By By Adam Robinson
Sports Editor
The Jefferson Davis Community College Warhawk baseball team won two games out of three against Faulkner State during the week and weekend to improve their record to 7-9 overall and to 2-1 in conference play.
JDCC lost the first game 8-5 on Thursday, but swept a Saturday doubleheader in Brewton.
On Saturday, JDCC won game one 18-13 and took game two 6-4.
Game one: FSCC 8, JDCC 5
Four runs in the first inning, all off of a solo homerun and a three-run homerun: That was the difference in JDCC’s 8-5 loss Thursday afternoon at home against Faulkner State.
With the loss, JDCC dropped to 5-9 overall and 0-1 in conference play with the three-run loss.
Blake Long and Ryne Phillips led the Warhawks at the plate. Long was 1-for-3 with a homerun and two RBIs and Phillips was 2-for-3 with a triple and one RBI.
Ben Blodgett was 2-for-2 and Trent Smith was 1-for-4.
C.J. Lindsey was 2-for-5 and Ben Negus was 1-for-4 in the loss for the Warhawks.
Michael Clay took the loss on the mound for JDCC. Clay went four innings and allowed four runs on four hits, walked three and struck out none.
Derek Lowery relieved Clay and went three innings. Lowery allowed one run (none earned) on three hits, walked two and struck out two.
Hunter Norris was the final JDCC pitcher of the afternoon. He allowed two earned runs (three total) on three hits, struck out two and walked one.
JDCC trailed 4-0 until the bottom of the fifth inning when they scored three runs in the inning to cut the lead to one at 4-3.
The game stayed at 4-3 until the top of the eighth inning when Faulkner State added a run to claim a 5-3 lead. The Sun Chiefs then claimed an 8-3 lead with three runs in the ninth inning.
JDCC cut the lead to 8-5 in the bottom of the inning with two runs, but failed to overcome the early deficit and lost by three.
Game two: JDCC 18, FSCC 13
In a game that saw 31 combined runs, 34 combined hits and 10 combined errors, JDCC improved to 6-9 overall and to 1-1 in conference play with an 18-13 win over Faulkner State on Saturday.
Ryne Phillips was 4-for-5 with a double and two triples and four RBIs to lead the Warhawks.
C.J. Lindsey was 3-for-3 with three RBIs and two doubles.
Cody Sanderson was 3-for-4 with one homerun and three RBIs and Reid Wynn added a homerun and was 2-for-5 with three RBIs.
Harry Haring was 2-for-4 with one RBI and Sean Little was 1-for-3 with a double. Ben Negus was 1-for-3 with a double and Ben Blodgett was 1-for-3 with one RBI.
Andrew Favant took the win on the mound for the Warhawks. Favant pitched three and 1/3 innings and allowed three earned runs (six total) on five hits, walked one and struck out five.
JDCC led 3-0 at the end of the first inning, but Faulkner cut the lead to 3-1 in the top of the second inning.
JDCC then scored six runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 9-1 lead.
Faulkner State rallied with five runs in the top of the third inning to cut the lead to 9-6, but JDCC responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning to hold an 11-6 lead.
Faulkner cut the lead to 11-10 in the top of the fifth inning but the Warhawks scored two runs in the sixth inning and five in the seventh inning to claim an 18-10 lead. Faulkner would add three runs in the top of the eighth inning to cut the lead to 18-13 but that would be as close as they would get as JDCC claimed the five-run win.
Game three: JDCC 6, FSCC 4
JDCC scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to overcome a 4-3 deficit to claim a 6-4 win and improve to 7-9 and 2-1 in conference play.
Negus was 3-for-3 with a double and one RBI and Ryne Phillips was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
Turner was 2-for-3 with two doubles and Ben Blodgett was 1-for-3 with one RBI and a homerun.
Terry McClain was 1-for-3 with one RBI and a triple and Lindsey was 1-for-4 along with Haring.
Kyle Wyatt picked up the win on the mound pitching an inning and recording two strikeouts.