SCORE
McKendree 5
Montevallo 8
RECORDS
McKendree 0-1
Montevallo 7-2
LOCATION
Kermit A. Johnson Field, Montevallo, Alabama
HOW IT HAPPENED
Jamison Roney and Matthew Furuto both had exceptional performances that helped the Falcons to an 8-5 victory over McKendree in game one of the three-game series.
The Falcons got on the board first with a huge second inning that saw Montevallo plate six runners. The big play of the inning came from Furuto, who hit his second grand slam of the season to cap off the scoring in the inning and gave the Falcons a 6-0 lead.
McKendree cut the lead in half by scoring three runs in the next two innings. The Bearcats brought one run across in the third inning and then scored a pair of runs in the fourth inning to make it a 6-3 game.
Montevallo scored two more runs in the game with the first coming in the bottom of the fourth inning thanks to a Ryan Brooks home run to left field that made it a 7-3 ball game.
Furuto again drove in a run for the Falcons, this time on a sacrifice fly to centerfield to make it 8-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Roney (1-0) started on the mound for the Flacons and pitched six innings in which he only allowed three runs to score on five hits and struck out 12 batters in today's outing.
With a five-point lead, Montevallo went to their bullpen to finish out the game. Tanner Koch was the first relief pitcher off the bench and threw 1/3 inning before Colton Nussel entered the game in the seventh inning with the Falcons up 8-4.
Nussel tossed 2 2/3 innings and gave up one run in the ninth inning as he struck out two batters to close out the 8-5 victory for the Falcons.
STAT OF THE GAME
Furuto continued his hot streak at the plate by recording his seventh straight game with a hit and his third straight game with a home run.
UP NEXT
The Falcons and the Bearcats meet in game two of the series on Saturday, February 18th with the first pitch scheduled for 2:00 pm.
