MONTEVALLO, Ala. – With a No. 8 ranking in the initial NCAA Division II Southeast Region rankings in hand, the University of Montevallo baseball team secured a 14-7 comeback victory over visiting West Alabama following sophomore Jeremy Hyde's first career grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning April 23 at Kermit A. Johnson Field.
The Falcons closed out the season with a 11-2 record in midweek games this season with the victory, which gives Montevallo a 24-2 record in midweek games in the past two years. The Falcons are also 20-2 against in-state opponents in the past two seasons.
The Falcons scored 13 unanswered runs in the come-from-behind victory, which began with senior Alex Guilford making a program-record tying 46th career start on the mound at Montevallo.
Hyde, a pinch hitter, finished 2-for-2 at the plate after adding a double in the eighth inning. Hyde drove in five runs and scored one run in the victory.
Senior Will Fulmer paced Montevallo (27-18) offensively as he finished 3-for-5 at the plate with a pair of homers and a double. Fulmer drove in two runs and scored two runs.
Senior Jackson Slaid, who went 3-for-3 at the plate with a double, drove in one run and scored three runs. Sophomore Brandon Marshall, who finished 3-for-5 at the plate with a homer, drove in two runs and scored two runs in the win.
Sophomore Vinny Rodriguez went 2-for-5 at the plate with a double and scored three runs. Freshman Dane Hutcheon, who drove in one run and scored two runs, finished 1-for-4 at the plate. Freshman Alex Jones finished 1-for-4 at the plate and drove in two runs.
Freshman Jacob Whiting went 1-for-3 at the plate, junior Matthew Haskins finished 1-for-5 at the plate and freshman Scotty Smith went 1-for-6 at the plate. Sophomore Chase Bryant scored one run in the victory.
Sophomore Taylor Burr, the last of six pitchers to see action in the game for the Falcons, earned the win in relief.
Burr (1-0) allowed just one hit with three strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings on the mound.
Guilford gave up two earned runs on two hits in one inning of action. Freshman Tanner Koch allowed two earned runs on three hits with two strikeouts and two walks in two innings in relief.
Sophomore Jake Christensen gave up three earned runs on five hits with one strikeout in two innings on the mound. Freshman Joey Hume pitched a scoreless inning in relief with one strikeout, while fellow freshman Dustin Cowart allowed one hit in 1/3 of an inning on the mound.
West Alabama took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Mitch Holgate led off the game with a single to right field before scoring on a two-run blast by Tanner Rainey.
The Tigers added two more runs in the top of the second inning to push their lead to 4-0.
Trey Williamon led off the inning with an infield single and advanced to third base on a single to right field by Daniel Bolte. Bolte came around to score later in the frame on a double to left field by Jacobby Robinson.
The Falcons trimmed the deficit to 4-1 with one run in the bottom of the third inning when Fulmer homered to left field.
West Alabama extended its lead to 7-1 with three runs in the top of the fourth inning.
Joel Murphy led off the inning with a single through the left side of the infield, stole second base and advanced to third base on an infield single by Robinson before scoring on a RBI groundout by Holgate. Robinson, who advanced to second base on the groundout, scored on a two-run homer by Rainey, his second of the game.
The Falcons plated three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the Tigers' lead to 7-4. Rodriguez led off the frame with a double to right field before scoring on a RBI double to left-center field by Slaid. Slaid scored later in the frame on a two-run blast to deep center field.
Montevallo took the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning with a six-run inning, which gave the Falcons a 10-7 advantage.
Rodriguez led off the frame with a single up the middle and moved to second base when Slaid reached on a walk before advancing to third base on a single to left field by Marshall and scoring on a RBI sacrifice fly to left field by Jones.
Slaid, Marshall and Hutcheon, who was hit by a pitch, came around to score on a grand slam to left field by Hyde in his first at-bat as a pinch hitter. Fulmer hit his second home run of the game later in the inning, his second of the night, which gave the Falcons a three-run cushion.
The Falcons blew the game open with four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving Montevallo a 14-7 lead.
Rodriguez led off the frame by reaching on an error by the Tigers and stole second base before advancing to third base on a wild pitch and scoring on a RBI single through the left side of the infield by Jones.
Slaid, who reached on a walk, scored later in the frame on a RBI single to right-center field by Hutcheon. Bryant, who entered the game as a pinch runner for Jones, scored on a passed ball. Hutcheon scored the Falcons' final run on a RBI double to left-center field by Hyde.
The Falcons are one of six Peach Belt Conference teams ranked in the initial region rankings.
Lander is the top-ranked team in the poll, followed by Columbus State, USC Aiken, Georgia, College and UNC Pembroke, which are ranked No. 3-6, respectively.
The NCAA region rankings will be released weekly until all conference tournaments are completed. The top six teams in each of the eight regions will advance to the NCAA Division II baseball tournament. All conference tournament champions receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II tournament.
Montevallo is looking for its first trip to the NCAA Division II tournament since the 2007 season.
The Falcons will return to action this weekend in their final Peach Belt Conference series against Georgia College.
First pitch in the series opener is set for Saturday, April 26 at 1 p.m.
