ELLISVILLE – The Jones College baseball team opened a season-long, 10-game homestand with a four-game sweep of Southwest Tennessee on Friday and Saturday at Community Bank Park.
The Bobcats outscored the Saluqis 39-12 and closed Saturday with a pair of 10-2 victories.
Jones improved to 6-0 on the young season while Southwest Tennessee dropped to 2-6.
Jones hosts No. 19 Shelton State for a three-game series starting Thursday with a single game at 4 p.m. and a doubleheader on Friday.
(Game 1) Jones 8, Southwest 7
Leading 6-2 in the sixth, the Bobcats allowed five runs in the top of the frame but rallied in the bottom half with two runs to take an 8-7 victory in the series-opener.
Logan Luckett's two-run homer in the third gave the Saluqis a 2-0 lead, but it would quickly be erased with
Brady Thomas' two-RBI single.
A pair of RBI-singles from
Marquette Gibson and
Gatlin Sanders and RBI-groundout from
Colton Hegwood extended the lead to 5-2 in the fourth.
With Jones ahead 6-2 in the sixth, a leadoff hit-by-pitch helped start the Saluqi rally.
Three walks and a bloop, two-out bases-clearing double pushed Southwest ahead 7-6.
After two, quick outs in the bottom of the sixth, Sanders singled to keep the inning alive and was followed by RBI-singles from
Beau Bryans and Thomas to allow Jones to retake the lead, 8-7, and close out the win.
Eli Walker scattered seven strikeouts, three hits and two runs in a no-decision.
Brady Smith got the win in 1.1 innings of shutout relief.
(Game 2) Jones 11, Southwest 1
A six-run bottom of the sixth, in which Jones was plunked five times, allowed the Bobcats to walk-off the Saluqis with a 10-run rule.
Jones scored in each of the first four innings and led 5-0 through four.
The Bobcats' six-run sixth all came with two outs.
Five hit-by-pitches, an error, two walks and an
Evan Rogers two-run single made it 10-1 before Gibson drew a walk-off walk to end it.
Trent Hillen punched out a career-high 10 in five innings, allowing two hits and one run. He carried a no-hitter into the fifth.
(Game 3) Jones 10, Southwest 2
Bryans struck out 10 in five innings of one-hit ball and Rogers and
Colton Hegwood drove in two apiece to lift Jones over Southwest in game three of the series.
Rogers singled to score Hegwood in the first and Jones never trailed.
Rogers would add an RBI-triple in the third and scored off a wild pitch to make it 4-0.
Jacob McCall singled to score
Hays Carley and Hegwood went deep to make it 7-0 in the fourth.
Bryans allowed a two-out single in the fourth and that was it.
Cole Manuel and
Charlee Strickland closed it out with an inning apiece.
(Game 4) Jones 10, Southwest 2
Trailing 2-1 in the second, Hegwood's sac fly and Sanders' two-run single put Jones up 4-2 and they would plate six more over the next four innings to take the finale.
Josh King was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and
Austin Mills added two RBIs.
Andrew Marble struck out nine over 4.1 innings to grab his first collegiate win.
Collin Pipkins threw 1.1 scoreless,
Garrett Pound got a strikeout and B. Thomas struck out three in the seventh to end it.
