Jacob Justice
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The 18th-ranked Bryan baseball team improved to 8-1 after an impressive 3-1 showing at the WCU Invite, hosted by Southern States Athletic Conference opponent William Carey University (Miss.). Also joining in on the action was Mid-South Conference foe 25th-ranked Campbellsville University (Ky.). Of the three teams, it was Bryan who left the weekend on top, opening the event with a narrow 2-1 victory over Campbellsville before capping their solid first day by edging out William Carey 4-3. On Saturday, the Lions roared their way to a 7-1 routing of Campbellsville before being dealt their first loss of the season to William Carey in the weekend finale 3-4. Campbellsville finished 2-2 over the two-day span while William Carey went 1-3. Campbellsville moved their overall record to 5-4, and William Carey fell to an even 5-5.
The first two wins collected by Bryan might not be what their fans are accustomed to, in securing close low-scoring games, but the dynamics of the Lions this season are proving to be deadly. Bryan has already demonstrated that they are more than capable of piling on the runs with an explosive presence at the plate while also winning pitching duels with a strong defensive component.
In Bryan and Campbellsville’s first meeting, it wasn’t until the fourth inning when both sides broke the silence with one run apiece. The Lions struck first in the top of the frame when Parker Cosby led off with a single to left, advanced to second on Tyler Scott’s sacrifice bunt, stole third, and then scored when taking advantage of a wild pitch. The Tigers answered back rather quickly with a solo homerun to right in the bottom of the fourth, leveling the count 1-1. Two Lions were left stranded in the top of the seventh, as neither team produced a run until the ninth. In the top of the last inning, Cosby reached on a walk. He continued his commanding base-running by stealing both second and third before scoring on Scott’s RBI single to left, marking the winning-run for Bryan. Campbellsville had the tying run on third in the bottom of the ninth with only one out, but a pop out and ground out eliminated the threat posed by the Tigers.
Four Lion pitchers saw time on the mound, beginning with Dalton Ross who oversaw the first two frames and finished with a clean slate, tallying one walk and a pair of strikeouts. Cameron Harvey followed with a scoreless frame, allowing just one hit, before Jacob Hallmark took over the next five innings en route to the win. During that time, Hallmark allowed only three hits and one earned run with no walks and two K’s. Trevor Ferguson picked up the save after throwing the last inning and preventing Campbellsville from coming back.
Both teams registered four hits apiece with Bryan’s connections coming from a team-high two by Scott and one from both Cosby and Shawn Bracamontes. Cosby also had a notable game-high three stolen bags.
William Carey snagged the first lead in the second game of the day with a lone run in the bottom of the first, but Bryan never surrendered the lead back over to the Crusaders after notching two in the top of the second. Anthony Tejeda was walked, stole second, and then scored the Lions’ first run from an RBI single to left off the bat of Cosby. Cosby scored the next run when Jacob Justice smoked an RBI single to left, putting Bryan on top 2-1. Justice tacked on another run for Bryan in the top of the fifth with a double to deep right-center and then capitalizing on a pair of wild pitches, as the Lions led 3-1. In the bottom of the inning, William Carey posted two hits and took advantage of a Bryan error to tie things up 3-3. The game wasn’t decided until the top of the seventh when Wade Weinburger reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second, took scoring position at third when David Scoggins singled to left, and then crossed home plate off Bracamontes’ sac-bunt to prevail 4-3.
Ferguson handled the first two innings thrown for the Lions, seeing the Crusaders total three hits and one earned run. Joseph Cuomo stepped in for the final five stanzas, giving up just two unearned runs and four hits while retiring seven via strikeout to capture the win.
Bryan’s seven hits were highlighted by Justice’s team-best three connections, one run batted in, and one double. Cosby, Scott, and Scoggins each managed one hit, respectively. William Carey had no steals, but Justice, Weinburger, Landon Mosteller, Micah Cannon, and Tejeda accounted for Bryan’s five stolen bases with one swiped by each.
The Lions saw their momentum from day one carry into day two when they faced-off against the top-ranked Tigers for a second time. Bryan outhit Campbellsville 13-6, scoring one run in the first, two more in the third, and finishing off the victory with a four-run display in the sixth. The first run occurred when Justice walked, advanced to second when Weinburger was hit with a pitch, and then scored on Scoggins’ RBI single sailed to shallow center. Bryan led 3-0 when Bracamontes chopped a two-run single to shallow left, scoring both Justice and Weinburger in the bottom of the third. Campbellsville nearly escaped the blanking with a lone run in the fifth before Bryan amassed four more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Tejeda sparked the rally with a leadoff single to center before stealing second and reaching third on Destine Udombon’s sac-bunt. Cosby sent Tejeda in with an RBI single to right. The Tigers made a pitching change, but the rally carried on with Cosby stealing second and then scoring when Scott directed an RBI double to deep right-center. Scott was on base just a short period of time before Justice singled to shallow right to score Scott. Pinch-runner David Walker would end up scoring on Scoggins’ single to center to close up the late burst by the Lions.
Ferguson allowed just two hits and kept the Tigers scoreless through the first two innings. Tyler Burke took to the mound in the third and left with just a pair of hits surrendered in order to receive the win. Tristan Allison locked in the save after hurling the last four innings, giving up two hits, one unearned run, one walk, and three strikeouts.
Two hits were collected by Cosby, Justice, Weinburger, Scoggins, Bracamontes, and Tejeda. Scott made the hit’s list with one. Doubles by Cosby and Scott were the team’s only extra-base hits of the contest. Bracamontes and Scoggins led the group with two RBIs apiece, followed by Cosby, Scott, and Justice with one RBI each. The Lions also impressed with five steals, led by Tejeda’s two.
Scoggins sent a sac-fly to left in the top of the first, scoring Cosby for Bryan’s only run hung up on the board through the first six innings. On the other hand, William Carey scraped up their initial run in the fifth thanks to a leadoff solo bomb, tying the game 1-1. In the sixth, the Crusaders continued their charge with two more runs coming off another deep shot over the fence, propelling William Carey ahead 3-1. The Lions finally came alive in the top of the seventh and applied pressure by evening the count 3-3. Keeko Garcia started the surge by pinch-hitting and powering a leadoff single to left-center. Tejeda took over running duties for Garcia and advanced to second when Danny Marquez was walked. Even with a pitching change, Udombon loaded the bases with no outs after getting walked. Unfortunately, the only runs scored before William Carey could make a stop were Tejeda and Marquez when Scott sent a two-run single to center. The Crusaders saw their opportunity to win in walk-off fashion and took advantage when, after two outs, a bobble and wild throw put the winning run on second. An RBI single to right was all it took for William Carey to nab the only victory over Bryan this season with a close 4-3 final.
Harvey struck out two batters during his flawless two innings to start the game. Reece Roach took over for the third and matched Harvey with a pair of K’s. Walker entered at the start of the fourth and guided Bryan through three innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs during that time. For the final frame, it was Ross who gave up one hit and one unearned run with a lone strikeout, earning the loss. At the plate, the Lions’ four runs were from Scott, Weinburger, Garcia, and Marquez. Scott led with two RBIs, followed by Scoggins with one. Cosby and Marquez gathered one stolen base each.
Bryan’s originally scheduled meeting at home versus Truett McConnell University (Ga.) on Tuesday was pushed back to Wednesday, Feb. 19 at home with the single-game getting underway at 3 p.m. The Bears are currently riding a 9-game losing streak with a 3-9 overall record.