Columbus, GA – The Albany State Golden Rams came up short in a midweek non-conference matchup against Columbus State, falling 5-2 at Burger King Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. The loss drops ASU to 9-5 overall, while Columbus State improves to 7-5 on the season.
Columbus State struck first, putting up two runs in the opening inning and adding two more in the second to take an early 4-0 lead. A sacrifice fly from Andrew Rubin and an RBI single by Luke Miller helped the Cougars capitalize on their scoring opportunities early.
Albany State's pitching staff settled in after the rocky start, allowing just one additional run over the next six innings, highlighted by strong relief outings from
Calvin Baker,
Gercal Reyes, and
Andrew McBride, who combined for 6.2 innings, allowing only one earned run on three hits.
The Golden Rams found their offense in the fifth inning, when
Emory Stephens delivered an RBI single to left field, scoring
Nathan Saavedra to break the shutout and trim the deficit to 5-1. ASU tacked on another run in the seventh, as Stephens drove in his second RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly, bringing home
Trenten Justice.
Despite multiple late-inning opportunities, the Golden Rams were unable to close the gap against Columbus State's bullpen. ASU left seven runners on base and was held to just five hits, with
Hill Corley leading the offense with a 2-for-4 performance.
Starting pitcher
Quindon Wright (2-2) took the loss, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits over 1.2 innings. Columbus State's Trenton Burnett (1-0) earned the win, tossing five innings of two-hit ball, allowing one run while striking out two.
Up Next
The Golden Rams will resume SIAC play this weekend with a three-game conference series against LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis, TN. The series kicks off with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 1, followed by the series finale on Sunday, March
2.
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ABOUT ALBANY STATE ATHLETICS
Albany State University is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II-level intercollegiate athletic program. The university currently field teams in 11 sports: women's volleyball, women's tennis, women's cross country, men's and women's basketball, softball, men's and women's track and field, women's soccer, baseball, and football. All teams compete in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), except women's soccer, which participates in the Peach Belt Conference.
