were led by junior Chris Ross, a Pelham graduate, who went 6-for-9 at the plate with a double, three runs scored, three RBIs and a stolen base. The Falcons had eight stolen bases over the two games and were caught stealing only once.

Freshman Will Fulmer was 4-for-7 at the plate with a pair of doubles, two RBIs, a run scored and a pair of hit by pitches. Junior Blaine Rosenberg, an Oak Mountain graduate, tied Ross for the lead in RBIs with three. Rosenberg was 2-for-5 with a run scored and three RBIs.

Six other Falcons drove in a run. Junior Josh Headley and senior Scott Deason, a Spain Park graduate, led the team on the bases going 2-for-2 on stolen base attempts.

Senior Kyle Butler took the mound in game one and pitched six innings with seven strikeouts and no walks. Butler (4-3) allowed just five hits and one run.

Freshman Edward Brandsema and junior Wes Rich, a Pelham graduate, combined to pitch the final three innings of game one. Brandsema went 1 2/3 innings with a strikeout, a walk and a run allowed. Rich picked up the save, his fourth of the season, as he went 1 1/3 innings with a strikeout, a walk and two runs allowed.

Freshman Alex Guilford got the start in game two as he went 3 2/3 innings with a strikeout and a walk. Guilford allowed six hits and three runs, but just one earned run.

Senior Joey Noro pitched the next 3 1/3 innings with a pair of strikeouts and a pair of walks. Noro allowed just two hits and no runs scored as he picked up his third victory of the season. Junior Brett Roney and sophomore Michael Shreves combined to pitch the final two innings.

Pitching led the way early in game one as neither team scored in the opening three innings.

Montevallo finally broke through in the fourth inning, as sophomore Austin Dubberly, a Pelham graduate, led off the inning with a hit by pitch. After a strikeout and fly out, Dubberly took things into his own hands and stole second base. A throwing error by the catcher allowed him to take third base and finally a Rosenberg single through the right side brought him home to give Montevallo a 1-0 lead.

Montevallo scored again in the fifth inning, as Headley hit a one-out single through the left side. Headley then stole second base after a out and a Ross single scored him to put the Falcons up 2-0.

Augusta State scored a single run in the seventh inning to cut the Falcons lead to 2-1. Montevallo responded with three runs in the bottom half of the seventh inning.

Fulmer led off the inning with a single, but a pop up and a fielder’s choice made it two outs with Deason on first base. Deason proceeded to steal second base and was brought home by a Ross single. Ross then stole second base and scored on an error by the shortstop, which also allowed Dubberly to reach base. After a wild pitch, Dubberly found himself on third base and was brought home by another wild pitch to cap the scoring.

Augusta State scored a single run in the eighth inning to make it 5-2. The Jaguars made it really interesting in the ninth inning as they scored two more runs to cut the lead to just one run, but a groundout to first base ended the game and sealed the Falcons’ victory.

The second game saw the Falcons’ offense come alive, as they scored three runs in the first inning and four runs in the second to take a huge 7-0 lead.

Montevallo opened the first inning with four hits, which led to three runs and then followed that up with five hits in the second inning to score four runs.

Augusta State finally answered with two runs in the third inning, but Montevallo responded with a run of its own in the bottom half of the inning as Deason led off the inning with a home run to right field.

The Jags scored another run in the fourth inning, but the Falcons responded with two runs in the fifth and another run in the sixth to go up 11-3. The Jags’ last effort came in the eighth inning, as they scored a pair of runs but came up short in the final game of the three-game series.