MONTEVALLO, Ala. - Montevallo had their chances Friday night but could not overcome the Valdosta State Blazers, falling 7-4 in a very entertaining college baseball game.
Riley Cain (Steele, Missouri) and
Ty Wooton (Collierville, Tenn.) led the Falcons offensively, and the duo continuously cut into the Blazers (9-5) lead all night, but the Falcons (5-6) stranded 13 runners and couldn't do enough situationally to overtake Valdosta. Cain was 2-for-3 with a solo homerun, two RBI, two walks and a run scored. Wooten returned to the starting lineup in a big way, going 3-for-4 with two RBI, a run scored and a few good plays defensively at third base.
The Blazers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after a leadoff single to start the game and later scored on a two-out wild pitch.
Valdosta scored three runs in their half of the third inning to extend their lead to 4-0.
The Falcons loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning but could not push a run across.
Montevallo cut Valdosta's lead in half in the bottom of the fourth inning when Ty Wooten singled home
Ryan Curran (Albuquerque, NM) and
Ben Teel (Homewood, Ala.).
The Blazers loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth inning but reliever
Daniel Buice (Winder, Georgia) struck out the last two hitters he faced and
Dylan Freeman (Douglasville, Georgia) relieved Buice to strike out the final batter of the inning, killing Valdosta's rally. Buice, Freeman,
Ryan Duncan (Bradenton, Florida),
Joel Cheatwood (Chelsea, Alabama) and
Kuster Kinlecheenie (Winslow, Ari.) combined for 4.2 innings of scoreless relief for the Falcons.
Riley Cain singled home Wooten in the bottom of the sixth inning to make it a one-run ballgame, 4-3.
Valdosta's EJ Doskow hit a solo homerun in the top of the eighth to give the Blazers a 5-3 lead.
Cain, again, pulled the Falcons within one run in the eighth inning, this time with a one-out solo homerun over the deck in right-centerfield.
Valdosta added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning to push their lead to 7-4.
Montevallo did not go quietly in the bottom of the ninth, but could not push any runs across.
UP NEXT: Montevallo will conclude the GSC weekend series against Valdosta State with a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is at 1 pm.
