CLINTON, Mississippi – Montevallo baseball earned its third consecutive win and completed the series sweep with a 10-8 win, Sunday, against Mississippi College.
Montevallo's offense remained red-hot while
Gino Cozzi continued a dominant weekend for the Falcons' starting rotation.
In the end, the Falcons were lifted to a win by strong efforts from freshmen
Daniel Irizarry and
Zach Wyatt.
Shortstop
Ethan Huddleston, who was important in the doubleheader wins Saturday, opened the series finale scoring with an RBI single in the top of the third. After the run, a wild pitch scored Evan Lidde to give UM a 2-0 lead through three.
In the fourth
Connor Crowson added an RBI to make it a 3-0 advantage for the Falcons.
Gino Cozzi returned to the mound for the Falcons in the bottom of the fourth and tossed his fourth scoreless frame. The right-hander added his final scoreless inning in the fifth, setting up a productive top-half for the Falcons in the sixth.
RBI singles from Lidde and Huddleston pushed the Falcons on top with just one out in the top of the sixth. The lead moved to 6-0 following a ground-out RBI from
Logan Harbin.
In the bottom of the sixth, Mississippi College turned in a six-spot, to even the game 6-6. Montevallo's pitching staff walked five of its total eight batters in the sixth.
Freshman
Daniel Irizarry came up big for UM in the seventh after MC's six-run sixth. The Longwood, Florida native scored two runs on a triple to retake the lead, 8-6. Irizarry came around to score, making it 9-6, following a Crowson RBI ground out.
The Choctaws trimmed the lead to two with a sac fly, 9-7, in the bottom half of the seventh. After giving up a leadoff double, reliever
Zach Wyatt settled in nicely and retired three straight to end the seventh.
In the eighth, MC added the lone run, on a solo homer, to cut UM's lead to one, 9-8, with one inning to go.
Irizarry continued his perfect day at the plate and added an important insurance run on an RBI single to give Montevallo a two-run lead, 10-8.
Wyatt finished it off with a pair of strikeouts in the ninth, securing the win, 10-8.
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Montevallo 10 | Mississippi College 8
Records: Montevallo 16-10 (8-4) | Mississippi College 12-11 (4-8)
Location: Clinton, Mississippi
GAME NOTES
- For the sixth straight outing, Gino Cozzi turned in a solid performance on the mound with 5.0 IP, no runs, two strikeouts and just two hits allowed.
- Freshman Daniel Irizarry went 2-for-2 from the plate as a pinch-hitter and had three RBI, a triple and a run scored.
- Freshman Zach Wyatt earned his first save of the year and struck out three in three innings of work.
- Evan Liddie went 3-for-4 with an RBI, double and an HBP.
- Connor Crowson and Ethan Huddleston each added two RBI.
UP NEXT
The Falcons will return to action on Wednesday, Mar. 20, at 12 p.m. with a road contest against Miles.