ALBANY, Ga. – The Golden Rams kept battling Wednesday until they registered the 'W.' Albany State chipped away at its deficit over the final five innings before Emory Stephens lined a bottom of the 10th walk-off single to defeat Auburn University-Montgomery, 8-7, on the baseball diamond.
The Warhawks (8-8) built a 7-3 lead midway through the sixth inning on the back of two three-run at bats. The Golden Rams (7-5) cut the difference with two tallies in the sixth, before one score in the seventh and a Luke Addison solo home run tied the contest, 7-7, in the home eighth. After a scoreless ninth and top of the 10th, Austin Roberts was placed at second and raced home on the Stephens hit with one out for the win.
Addison was the top ASU performer doing it both at the plate and on the mound. The second-year Golden Ram posted a 2 for 5 day with the solo home run, a double, two runs and a RBI.
Sebastian Griffeth would pitch a scoreless tenth inning for the pitching win and would record a strikeout in the inning to get the Rams back in the win column.
Hill Corley lined three singles and scored once. Jonathan Logsdon and Zane Ross each doubled and singled with Logsdon scoring two times and Ross two RBI and a run scored with a sac fly. Roberts, who scored the game-winning run, touched home earlier in the game and had a RBI single. Stephens and Guillermo Yepes both drove in a run with a single.
The ASU bullpen shut down AUM's offense in the last five innings. The five home relievers of Tyler Bullock, Thomas Willis, Luke Addison, Gercel Reyes and Sebastian Griffeth combined for 4.1 innings of scoreless pitching and allowed three hits with only a top of the eighth single in the final three frames.
In the bottom of the first, Ross doubled home Logsdon for ASU's only lead until the game-winning tally. After a Warhawk 3-run second, the Golden Rams tied the game, 3-3, in the third off a Logsdon run on a visitor fielding error and a Ross sac fly.
The Warhawks regained the advantage with one run in the fifth and three in the sixth. In the sixth, Corley ran home on a passed ball after he led off with a single and Yepes added a run-scoring hit for a 7-5 game. Roberts drove in a two-out run in the seventh before Addison's eighth-inning solo shot.
ASU heads to Jackson, Tenn., for a weekend series starting on Saturday afternoon (Mar. 3) in a 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. EST start times at Lane College.
