Bucs Sweep; Move Back into First Place

BAY MINETTE - No. 9 ranked Shelton State posted two last at-bats wins over Coastal Alabama South to move back into first place in the ACCC standings.

Sophomore center fielder Pierce Dutton snapped a 2-2 tie with a two-out single in the top of the seventh to give the Bucs a 3-2 win in game one.

Sophomore Hayes Alford belted a pinch-hit grand slam in the top of the ninth to push the Bucs to a 10-6 win in game two.

Coastal Alabama freshman RHP Trevor Ferris, who pitched in three of the four games, surrendered the winning hits in both games on Saturday.

Shelton State (33-9, 17-7 ACCC) moved back into first place in the conference standings. Gadsden State (28-11, 17-7 ACCC), winners of 11 straight games, is tied for first with the Bucs.

Coastal Alabama South (21-19, 16-8 ACCC) drops to third place.

The second game was tied 6-6 entering the ninth inning. 

Freshman first baseman James Graphos started the rally with a one-out single to left. Sophomore left fielder Trenton Shirley followed with a double to left and sophomore third baseman Brady Waugh walked to load the bases.

Alford was called on to pinch hit and launched a 1-2 pitch off the top of the batting cages in right field to give the Bucs a 10-6 lead.

Sophomore lefty John Michael Pickens, (4-1), who allowed two runs in the eighth, finished off the Coyotes in the ninth for the win.

Coastal tied the game at 6-6 with a pair of runs in the eighth. Kennedy Leggett had an RBI ground out Aaron Threat added an RBI double.

Shelton State erased a 4-2 deficit by scoring four runs in the seventh to take a 6-4 lead.

Freshman DH John Robicheaux reached on a leadoff single and sophomore right fielder Mason Steele walked.

Steele has reached base safely in a career-best 23 straight games.

Freshman catcher Grant Browning followed with a sac bunt and all three runners moved up one base on a throwing error, with Robicheaux scoring on the play.  Dutton delivered his league-leading sixth sac fly to score Steele with the tying run. 

Graphos and Shirley followed with back to back singles, with pinch runner Lawson Neel scoring on Shirley's base hit. Freshman shortstop Slade Sullivan added an RBI single to score Graphos to put the Bucs in front 6-4.

Sullivan has reached base safely in 16 straight games.

Quincy Walters RBI single in the third inning gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead.

The Bucs took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on an RBI single by Sullivan and RBI ground out by sophomore first baseman Tripp Gann. 

Coastal tied the game on Caden Mason's RBI ground out in the fourth. 

The Coyotes scored two runs in the fifth on a two-run double by Jackson Stephens. The ball was originally called foul but the umpire changed his mind and awarded the double. 

The Bucs also won game one with late-inning heroics.

Tied at 2-2 entering the seventh, Shelton scored a run in the inning to postcard 3-2 win.

Gann and Neel drew consecutive walks and both moved into scoring on Steele's sac bunt. After a strikeout, Dutton greeted Ferris with an RBI single to put the Bucs in front. 

In the bottom of the seventh, Stephens reached on a out single off freshman starter Eli Driskell. 

Freshman right hander Kenneth Diddell entered and earned his third save when  pinch hitter Silas Cunningham hit into the game ending double play. 

Driskell (6-2) posted his league leading sixth win. He worked 6 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on three hits with three strikeouts and three walks.

Freshman DH Jackson Henderson gave the Bucs a 2-0 lead in third inning with a towering home run off the scoreboard in left.

Coastal answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 2-2. Devon Murphy had an RBI single and Walters delivered a sac fly.

Shelton State returns to action on Thursday, April 17 with a double header at NW Shoals. The Bucs will host the Patriots in a double header on Saturday, April 19. Both games begin at 2 p.m.