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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MONTEVALLO – The University of Montevallo Falcons took their conference series against the Mississippi College Choctaws in dramatic fashion as Connor Crowson’s home run gave the Falcons a 10-9 victory on Saturday, Feb. 22 in the final game of the three-game series at Bob Riesener Stadium.

Before then, Montevallo won the first game 7-1 on Friday, Feb. 22 before dropping the first game of the Saturday, Feb. 22 doubleheader 8-6 to leave the series tied up ahead of the wild third game.

The Falcons are now 9-6 on the year and 5-2 in Gulf South Conference play as they came into the weekend with a big wave of momentum thanks to a series win at West Florida to start GSC play and a 3-1 midweek win against Tuskegee.

In the first game of the weekend, Montevallo navigated an early two-on, one-out jam in the top of the first before Crowson launched a lead-off home run in the home half of the frame for the 1-0 lead.

Adiel Melendez kept the Choctaws at bay with seven strikeouts and frequent short ground balls during his seven innings of work to improve to 3-1 on the season.

That set up the Falcons to capitalize with a big sixth inning. Jacob Pearl capitalized off runners on first and third with a sharp liner for an RBI single. Daniel Irizarry followed that up with a big three-run home run to center for his first long ball of the season and a 5-0 lead for his team.

The home run party continued in the bottom of the seventh with solo shots from Logan Harbin and McGwire Turner off back-to-back pitches to make the lead 7-0. Mississippi College got one run back in the top of the ninth, but Trey Felker saw out the rest of the ninth for the victory.

Irizarry went 2-for-4 with his three-run home run while Ethan Huddleston finished 2-for-3 with a walk and a run. Crowson and Turner each went 2-for-4 with a solo home run.

In the second game the next day, Montevallo struck first after a scoreless first two innings with a five-run third inning. Logan Harbin’s RBI double, a run off a wild pitch, an RBI double from Evan Radford and a run off a double play to take the lead to 5-0.

However, Mississippi College chipped away at the deficit beginning in the sixth inning. After a solo home run, a two-run RBI double chased Falcons starter Gino Cozzi after he began the game with five shutout innings and five strikeouts.

A pair of Choctaw RBI singles in the top of the seventh made it a 5-5 game going into the final two innings, and the visitors sealed the deal with the long ball in the top of the ninth. Mississippi College followed a solo shot with a two-run home run to go up 8-5 for its first lead of the game.

Turner responded with a solo shot in the bottom of the ninth, but that was all the offense that Montevallo could muster in an 8-6 loss.

Radford led the offense with a 4-for-5 game with a run and an RBI while Turner went 3-for-5 with two runs, including his solo home run.

That left the series win on the line going into the third and final game.

After a scoreless first inning, the Choctaws burst the game wide open with a five-run second inning off a pair of home runs, a two-run shot and a three-run blast.

The Falcons responded to the 5-0 deficit with a two-run single from Irizarry after Jackson Webster and Landon Leake both singled to start the inning. After Irizarry advanced off a ground out, Crawson brought him home off an RBI single to cut the deficit to 5-3.

That allowed Montevallo to tie up the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the third off a bases-loaded hit by pitch and an Irizarry sacrifice fly.

Mississippi College quickly put a pair of balls over the fence for four runs in the top of the fourth to take the lead back to 9-5, putting pressure back on the Falcons to respond.

Anchored by a strong bullpen outing from Matthew Bullard, who had three no-hit innings beginning in the fifth with just one walk, Huddleston’s RBI single made it an 9-6 game in the bottom of the fifth.

From there, a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth cut the gap to two before two walks put runners on for Irizarry with two outs. He brought both Preston Beford and Payton Stephenson home to tie the game up at 9-9.

In the seventh and final inning, Crowson blasted the game-winner to deep right field to earn the walk-off winner.

Irizarry finished a perfect 3-for-3 with five RBI and a run. Crowson went 2-for-5 with two RBI, including his walk-off solo shot. Radford had a 2-for-3 game at the plate with a walk and two runs and Webster was 2-for-4 with three runs.

The Falcons will hit the road for four straight, first to Georgia Southwestern State for a non-conference game on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 5 p.m. before a GSC weekend series at Trevecca Nazarene on Friday, Feb. 28 and Saturday, March 1.