Livingston, Ala. – Albany State opened play at the UWA Invitational on Friday afternoon with an early spark and a midgame surge, but ultimately fell 17–6 to host West Alabama in day one action at Tartt Field.
The Golden Rams wasted little time making their presence felt, striking first in the top of the first inning.
Tyler Turner delivered a sharp single to left field that brought home
Aiden Payne, giving Albany State an early 1–0 advantage and setting an aggressive tone at the plate.
West Alabama responded quickly, using a big early offensive push to build a commanding 9–1 lead by the time the game reached the top of the fifth inning. Despite the deficit, Albany State continued to battle and showed resilience in the middle frames. In the fifth, freshman
Jaden Camp lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, allowing
Mylon Uribe to score and trim the margin to 9–2.
Momentum briefly swung in Albany State's favor moments later as the Golden Rams found their rhythm at the plate. With the bases loaded,
Luke Addison stepped in and delivered the biggest swing of the afternoon, launching a grand slam that electrified the dugout and cut the Tigers' lead to 9–6. The blast marked Addison's first home run of the season and highlighted Albany State's ability to respond under pressure.
West Alabama answered immediately, however, plating three runs to push the advantage to 12–6 heading into the later innings. The Tigers put the game out of reach in the eighth, adding five more runs to close out the contest and secure the 17–6 victory.
Offensively, Albany State was led by Addison, who drove in four runs with his grand slam. Turner added an RBI single, while Camp contributed with a sacrifice fly.
Emory Stephens recorded a triple and scored a run, and
Ryan Brown also crossed the plate as the Golden Rams drew five walks and showed patience despite the final score.
On the mound,
Samuel Crew took the loss in his season debut, with
Chase Ledger providing solid relief work over 4.1 innings, allowing just one run while striking out four.
Dereck Foster closed out the game for Albany State.
The Golden Rams will look to bounce back on Saturday as they return for day two of the UWA Invitational. Albany State will face host West Alabama again at noon before closing out the day with a 4:00 p.m. matchup against Augusta University.
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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 fields 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, with all teams competing in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), except women's soccer, which participates in the Peach Belt Conference.
