PULASKI, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee Southern baseball team opened a four game weekend series with Grace College on Friday. The Firehawks claimed game one 2-1 but fell 19-4 in game two. The games were moved up one hour to avoid rain that was rapidly moving into the area.

GAME ONE

UT Southern (3-4) took the lead in the first capitalizing on a pair of Lancer errors. Coleman Siniard doubled to left center driving in Blake Birdsong. Kevin McCarthy singled to right field scoring Justin Beachler. UTS led 2-0 after one.

In the sixth, Grace (1-3) scored one to trail 2-1 heading to the seventh.

Tray Lacy (2-0) got the start. Lacy fanned six Lancer batters and allowed one hit in 4.1 innings of work. Weston Horton tossed 1.1 innings in relief allowing one earned run. Josh Simmons earned his second save of the season. Simmons hurled 1.1 innings giving up one free pass and not conceding a base hit.

GAME TWO

With strong gusty winds blowing straight out, UT Southern (3-5) scored in the first three innings and added one in the fifth and sixth.

In the first, Landon Rogers doubled down the rightfield line scoring Noah Junker. UTS led 1-0 after one.

In the second, Grace (2-3) added three via a pair of home runs. The Firehawks would add a pair to even the game at three. Birdsong launched a solo homer to left. Junker hit a sacrifice fly to right allowing Beachler to cross the plate.

In the third, the Lancers added three runs on a home run. UTS would get one back, when Birdsong's single became lodged in the first baseman's mit. During the play and confusion, Cole Barnett scored. GC led 6-4 after three.

In the fourth, Grace would add two more via a round tripper extending their lead to 8-4.

In the fifth, Birdsong would leave the yard again. UTS trailed 8-5 heading to the sixth inning.

The sixth inning would be the longest inning of the day. Both teams scored a combined 12 runs. Grace put the game out of reach putting up an 11 spot. Rogers lined a low drive over the left field wall to close in on the Grace lead.

Logan Parrott (0-1) tossed three innings. Parrott gave up eight earned runs and struck out four batters. Griffin Sahli tossed two innings allowing one earned run. Preston Patterson hurled two-thirds of an inning giving up two earned runs. Kyle Pace worked one-third of an inning allowing two runs and two hits. Bailin Luttrell tossed the seventh. Luttrell struck out two and allowed one hit.

NEXT UP

UT Southern will conclude the four-game series on Saturday, February 17^th, at Bobby Walker Field. The Firehawks and Lancers will begin game three at noon with game four to follow.

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