TALLADEGA, Ala. - The Talladega College baseball team closed out the non-conference part of its season with a 14-4 run-rule victory over visiting Freed-Hardeman University this afternoon for its 30
th win of the season. Talladega is now 30-14 while the Lions fall to 27-16.
Down to their final out in the third, Talladega's chances of having a third straight scoreless inning looked like it was going to happen. It all changed when
Jonathan Williams kept the frame alive when he singled to right center and later moved to second when Joshua Catala Santos was hit by a pitch to reach first. Both runners then executed a double steal to move into scoring position.
Victor Rivera kept the inning moving when he walked to load the bases with two outs. All three runners scored when
Miguel Oropeza hit a grand slam over the left field wall to put Talladega in front 4-0 before the inning ended.
Freed-Hardeman was able to get one of the runs back in the top of the fourth to cut the lead to 4-1, but Talladega answered with four runs on five hits in its half of the fourth to push the lead to 8-1.
The Lions added a run in the sixth to trail 8-2, but the Tornadoes broke the game open in the bottom half of the inning as they plated another four runs to push the lead to 12-2.
FHU looking to avoid being run-ruled as able to score a pair of runs in the seventh to make it 12-4.
The Tornadoes in the bottom half of the seventh need two runs to run-rule FHU, and they were able to get those runs off a wild pitch and an error to lock down a 14-4 win.
Starting pitcher
Diego Duque pitched six strong innings, allowing two runs on no hits while striking out three to pick up the win (3-4) for Talladega. He was also 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and two walks.
Oropeza had a day at the plate going 3-for-4 with five RBIs, three runs scored, a walk, a grand slam, and two stolen bases. His fellow teammate Williams also tallied three hits while scoring three runs.
Talladega is home at the end of the week when it hosts Philander Smith University in the final home conference series of the regular season. The doubleheader part of the series is on Thursday, with first pitch for game one taking place at noon.
