Alabama Huntsville claims 2014 GSC Baseball Tournament Crown
Birmingham, Ala. – Alabama Huntsville claimed the 2014 The RedZone Sports Bar & Grill GSC Baseball Tournament crown at Young Memorial Field at UAB in Birmingham, Ala., on Tuesday.
No. 3 West Florida vs. No. 2 Alabama Huntsville
Conner McCain kicked things off in the first with an RBI-single as Alabama Huntsville took the early, 1-0 lead. West Florida stranded three in the bottom half of the inning, thanks in part to a big-time, inning-ending double play turned by Ben Hall and Blake Massey.
UWF turned to four relievers, Alex Stevens, Josh McLaney, Matt Vollenweider and Dayan Rodriguez, for the bottom of the eighth. Cody Burton kicked things off with a leadoff double. Massey, with the bunt-single advanced Burton to third. He later scored on a well-placed squeeze bunt by McCain. A bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch scored one run each, but it was Ben Hall’s two-run single that blew the inning wide open, capping off a five-run eighth for the Chargers.
Both starters, UAH’s Alex Aultman and UWF’s Peters were stellar on this day, but in the end, it was Aultman who came out victorious. He baffled the Argos’ bats as he did not allow a run on four hits with one strikeout. He improved to 9-4 with the win. Peters fell to 3-2 with the loss, his final stat line, one run on seven hits with four strikeouts in seven innings.
UAH’s Burton was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, while McCain and Hall both had two RBI each. For UWF, the four hits came off the bats from Cliff Covington, Austin Southall, Kaleb Barlow and Chase Kiefer.
No. 2 Alabama Huntsville vs. No. 1 Delta State
Alabama Huntsville picked up where it left off in the first game. The leadoff hitter, Cody Burton knocked a triple and later scored on Chandler Brock’s double. Later, a fielding error by DSU second baseman Kasey Hinton, led to another run. Brandon Lawing’s sacrifice-fly scored another run.
The Chargers again came out on the offensive in the second. Blake Massey ripped a two-run double to push the lead, 5-0.
The Statesmen got a big inning in the bottom of the fourth. Jordan Chovanec hit a leadoff double, followed by a single by Will Robertson. Dex Herrington and Ben Pickard both clipped RBI-singles, while Carlos Leal, with a sacrifice-fly RBI, cut into the UAH lead, 5-3. Jacob Croft then came on in relief for UAH and shut down the inning.
UAH again threatened in the top of the fifth. With runners on the corners, a well-placed sacrifice bunt by Austin Sanders scored another run. A few batters later, Riddle, with the bases loaded, came through in the clutch. His two-run single pushed the lead to the winning score, 8-3.
For UAH: Chandler Brock was 3-for-5 with an RBI, Massey was 3-for-5 with two RBI and Cody Burton was 2-for-5. Eight different Statesmen all had at least one hit each. Herrington, Pickard and Leal were credited with the RBI.
For UAH, this marks the second baseball championship in school history, including first since 2001. The win will automatically qualify the Chargers for the 2014 NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament. The DII Selection Show is scheduled for 10pm/9c and can be viewed live on ncaa.com. The Region Tournaments begin on May 15-18 on campus sites, while the finals are scheduled for May 24-31.
2014 GSC Baseball All-Tournament Team
Cliff Covington, UWF
Austin Southall, UWF
Dex Herrington, DSU
Carlos Leal, DSU
Connor McCain, UAH
Jake Garbuzinski, CBU
Will Robertson, DSU
Cody Burton, UAH
Michael. Manley, DSU
Jonathan Andrews, DSU
Bryant Hayman, VSU
Blake Massey, UAH
(Most Outstanding Player)