ALBANY, Ga.- The Albany State baseball team played 12 innings with Saint Leo with hopes of picking up its first win of the season. However, late runs by the Lions in the final session sent ASU to a 9-6 defeat after the marathon contest.
SLU wins the three-game series and improves to 5-4 overall. The Golden Rams are now 0-8 on the year.
Albany State battled back from an early deficit. Saint Leo scored three runs in the top of the first inning and another in the second to take a 4-0.
ASU made a rally in the bottom of the second stanza. Both Nick Griggs and Terrence Worthy hit singles to ignite the team’s offense. Then, Theo Smith scored on an SLU error, and Worthy went home a play later. The Golden Rams only trailed 4-2.
Albany State took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the third inning. Jonatan Galan started the run with a two-run homer that scored him and Jeremy Arrington for a 4-4 tie. Smith then went to home plate on an error to give ASU a 5-4 edge.
In the fifth inning, the Lions regained the lead at 6-5 courtesy of a homerun and a double. The Golden Rams tied the game again when Lawrence Hyde hit a single to score Worthy and make the score 6-6. Neither team could generate any runs the rest of regulation, and the game headed into extra innings.
In the 12th inning, the Lions scored three runs to take a 9-6 advantage. ASU couldn’t score any more runs to tie or win the game.
Galan led Albany State with two hits and two RBIs. Hyde added two hits and an RBI.
The Golden Rams collected eight hits, committed two errors and left 10 runners on base. Eden Payano was the losing pitcher.
Saint Leo’s Brett Coffell recorded four hits during the contest. Alex Mata added two hits and four RBIs. Zach Whitaker was the winning pitcher for the Lions, who tallied 16 hits, committed four errors and left 10 players on base.
Albany State will continue its home schedule on Tuesday, Feb. 21. when it hosts Auburn University-Montgomery. Game time is slate for 4 p.m. on the ASU West Campus.
This post was written by Stan McCormick, ASU’s Director of Athletic Communications, at asugoldenrams.com, where it was originally published. This story is published here with permission.
