Box Score
LIVE STATS | WATCH
UAH NOTES | GSC TOURNAMENT BRACKET
GSC TOURNAMENT PAGE
ROME, Ga. – The third-seeded University of Alabama in Huntsville baseball team allowed three runs in the first inning, but the Chargers rallied for four runs behind an impressive pitching effort by Johnny Shuttlesworth and claimed an opening round victory at the Gulf South Conference Tournament over the sixth-seeded West Florida Argonauts by a score of 4-3 Friday at State Mutual Stadium.
After the day, UAH improves to 29-20 overall while West Florida falls to 32-16 on the year. By taking down UWF, the Chargers picked up their first opening round victory at the GSC Tournament since the 2003 season – UAH competed at the tournament in 2004, 2009, 2010 and 2011 since 2003.
Evening its GSC Tournament record against UWF at 2-2, UAH moved to within just one win of its best overall record since the 2003 campaign, when the Chargers finished with 36 wins.
With a new pitcher on the hill for the Argonauts in the bottom of the eighth, Grant DeBruin and Eric Deese led off with back-to-back singles before moving over to second and third on a passed ball. Justin Riddle then lined a single into the gap in left centerfield which would score both DeBruin and Deese, giving UAH its first lead of the contest, 4-3, which held up as the final score.
Shuttlesworth (5-1) allowed three runs on six hits in 8.0 innings of work. The right-hander struck out six, including five of the next eight batters after giving up the three runs, and walked four.
“I'm very proud of our guys today and the way they battled,” head coach
Hunter Royer said. “Johnny [Shuttlesworth] obviously did not have his best stuff at any point today, but after the first inning, he did a good job of settling in throwing more strikes and just battled. He threw a lot of pitches but he hung in there and did a great job.”
West Florida opened the scoring with three runs in the first inning, with the runs coming off a single, a fielder's choice and a walked-in run. After giving up three runs, and the bases still loaded, Shuttlesworth got out of the jam by sitting down the final two batters of the inning on strikes. He then continued to find his spot, as he struck out three of the next six batters.
The Chargers began to chip away at the lead in the fifth inning when a one-out single by Mike Love plated Riddle from third, cutting the deficit to 3-1. Riddle started the frame with a leadoff double to right center, then advanced to third on a balk.
In the seventh inning, Justin Pearson grounded out with the bases loaded to bring UAH within one run, 3-2, scoring Riddle again who had drawn a walk earlier in the inning.
Cody Barrett worked the final inning in relief of Shuttlesworth, allowing a pair of hits with two outs but remained unscathed to pick up his eighth save of the year.
At the plate, Riddle led the way for UAH and finished 2-for-3 on the day, including the eventual game-winning two RBI single in the eighth inning.
“Offensively, we hit some balls early, hard and just right at them,” Royer recalled. “Guys did a good job of staying with a good approach. Justin [Riddle] had a big day but overall it was a great team effort.”
The Chargers advance in the double-elimination tournament to face the No. 7-seeded West Georgia Wolves, who upset second-seeded West Alabama in game one by a score of 10-3. The two teams will meet at State Mutual Stadium at noon CT on Saturday.
