Louisville City Wire

Baseball Sweeps BSC Classic in Alabama

The Spalding baseball team pulled out their brooms as they swept the Birmingham Southern College Spring Classic. The Golden Eagles won 6-0 over Wilmington College, 4-3 against DePauw University, and 10-2 over Adrian.

After the classic, Spalding sits at 3-0 overall which is the best start for the team since 2018.

GAME ONE – SPALDING 6, WILMINGTON 0

In the first game, the Golden Eagles put themselves on the board first in the top of the second inning. With Nicholas Salas and Michael Speck on base thanks to a hit by pitch and a walk, Jahlyn Mckie singled to left field to bring Salas home. With the bases loaded thanks to an error, Michael Newsom hit a sacrifice bunt to score Speck.

It was not until the top of the seventh that more runs were scored. A Newsom double, followed by a Matthew McDowell fly ball, led to a Hunter Strong sacrifice fly sending Newsom home.

The final two runs came across in the top of the eighth. Marcus Collins reached first on an error followed by Mckie walking. After two quick outs, McDowell came to the plate and hit a two-RBI double that pushed SU up 6-0 where they remained the rest of the game. Spalding outhit the Quakers 8-3 and had zero errors to their two.

GAME TWO – SPALDING 4, DEPAUW 3

The Golden Eagles made their way to Hoover for the second game of the classic and it was a nail-biter. 

Newsom got the offense going early with a single to lead off the bottom of the first. McDowell followed with a single which advanced Newsom to third. Strong hit a sacrifice fly to bring the first run of the game in.

The Tigers pulled ahead thanks to a single run in the second and two more in the top of the third. Spalding pulled within one run thanks to a Collins sac fly that scored Speck.

In the bottom of the sixth, after a fly ball to center gave SU an out, McDowell hit a double to set up Strong. In his at-bat, Strong hit a single that sent McDowell home to tie the contest.

The Golden Eagles got some help from DePauw to score the winning run. Speck walked before advancing to third thanks to wild pitches from the Tigers. Facing two outs with Speck on third, Ethan Tuttle hit a single that gave Spalding the 4-3 win.

GAME THREE – SPALDING 10, ADRIAN 2

The final game was not as close in the early going as the final score might suggest.

A two-run homer for Speck had the Golden Eagles up 2-0 early. An RBI single from McDowell pushed SU up 3-0 in the fifth frame but in the sixth, a two-RBI homer from the Bulldogs cut the margin to just one.

Spalding got some breathing room courtesy of Salas who hit a three-run slam that pushed the Golden Eagle lead to 6-2.

Two RBI singles, a fielder's choice, and a fielding error at third brought in the final four SU runs of the game home and secured the 10-2 win.

Spalding outhit Adrian 14-4 in the game and did not allow them to notch any runs outside of the two in the sixth frame.

GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES

•    In the first game, Matthew McDowell led the SU effort with two RBI, Hunter Strong had a team-high two hits, and Jacob Spanyer hit the first Golden Eagle home run of the season.

•    In the second game, McDowell led Spalding in hits with two while Strong had a team-best two RBI.

•    In the final game, Michael Speck went 3-for-5 with a team-leading three hits. He tied Nicholas Salas in RBI as they each had three. Salas and Speck each homered in the contest.

•    Garrett Mathews was the winning pitcher in game one, pitching six full innings and allowing no runs and just two hits. He struck out six batters.

•    Wesley Clark picked up the win for the Golden Eagles in the second game in a relief appearance. He pitched 6 2/3 innings and struck out seven while only giving up one run.

•    Caleb Collins earned the pitching win in the final game. He pitched six full innings and sat down seven while allowing two runs and three hits.

NEXT FOR SPALDING

Spalding hosts the Derby City Classic starting on Friday. More information on the four-team classic can be found here.

 

Original source can be found here.