BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. – Tennessee Southern opened its Southern States Athletic Conference weekend series Friday evening with an 8–3 extra-inning victory over the Toppers, using a late offensive burst and dominant relief pitching to secure the win.
The Firehawks threatened early in the first as Evan Nelson and Anthony Pastrana drew walks and both moved into scoring position, but the Toppers worked out of the jam to keep the game scoreless.
Tennessee Southern broke through in the third inning. Nelson and Pastrana again reached with walks before Zac Wilson moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt. Cooper Phillips followed with a sacrifice fly to center, bringing Nelson home for a 1–0 lead.
The Toppers answered in the fourth to tie the game, but the Firehawks responded in the fifth. Nelson singled to center and Pastrana followed with a base hit. After Wilson advanced both runners with another sacrifice bunt, Phillips delivered a second sacrifice fly to score Nelson. Moments later, Gage Beckner singled through the left side to bring home Pastrana and push the lead to 3–1.
The Toppers chipped away with runs in the sixth and seventh innings, tying the game at 3–3.
Tennessee Southern threatened in the eighth when Masato Mizumori walked and Devin Thrain singled, but the Firehawks were unable to push across the go-ahead run.
That set the stage for extra innings, where Tennessee Southern broke the game open in the tenth. Reagan Tomlin drew a walk and Baron Cribbs entered as a pinch runner before advancing on a sacrifice bunt by Beckner. Mizumori and Thrain both worked walks to load the bases, and Carson Foote delivered the decisive swing — a three-run double to left-center to give the Firehawks a 6–3 advantage. Nelson later reached on an error that allowed another run to score, and a wild pitch brought home the final run of the inning to cap a five-run frame.
On the mound, Drew Sharp was dominant down the stretch, tossing three shutout innings without allowing a hit while striking out three to earn the win. Sharp shut down every Toppers threat late, retiring key hitters to secure the extra-inning victory.
Nelson led the Firehawks with three runs scored and reached base three times. Pastrana finished with two hits and a stolen base, while Beckner added a hit, an RBI, and a stolen base. Phillips drove in two runs on a pair of sacrifice flies, and Foote delivered the game-changing three-run double and finished with three RBIs. Thrain contributed a hit, a walk, and a stolen base, and Mizumori reached base twice and scored a run.
Tennessee Southern continues the series Saturday, March 21, at Blue Mountain Christian.
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