Barons Wrap Up Regular Season

Courtesy of BPC

Brewton-Parker College baseball took on Loyola (La.) last week in a three-game series. The Barons took two of three from the Wolf Pack.

Game 1

BPC opened the final three-game SSAC series by playing host to Loyola (La.) on Thursday night. The Barons (19-27, 12-10 SSAC) downed the Wolf Pack (30-19, 15-7 SSAC) 8-4 to snap Loyola’s ninegame SSAC streak.

Brewton-Parker opened the scoring with two runs in the opening inning. BPC produced a single from Eduardo Castillo and Matt Collins while Jordan Rahn connected for a two-RBI double, scoring Collins and Caleb Gepfer. The second inning resulted in scoreless efforts, but the Wolf Pack were knocking on the door with the bases loaded at the close of the top half of the second inning. Loyola managed to jump out to a 3-2 lead in the third inning after connecting for three hits which included a two- RBI home run. Fortunately, BPC responded with three hits to piece together a pair of runs from Tony Rudolph and Gepfer to regain the lead by a run. Rudolph and Collins notched singles while Castillo recorded a double.

After a scoreless fourth inning, Loyola notched a solo shot over the left-field fence to level the score in the fifth inning. However, Jackson Smith followed with a three-run homer to the left side to give BPC the 7-4 lead. Brewton-Parker managed to tally one final run during the bottom of the seventh inning as Malik Germany notched an RBI single to score Collins. The Barons managed to hold on to the four-run lead to close out the remainder of the game. BPC’s bats produced 12 hits while Loyola’s connected for seven. Collins led the Barons with three runs and four hits with Smith recording a team-leading three RBIs. Castillo totaled 15 putouts defensively. Four Barons pitched on Thursday night with Austin Visocchi earning the start. Visocchi pitched for three innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs. He struck out three batters and walked five. Matthew Hager followed with four innings worth of work. Hager gave up three hits and one earned run. He struck out seven batters and walked three. Both Mackenzie Mc-Dowell and Ty Cook split the final two innings. McDowell led the pair with three strikeouts.

Game 2

Brewton-Parker baseball concluded the regular season with a doubleheader finale against Loyola on Friday afternoon for Senior Day. The Barons (20-28, 13-11 SSAC) split with the Wolf Pack (31-20, 16-8 SSAC) by taking game one, 3-2, and dropping game two, 12-8.

A total of seven senior student- athletes were recognized between games. Trey Jones, Matt Collins, Cuyler Morris, Jackson Smith, Zachary Wilson, Taz Worrell, and Austin Visocchi were the BPC seniors honored for their achievements both on and off the field. The Barons were the first on the scoreboard as Smith homered over the left side to lead off the second inning. Malik Germany followed with a base hit and was brought home from an RBI single off the bat of Tony Rudolph for the 2-0 lead.

After BPC’s pair of runs, neither side was able to produce another score until the sixth inning. Germany recorded another single followed by Mackenzie McDowell notching an RBI double to score Wilson. Loyola managed to give BPC a scare in the seventh inning, scoring off a two-run homer to pull within one run. Ty Cook managed to strike out the final two batters to shut the door for the scheduled seven-inning contest. On the mound, Cook pitched a complete seven-inning game. He gave up five hits and two earned runs. He tossed a total of nine strikeouts and walked three batters. Brewton-Parker notched seven hits as a team with Germany leading the way with two hits. Defensively, Smith produced nine putouts.

Game 3

For game two of the double header, Loyola battled to pull away with a four-run victory in the 12-8 slugfest. The Wolf Pack opened with two runs in the first inning before the Barons answered with four runs during the bottom half of the frame.

Rudolph knocked out a two-RBI home run that scored Worrell while Wilson and Germany both received RBI walks to score Caleb Gepfer as well as Collins.

After a quick second inning, the Wolf Pack totaled five runs during the third inning by producing five hits and taking advantage of a BPC error. The Barons found themselves just one run behind as Wilson notched a two-RBI double to score Jordan Rahn and Collins.

With the second scoreless inning coming to pass in the fourth, Loyola scored two more runs during the fifth inning jumping out to a 9-6 lead. Rahn assisted in retrieving a run with a solo homer over the scoreboard to pull the Baron back to a two-run deficit.

The Wolf Pack managed to score three runs in the seventh after a scoreless effort in the sixth inning. Unfortunately, BPC could not find much more offense as the Barons managed to score one final run in the ninth inning off a wild pitch.

Loyola outhit Brewton- Parker 14-10. Rudolph, Wilson, and Germany led the Barons with two hits each while Collins and Rahn both lead with a pair of runs apiece. Wilson also led the way with three of the Barons’ seven RBIs and two doubles. Morris produced a triple for BPC.

Chandler Koerner started on the mound and pitched for two innings. He gave up seven hits, as well as seven runs, while striking out three batters. Jones put in four innings’ worth of work, allowing two runs on four hits. He struck out three batters and walked two. Last, Mc-Dowell threw for three innings. He gave up three runs on three hits. In addition, he struck out three batters.

Brewton-Parker heads to postseason play at the 2022 SSAC Baseball Tournament at Historic Golden Park in Columbus, Ga. The Barons earned the No. 4 seed and will face No. 5-seeded Middle Georgia this Wednesday.