MONTEVALLO, Ala. – The Montevallo Falcons picked up an impressive doubleheader sweep from the Albany State Golden Rams on Wednesday afternoon, winning both games 4-3.
In game one, the Falcons (7-8) struck first in the second inning. After a leadoff double to the gap in left by
Jake Smallwood (Decatur, Alabama), a wild pitch advanced Smallwood to third and
Greg Lewandoski (Port Orange, Florida) hit an RBI high-chop infield single to score Smallwood.
Albany State (7-4) tied the game 1-1 in their half of the fourth inning. The Golden Rams started the inning with three straight singles and looked primed for a big inning, but two strikeouts by reliever
Dylan Freeman (Douglasville, Georgia) and a
Joel Cheatwood (Chelsea, Alabama) strikeout minimized the Golden Rams' damage.
The Golden Rams grabbed the lead 2-1 in the top of the fifth.
Montevallo scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to takeback the lead 4-2. Lewandoski hit a one-out double down the left field line and came around to score on a
Brennan Ferguson (Winthrop Harbor, Ill.) infield single and throwing error on ASU's third baseman.
Riley Cain (Steele, Missouri) drew a bases-loaded walk to break the tie and
Ben Teel's (Homewood, Ala.) hit-by-pitch one batter later gave the Falcons' their 4-2 lead.
ASU scored one in the top of the seventh but
Connor Phelan (Naples, Florida) slammed the door on the Golden Rams for his first career save and a Falcons 4-3 win.
Daniel Buice (Winder, Georgia) earned his second win of the season to move his record to 2-0.
Lewandowski was 2-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI.
Ryan Duncan (Bradenton, Florida) started for the Falcons on the mound and threw three scoreless innings, striking out three.
In game two, the Falcons overcame a 3-0 deficit by scoring two runs in the sixth and two runs in the seventh to walk-off on the Golden Rams.
Albany State took advantage of a couple Falcon errors and scored two in the top of the second inning.
The Golden Rams added one in the fifth inning to grow their lead to 3-0.
Montevallo took advantage of a couple Golden Rams errors in the sixth to draw within one run, 3-2.
Khalid Collymore (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) started the inning off with a hit-by-pitch and
Asa Awbrey (Carrollton, Georgia) reached on an error. Collymore moved up to third on the error. Collymore later came home to score on a throwing error by the first baseman. Lewandoski then knocked a single to rightfield, scoring Awbry.
In the seventh,
Riley Cain (Steele, Missouri) drew a leadoff walk and moved up to second on a Collymore sacrifice bunt. Awbrey was then hit by a pitch to put the winning run on-base. A wild pitch moved both runners up 90 feet before
Ben Teel hit an RBI groundout to the second baseman, scoring Collymore and tying the game 3-3. With two outs, Smallwood ripped a 1-1 pitch back up the middle to score Awbrey and walk-off in dramatic fashion.
Kuster Kinlecheenie (Winslow, Ari.) was outstanding for the Falcons out of the bullpen. Kinlecheenie entered the game in the top of the sixth inning with the bases loaded and no outs in a 3-0 ballgame. The senior struck out the first man he faced, got a weak infield pop-up to
Evan Liddie (Madison, Ala.), at short, for his second out and struck out the final hitter of the inning, stranding all three runners to hold the game at 3-0. Kinlecheenie then struck out two more in the seventh inning before earning his first win of the season.
Lewandoski was productive all day for the Falcons, going 3-for-5 combined in the doubleheader with two RBI, two stolen bases, and a run scored.
UP NEXT: The Falcons travel to Memphis to take on GSC foe Christian Brothers University for a three game set. Because of potential rain, Montevallo will play a doubleheader on Friday at 10 am. The series will conclude on Saturday at 1 pm.
