COLUMBUS, GA. – The winning streak for Columbus State baseball moved to eight straight games with a 12-11 victory over the University of Montevallo on Tuesday night inside Burger King Stadium at Ragsdale Field.
With the win, Columbus State has now moved its overall season record to 9-7 through 16 games after starting the season 1-7. Tuesday night's game also concludes an 11-game home stand for the Cougars, who will now hit the road for their next six games.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Montevallo struck first with a run in the opening inning, but Columbus State responded right away with a five-run second inning to build a 5-1 lead.
- Senior Jackson Chizek hit a two-run home run in the second inning, his second home run of the year.
- Junior Jax Yoxtheimer had an RBI single in the inning, while sophomore Luke Miller drove in two runs with an RBI single of his own for CSU.
- Columbus State added three more runs to its total with an RBI single from senior Michael Cruz in the third inning and back-to-back RBIs from Miller and senior Cayden Evans in the fifth to build an 8-1 advantage.
- The Falcons cut into the lead with two runs in the sixth inning, before Cruz recorded his second RBI of the game with a single to left field in the home half of the sixth.
- A four-run top of the seventh inning for Montevallo made the score 9-8 in favor of Columbus State as Evans stretched the lead to two runs, 10-8, with a sac fly to center field, in the bottom of the frame.
- In the top of the eighth, the Falcons scored three runs on five hits to gain a one-run lead with just an inning and a half to play.
- Senior Warrick Wilmot drew a lead-off walk to open the CSU eighth inning, followed by a single by Cruz to put two runners on. Junior Corey Berry tied the game at 11-all with a one-out RBI single just two batters later.
- After Miller was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners with two out, Evans came through with an RBI single to the left side, scoring Cruz from third and putting Columbus State ahead 12-11.
- Sophomore right-hander Bailey Thorne pitched a perfect 1-2-3 ninth inning to keep Montevallo off the board and preserve the win for the Cougars.
NOTES
- Thorne (2-1) collected his second win of the year, allowing just one hit with one strikeout across 1.2 innings of work out of the bullpen.
- Columbus State used a total of eight pitchers in the game and registered nine strikeouts with just one walk allowed.
- Redshirt-senior left-hander Mathew McMahan made his third appearance of the season and didn't allow a hit over two innings of relief, while senior right-hander Christian Harmon allowed just one hit with three strikeouts over two innings of work in his fifth game of the year.
- Cruz was 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs, two RBI, and a walk, and Berry was also 3-for-4 with a double, a run, and an RBI.
- Chizek was 3-for-5 with two doubles, a home run, three runs scored, and an RBI, while Evans and Miller finished the game with three RBI each
- Yoxtheimer had two hits in the game, to go along with two runs scored and two stolen bases, bringing his season total to 22. Miller had three stolen bases of his own in the win
UP NEXT
The Cougars return to Peach Belt Conference play this weekend as they begin a six-game road trip, starting with a three-game series against USC Aiken on Friday at 5:00 p.m. in Aiken, S.C.
