Wallace State athletics roundup: Lady Lions at home this week, baseball splits four-game set with Snead State
HANCEVILLE – Wallace State’s defending national champion softball team plays its first home games at Bobby McCracken Stadium this week, hosting Motlow State on Tuesday and Gadsden State on Thursday.
The Lady Lions, winners of six of the last seven state championships, swept a conference doubleheader from Marion Military Institute last Thursday and split a twinbill against Snead State over the weekend.
Wallace State (28-18, 5-1 Alabama Community College Conference) shut out Marion Military 12-0 and 8-0. Annie Holcomb led the onslaught in the opener against Marion Military, finishing 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs. Rachel Ragland finished 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored and Mackenzie Hill went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs. Kori Benson added a two-run single, Madeline Lee finished with an RBI single and Elizabeth Jordan and Isabella Campbell had a single apiece.
Ragland (10-9) was the winning pitcher, throwing a three-hitter in five innings, while striking out seven.
In the 8-0 victory, catcher Andrea McKenzie was 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles, three RBIs and a stolen base. McKenzie, a freshman from Panama City, Fla., is hitting .361 with four homers and 38 RBIs this season.
Ragland and Lee each had a pair of hits, including a double in the second game, Hill had a triple and two RBIs, Benson added a double and Holcomb and Campbell each singled and scored a run.
Misty Doran and Amanda Medders combined for the shutout. Doran went the first four innings, allowing one hit and striking out four, to improve to 4-0 on the season.
The Lady Lions, winners of 9 of their last 10 games, split their doubleheader in Boaz, winning 14-5 against Snead State before dropping the second game, 13-5.
Lee and Benson, the lone returning sophomores in the Wallace State lineup, each hit solo home runs in the 14-5 victory. Lee hit her seventh homer of the season, and Benson cranked her team-leading 10th. In limited action this season, Benson is hitting .469 with 10 homers and 34 RBIs.
Hill finished 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored in the opener versus Snead State, McKenzie was 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, Elizabeth Jordan had a double and two RBIs, Campbell had a pair of hits, including a double, and collected three RBIs and Ragland added a single and scored two runs.
Medders (12-4) earned the win out of the bullpen after allowing only one hit in 3 2/3 innings.
In the loss, Ragland was 2-for-3 at the plate with her third homer of the season and a double. Lee was 2-for-3 with a run-scoring double, Jordan had a pair of hits and an RBI, McKenzie contributed an RBI single and Campbell and Holcomb each added a single.
Wallace State’s home doubleheaders this week both begin at 4 p.m.
WSCC baseball splits a four-game series with Snead State
Wallace State’s baseball team wrapped up a four-game series split with Snead State over the weekend, winning a game at home and on the road.
Wallace State won at home last Thursday, 13-3. The Lions (14-23, 7-9 ACCC) exploded for a six-run first inning right out of the gates and finished with a season-high 15 hits.
Freshman Oliver Francis finished 4-for-4 in the blowout with three RBIs. Dalton Carriker went 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored, Grant Bennett went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored and Drake Tucker finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run. Chris Blakey added a single and a pair of RBIs, Zac Hatfield had a run-scoring single and scored two runs, Andrew Smith singled and scored a run and Sam Ayers contributed a single.
Alex Hegner was the winning pitcher in the opener. He went three innings and allowed three runs on four hits.
In Game 2 of the series, Snead State squeaked out a 4-3 win.
Andrew Smith had a single and two RBIs in the loss, Luke Porter was 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored, Josh O’Shields added an RBI single and Dalton Carriker was 1-for-2 with a run scored.
Chad Smith started for Wallace State and allowed four runs on eight hits over five innings, striking out five.
Tucker finished 3-for-4 for Wallace State in the third game of the series, which the Lions lost 8-1. Smith, Porter and Carriker each added a single apiece.
Bennett and Tucker provided the heroics for Wallace State in the series finale.
Bennett (4-3) tossed a seven-inning complete game, striking out eight and yielding four runs, three earned, on seven hits.
Tucker highlighted a four-run third inning with his first collegiate homer, a three-run blast. Porter added an RBI double and Smith went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.
Wallace State hosts Shelton State in a doubleheader Thursday at James C. Bailey Stadium. First pitch is at 3 p.m.
For more information about Wallace State athletics, visit wallacestate.edu.
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Russell Moore
Staff Writer
Wallace State Community College
P.O. Box 2000, Hanceville, AL 35077
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256-339-2422 cell
Visit us online at www.wallacestate.edu