Falcons Fall to No. 10 North Georgia on the Road, 16-9

DAHLONEGA, Ga. - The University of Montevallo baseball team (11-5-1) hit the road for the first time in 10 days and fell to No. 10 North Georgia College and State University (9-4), 16-9. The Falcons jumped out early but fell behind in the late innings as the Saints put up a season-high 16 runs. The Falcons were paced by junior Chris Sosebee (Warrior, Ala./Jefferson State C.C.) who hit his third homerun of the season driving in three runs.

Freshman Duston Daugherty (Hoover, Ala./Hoover), juniors Andy Revell (Albertville, Ala./Snead State C.C.), Kevin Garcia (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Gulf Coast C.C.) and Sosebee and senior Ryan Norman (Hoover, Ala./Hoover) all had two hits. Daugherty and Revell each had a double while senior Dustin Rhodes (Starkville, Miss./Starkville) had a homerun and drove in three runs.

Senior Brandon Aldridge (Vestavia Hills, Ala./Vestavia Hills) got the start on the mound and went 3.1 innings while striking out one. Junior Taylor Edwards (Pleasant Grove, Ala./Northwest Shoals C.C.) came in next and pitched 1.2 innings while picking up the loss. Edwards' record dropped to 1-2 on the season while he struck out three. The other two pitchers who contributed to the effort were junior John Michael Caraway (Trussville, Ala./Gadsden State C.C.) and freshman Wes Rich (Pelham, Ala./Pelham). Caraway went 2.0 innings while Rich went the final inning striking out one.

Daugherty led off in the game with a double to left center he then scored two batters later as Revell doubled to the same location. Sosebee scored in the very next inning as freshman Joe Handley (Hueytown, Ala./Hueytown) drove him in on an RBI single.

Three more runs were scored in the third as Sosebee hit a long ball over the left field fence to score himself, Revell and Daugherty.

Trailing 5-0 in the bottom of the third the Saints put together three hits and scored four runs as the Falcons committed an error. The Falcons responded in the fourth as Norman drove in Daugherty to extend Montevallo's lead to 6-4.

The Saints took the lead for the first time in the bottom of the fourth as they scored three runs off of four hits. The Falcons did not let that lead last long as they scored a pair of runs in the very next inning as Rhodes hit a two-run homerun over the right field fence to score Garcia.

The Falcons scored their final run in the sixth as Rhodes drove in Norman.

The Saints went on to score three runs in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 10-9 and then added five more runs in the seventh before finishing with a run in the eighth.

UM will be back in action Friday, Feb. 27 at 3:00 p.m. as it host Bluefield State University.