MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Despite taking two out of three games when the teams met in Pulaski just a few weeks ago, the Martin Methodist Baseball team was unable to come up with a victory against the University of Mobile (Ala.) in a 7-0 loss Wednesday at the SSAC Baseball Championships held at Paterson Park.

Entering their tournament opener as the No. 4 seed, the RedHawks (26-16) drew a rematch of their final home series played at the East Campus two weeks ago.

But unlike that weekend series, the RedHawks could not get their offense going as they struggled against SSAC Pitcher of the Year Corey Hale (14-1), who allowed just two hits in seven innings of work and did not allow his first hit until the fifth inning. Trey Cockrell, who started the game at second base, relieved Hale for the game's final two innings.

The RedHawks best chance of the ballgame came in the bottom of the eighth when they loaded the bases with one out, but Blake Truett's liner was caught at first for an easy inning-ending double play.

The RedHawks fell behind early as starter Blake Beavers (8-4) allowed six runs on the day, but only the three allowed in the top of the first were earned as the RedHawks committed two errors on the afternoon.

Morgan Wilson relieved Beavers and tossed a near-perfect 1.1 innings of work as he hit one batter, but did not allow further damage. Cody Vernon allowed an earned run in the top of the ninth in his lone inning of work.

As a team, the RedHawks finished 4-for-30 at the plate, with Brandon Bush collecting two of the hits in a 2-for-4 performance. Leadoff man Alex McKelvy and Caleb Patterson were the only other RedHawks to record a hit on the day.

With the loss, the RedHawks fell into an elimination game on Thursday, where they will meet the loser of Wednesday night's final game against No. 1 Auburn-Montgomery (Ala.) or No. 8 Belhaven (Miss.) University.

First pitch in Thursday's elimination contest is set for 1 p.m. at Paterson Park.