BASEBALL

The HU baseball team wrapped up their time in Alabama by sweeping Olivet Nazarene, 19-5, 5-3, Saturday afternoon at Pelham High School. The four-game weekend series saw the Foresters drop the first game before stringing together three straight wins as they improve to 4-4 on the year.

Dylan Rost hit two home runs and drove in five in the first game, 14-run blowout.

Although the Tigers were the first to get on the board in the opening frame, HU flipped the game on its head in the bottom of the second by scoring seven runs on four hits to take a 7-1 lead. The biggest blow in the inning was a grand slam over the left field fence by Rost that drove in four.

ONU got one back in the third on a solo shot but Huntington was back at it in the bottom of the frame after Ryne Wheeler hit a sacrifice fly and Owen Imel singled to center field, each at bat scoring a run to put even more distance between the two squads.

Three more Forester runs crossed the plate in the fourth to extend the lead to 12-4. Rost hit another dinger to left, this time a solo shot, Kade Flores doubled in a run and Bryce Deckman knocked in the inning’s third run with a laser up the middle.

Two frames later, HU added to their advantage by five thanks to home runs by Beyonce Paco Paulina and Mason Meyer. When all was said and done, Braden Kauffman also clocked one out of the park for a total of five HU homeruns totaling 11 runs.

RJ Anglin earned the win on the hump for the Foresters. The starting pitcher gave up seven hits and five runs, four earned, over six innings, striking out seven and walking four. Gabe Hamrick pitched one inning of zero-run ball for the Foresters in relief. The righty allowed zero hits, striking out two and walking none.

Frame’s crew piled up 13 hits in the game. Batting in the ninth spot, Kade Flores led the Foresters with three hits in three at bats while Deckman and Paulina each collected multiple hits. Additionally, Paulina scored three times, knocked in three runs and drew two walks for a solid day at the plate. Beldon Glasgow finished with three walks. Overall, the team had a strong eye at the plate, amassing 12 walks for the game.

The homerun derby didn’t carry over into the nightcap, instead HU relied on steady hitting while taking advantage of six Tiger errors to cash in on the day’s second win. Similar to game one, ONU opened up scoring in their first at bat with a two-run homer. Huntington cut the lead in half in the third on a Glasgow RBI-groundout with the go ahead coming in the fifth on Wheeler’s run-scoring double and a wild pitch.

Another wild pitch led to another run, but this time the Tigers were the beneficiaries. It pulled them even with their hosts at 3-3 in the sixth. The Foresters answered immediately by finding home twice in the home-half of the frame to reclaim the lead, this time for good. Olivet Nazarene committed two costly blunders to which HU made them pay, scoring on the second error followed by a two-bagger by Mason Meyer that knocked in another unearned run.

Keegan Shovlain went the distance to earn the complete-game win. The starting pitcher allowed four hits and three runs over seven innings, striking out nine and walking two.

Glasgow provided pop in the middle of the lineup to pace the Foresters with two runs batted in. The number three hitter went 1-for-3 on the day while Meyer went 2-for-4 at the plate to lead Foresters in hits.

Huntington is on the road again next weekend to take on Cumberlands (Ky.) on Friday for a single nine followed by a doubleheader on Saturday.