Wallace State’s baseball team sweeps Calhoun in conference opener

HANCEVILLE, ALA. – Wallace State’s baseball team opened conference action Thursday with a doubleheader sweep of Calhoun at James C. Bailey Stadium.
Lane Wallace’s walk-off, sacrifice fly in the 10^th inning lifted Wallace State to a 3-2 win in opener, and sophomore pitcher Chad Smith thwarted the Calhoun bats in the nightcap, striking out eight in a complete-game, 4-1 victory.
Both Wallace State starters dominated the Warhawks.
In the opener, sophomore Bailey Chesser yielded only four hits in six plus innings. He struck out three and walked two, earning a no-decision.
Smith, an Ole Miss commit, tossed his first complete game of the season in a seven-inning affair, piecing together by far his strongest outing of the 2015 campaign. With multiple major league scouts on hand, Smith (3-0) recorded eight strikeouts and scattered one run on five hits, allowing his only run in the seventh.
“These were two big wins. Bailey Chesser has been good for us all season and did a great job of executing his pitches and keeping them off balance. Landon Hughes looked just as good out of the bullpen,” said Wallace State coach Randy Putman, a NJCAA Hall of Famer. “Chad Smith is just tough. He doesn’t let things distract him. All of the scouts didn’t distract him. Chad went out there and took care of business. He was focused. We needed him to do that in order to win the game.”
Hughes (3-2) was the winning pitcher in Thursday’s first game. He went four innings out of the bullpen, surrendering two runs on five hits and striking out four.
Wallace State (14-5, 2-0 Alabama Community College Conference) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the sixth inning on Lance Cleveland’s two-out, two-run single.
Calhoun’s Zach Crocker had an RBI single in the seventh to trim Wallace State’s lead to 2-1, and the Warhawks forced extra innings in the ninth, tying the game on a Tanner Burns’ RBI single.
The Lions ended it in the 10^th. Drake Tucker and Turner Vincent opened the frame with consecutive singles, and two batters later Tucker scored the winning run on Wallace’s sac fly to right.
Vincent finished with a pair of hits for Wallace State.
Smith made sure Wallace State capped the sweep in the nightcap.
Wallace State broke a scoreless tie in the fifth on an RBI single by Vincent.
The Lions added three runs in the sixth for a 4-0 cushion. Chris Blakey had a sacrifice fly in the inning, and Tucker capped the scoring with a two-out, two-run triple.
Billy Reed finished 2 for 3 with a double and two runs scored for Wallace State. Blakey and Jon Sumner had a single apiece for the Lions. Alex Urban scored a run.
Wallace State continues its series against Calhoun on Saturday, traveling to Decatur for a pair of games beginning at noon.
For more information about Wallace State athletics, visit wallacestate.edu.