Triple play highlights Spring Hill DH sweep of Tuskegee

Sophomore DH Hunter Romero (33) had three hits and three RBI on Friday

MOBILE, Alabama -- – The Spring Hill College (SHC) baseball team swept a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) doubleheader away from the visiting Tuskegee University (TU) Golden Tigers on Friday afternoon at historic Stan Galle Field by closing out the first game on a triple play for a 13-5 win followed by a 5-1 victory in the nightcap.
 
SHC grabbed a 4-0 lead in the 1st inning of the opener, but the Golden Tigers (6-25, 2-9 SIAC West) answered back to tie the game with four runs of their own in the top of the 2nd inning. The Badgers took back a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the frame when shortstop John Sklopanfound a hole on the left side for a run-scoring single and designated hitter Hunter Romero lifted a sacrifice fly to center to plate first baseman Keaton Smith.
 
Three more runs would cross the plate for the Badgers in both the 3rd and 6th innings while Sklopan delivered another run-scoring single to center in the 5th inning. Sklopan would also end the game in the 7th inning when, with runners at 1st and 2nd bases, he hauled in a line drive, stepped on 2nd base and fired to Smith at 1st base to complete the first triple play by the Badgers this year.
 
SHC sent five pitchers to the mound in the first contest with Will Shaw (2-1) picking up the win in relief of starter Lucas Kunkel. Shaw pitched two innings, allowing one hit and no walks with three strikeouts. Trey Nelson (1-8) went five innings for Tuskegee with nine hits and five walks as well as three strikeouts.
 
Along with Sklopan and Romero's two hits and three RBIs each, right fielder Grayson Williamsand left fielder Brennan Fontenot both collected two hits for the home team. Romero slapped a triple into the corner in right field to lead off the 6th inning, Williams had his ninth and 10 doubles of the year, and Fontenot punched his team-leading 11th double to right in the 2ndinning. For Tuskegee, third baseman Gabriel Selochan had two hits and an RBI as left fielder Jalen Luter provided a two-run single to center in the 2nd inning.
 
The nightcap saw TU break on top 1-0 in the top of 3rd inning after second baseman Lajerrius Haralson led off the stanza with a triple to right-center and later scored off an infield throwing error by the Badgers. SHC responded to knot the game at 1-1 in the next half inning when an errant throw on the second half of an attempted double play combination from 2nd to 1st base skipped away, allowing third baseman Maverick Latour to scamper home from 3rd base.
 
Spring Hill took a 3-1 lead in the 4th inning when Smith scored from 3rd base off a wild pitch and second baseman Brandon Donoghue's ground ball to short was thrown away with two outs to bring in pinch runner Garrett Dearujo who had entered to run for Romero following his double to left field earlier in the frame.
 
Fontenot then crushed a solo two-out homer over the right-centerfield gate in the 5th inning and pinch hitter Chet Silveria would score off an infield bases-loaded double-play ball in the 6thinning.
 
Zach Paulene improved to 4-1 on the year in six innings with just two hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Rob Ewald closed out his second game of the day by striking out the first two batters of the 7th inning, hitting the next two opponents and then surviving an infield error that loaded the bases with a ground out to 2nd base to end the threat.
 
The Badgers (18-14, 10-0 SIAC West) will host the Golden Tigers in an SIAC single game on Saturday at historic Stan Galle Field beginning at 12 p.m.

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