MOBILE, Ala. – Montevallo baseball earned its first win of the year in thrilling fashion, 14-12, over Spring Hill, Tuesday, at historic Sims-Galle Field, behind a record-setting performance from senior
Evan Liddie.
The Falcons completed a 10-run comeback and rallied with five runs in the ninth to force extras and win, 14-12.
Liddie finished a stellar 5-for-5 from the plate, scored a school-record six runs, reached base seven times—tying the school-record—and drove in two runs, including the go-ahead run in the 10
th.
Montevallo played two runs in the first inning but fell behind 7-2 at the end of the frame. The Falcons would stay behind for the next seven innings and trailed as much as 11-2 following a four-spot from Spring Hill in the second.
UM slowly chipped away at the lead and plated two runs in the fifth behind an RBI double from
Barry Eiseman and an RBI single from
Luke Mitchell.
In the seventh, another RBI from Mitchell drove in
Evan Liddie before
Logan Harbin plated Mitchell and trimmed the deficit to five, 11-6.
Jake O'Connell entered in relief for Montevallo in the fourth and pitched three scoreless frames with four K's.
The Badgers ended their scoring drought in the seventh with one run to push the lead to six, 12-6.
Mitchell collected his fourth RBI of the night in the eighth, trimming Spring Hill's lead back to five.
A scoreless frame for reliever
Connor Phelan in the bottom of the eighth set the Falcons up going into the ninth.
In the top of the ninth, Montevallo jumped on the Badgers quickly beginning with a lead-off double from Harbin. Next, a pinch-hit RBI single by
Landon Leake, plated Harbin and made it a four-run game with no outs, 12-8.
With two on and no outs in the ninth,
Brandon Moore singled to left center, driving in
Wyatt Cunningham for the second run of the inning.
Liddie continued his monster day at the plate when he doubled to right field and scored
Mitchell Walker, making the score 12-10.
With two outs in the ninth,
Connor Crowson drove in two runs on a single to even the score, 12-12. Liddie scored first on Crowson's single, marking his sixth run of the game—a new school record.
Following a one-two-three outing in the ninth from
Chris Foster, Montevallo scraped across two runs in the 10
th. First, Liddie added to his day with an RBI-bunt single to put UM ahead for the first time since the first inning, 13-12. With the bases loaded, Crowson drew a walk to bring across an insurance run for the Falcons who took a 14-12 lead.
Dawson Hargrove recorded the final three outs for Montevallo in the 10th and earned his first save of the year. A transfer from Southwest Tennessee Community College, Hargrove inherited a bases-loaded situation in the ninth but retired the side to complete the come-from-behind win, 14-12.
GAME INFORMATION
Score: No. 24 Montevallo 14 | Spring Hill 12
Records: Montevallo 1-3 (0-0 GSC) | Spring Hill1-3 (SIAC 0-0)
Location: Mobile, AL
GAME NOTES
- Montevallo collected 21 hits in the game from eight different players.
- Senior Evan Liddie led the Falcon hitters as he finished 5-for-5 from the plate, scored a school-record six runs, drove in two and reached base a total of seven times which tied the school-record set by Brent Bilodeau in 2005.
- Liddie's five hits are the most by a Falcon since 2019 and second-most all-time in a single game.
- Six Falcons notched a double in the game, including two from Barry Eiseman who finished 4-for-6 with two RBI.
- Luke Mitchell went 3-for-6 with three runs-batted-in.
- Connor Crowson turned in a 3-for-6 performance and tallied a team-high four RBI.
- Jake O'Connell threw three scoreless innings out of the bullpen for the Falcons and struck out four batters.
- Chris Foster earned his first win of the year while Dawson Hargrove recorded his first save.
UP NEXT
The Falcons will open the home season in Montevallo, on Friday, Feb. 9 at 12 p.m. in doubleheader against UVA Wise. Game three of the series is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 10 at 12 p.m. The series was originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday but has been pushed back due to weather.