Falcons Take Two from Flagler, 7-5 and 11-0

MONTEVALLO, Ala. – The University of Montevallo baseball team (12-29, 5-15 PBC) was firing on all cylinders as the Falcons swept a doubleheader against conference-foe Flagler College (20-18, 8-9 PBC), 7-5 and 11-0. UM had four of its five pitchers on the day have a perfect 0.00 ERA including junior Joey Noro (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) who pitched a complete game shutout against the Saints in the second contest. UM also had eight batters with at least two hits including six with three or more.

Senior Chris Sosebee (Warrior, Ala./Sumiton Christian) stole the show once again as he went 5-for-7 at the plate, including a 3-for-3 performance in the first game, with two doubles, three homeruns, nine RBIs and five runs scored. Senior Kevin Garcia (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Dunedin) was right on Sosebee’s trail as he went 5-for-8 with five runs scored, two doubles, a homerun and three RBIs.

Junior Scottie Deason (Hoover, Ala./Spain Park), senior Andy Revell (Albertville, Ala./Albertville), sophomore Duston Daugherty (Hoover, Ala./Hoover) and freshman Austin Dubberly (Helena, Ala./Pelham) all chipped in three hits on the day. Dubberly drove in a pair of runs while Daugherty and Revell had one RBI each.

Junior Josh Dabbs (Hueytown, Ala./Hueytown) and sophomore Josh Headley (Gardendale, Ala./Gardendale) each had two hits while Headley added a double and an RBI.

Noro picked up the first complete game victory of the season for the Montevallo pitching staff in the second game as he went 9.0 innings with 10 strikeouts and just one walk. He scattered seven hits and allowed a runner to reach third just once in the entire game.

In the first game senior Heath Tapscott (Hartselle, Ala./Hartselle) took the mound for the start and went 6.0 innings while striking out four and walking six. Sophomore Wes Rich (Pelham, Ala./Pelham) took over in the seventh and pitched 2.0 innings while striking out one and holding the Saints hitless. He took home the win and his record improved to 2-5 on the season. Senior John Michael Caraway (Trussville, Ala./Clay-Chalkville) came in for the final three outs and picked up three strikeouts while picking up his first save of the season.

The Falcons fell behind early in the first game as Flagler jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the very first inning. UM responded in the second with back-to-back doubles by Garcia and Sosebee that plated a run. UM picked up two more runs in the fourth as Garcia hit a double to left field followed by a homerun from Sosebee to right centerfield.

Down 3-2 the Saints scored a single run in the fifth to tie the game at three. They went on to score two more in the sixth to put themselves ahead 5-3. UM answered once again with a solo homerun by Sosebee in the sixth to cut the lead to 5-4. The late game heroics came in the eighth with the score still at 5-4. Sosebee and Dabbs opened the inning with back-to-back walks. A sacrifice bunt moved them to second and third. The next batter grounded out to the shortstop which allowed Sosebee to score the game-tying run. With two outs Revell hit a single through the left side which scored Dabbs and put the Falcons on top 6-5. The insurance run came in the very next at bat as Daugherty hit a single through the left side to score Revell from second who had advanced on a balk.

Caraway sat down the side in the top of the ninth to solidify the Falcons 7-5 victory.

UM’s offense exploded in the second game as they scored 11 runs off of 14 hits. In the second inning Garcia led off with a solo homerun to right field to give UM a 1-0 lead. The very next inning the Falcons had six hits and plated six runs to go up 7-0. The bats would go silent for the next three innings but UM put up a big number once again in the seventh as the Falcons used four hits to score four runs.

Sosebee was 2-for-4 in the game with five RBIs while Garcia went 3-for-4 with three RBIs.

Noro took home the complete game victory as he struck out six of the last 11 batters.

The Falcons will return to action tomorrow, April 11 at 1 p.m. as they host Flagler College in the final game of a three-game series.