Posted: Mar 08, 2017

Pioneers Come Up a Game Short of Sweep Over the Chargers

Vol State had a chance to sweep the Columbia State Chargers this past weekend but came up short in Game 3 of the series. The Pioneers got off to a great start Friday behind sophomore Drew Hall. Hall was phenomenal once again improving to 3-0 with a miniscule 0.83 ERA going 6 very strong innings before giving way to the Pioneers bullpen. Game 1 began with Hall plunking the Chargers leadoff hitter to open the series. However, he went on to dominate a very good offensive club striking out 6 straight at one point. Hall didn't give up any runs, allowed 2 hits, walked 1 (1 HBP) and added 10 strikeouts. Vol State got the offense started early with sophomore Daniel Lankster doubling in the first inning. Freshman Jake Lyle added a RBI single and the Pioneers led 1-0 after 1. Colin Hopkins then led off the 2^nd inning with a double and scored on a wild pitch. The Pioneers added 2 more in the 2^nd to take a 4-0 lead after 3. Alex Lyon provided the dagger in the bottom of the 6^th with a three run home run to increase the lead to 8-0. Freshmen Drew Sims and Kody Keiser kept the Chargers scoreless in the 7^th and 8^th to set up the Pioneers 10 run rule win by adding 2 more runs in the bottom half of the 8^th. The Pioneers took Game 1, 10-0.

Game 2 on Saturday was a different ball game; the pitching was excellent on both sides after shaky starts. Freshman Jacob Cole took the mound for Vol State and got behind early by giving up 2 runs (1 Earned Run) in the 1^st inning. Lyle led off the 2^nd inning with a solo home run, and two batters later freshman Collin Hopkins added another solo shot to even the score at 2-2. Freshman Alec Harris provided a go ahead solo home run in the 4^th inning and Freshman Matt Brown added yet another solo shot for the Pioneers in the 5^th to take the lead 4-2. The Chargers scratched a run in the 6th, but Cole was able to hang on and go the distance for his first complete game of 2017 and pushing his record to 3-0. Vol State was poised to sweep the conference opener after winning game 2, 4-3. All 4 Vol State runs came on solo home runs, certainly a first for the Pioneers in 2017.

The backend of the 2 game Saturday set didn't start well nor end well for the Pioneers. Vol State found themselves down 6-0 after 4 innings after giving up 4 runs in the 4^th inning to chase starter Ben Wiley. Keiser, out of the bullpen, gave the Neers a chance to play catch up going 3.2 innings giving up 1 run. And Vol State did rally in the 5^th inning which included a single from freshman Baylor Steelman, a 2 run homerun by Brown (his second on the day), a double by Lyon and yet another RBI in the series for Lyle. After scoring 4 runs in the 5^th inning and having the go ahead run at first base, the Chargers were able to get out of a bases loaded jam. The Pioneers ran out of runs and fell 7-4 to end the series with a little bit of disappointment.

Vol State moved to 2-1 in conference play and will have a very talented Dyersburg State (16-2, Conference 3-0) program coming to town for weekend 2 of conference play. The 9 inning Game 1 is set for Friday at 2:00 pm, 7 inning games, 2 and 3, are set for Saturday starting at 12:00 pm. Weather could become an issue so stay tuned to the baseball programs Twitter feed for any updates on game times and or dates.