Four-Run Frames Lift Point Past Truett McConnell

WEST POINT, Ga. — The Point University Skyhawks used a pair of four-run innings and held off a late charge to fend off the Truett McConnell University Bears 10-9 on Tuesday afternoon at West Point Park. 

The Skyhawks broke a 2-2 tie with a decisive four-run fourth inning and later answered with four more runs in the seventh to build what looked like a comfortable 10-4 lead. Truett McConnell refused to go away, scoring four times in the eighth and adding another run in the ninth, but Point cut the Bears' rally short with the tying run stranded to secure the one-run victory.

Truett McConnell struck first in the top of the third before Point responded in the bottom half of the inning to pull even at 2-2. Jonathan Kohlman reached on an error to score Logan Waldrup before he ultimately came across on another Bears miscue. This set the stage for the middle-inning surge that swung momentum toward the Skyhawks. 

Point strung together quality at-bats to push four runs across. Oscar Soto and Garrison Coleman picked up RBIs while Josiah Palomino recorded a sacrifice fly. Brady Bye, Damian Hernandez, Will Hoggard and Coleman each were worked around the bases as the Skyhawks gained a 6-2 lead.

The Bears would produce a pair of runs before Point came surging back in the home half of the seventh. Arwin Burgos roped a two-run double, and Bye followed with another two-run double as the Skyhawks' lead ballooned to 10-4. Burgos finished with one hit and two RBIs, while Bye turned in a two-hit day with two RBIs and a double to pace the Point attack, which produced 10 runs on 11 hits and left just one runner on base.

Truett McConnell mounted its biggest threat in the top of the eighth, cutting the deficit to 10-8 with a four-run frame that included a two-run error that allowed a pair of unearned runs to score, but pitcher Garrett Mullins held off any further threat in his single inning of work. In the ninth, the Bears scratched a run across but their tying run was stranded on second base as Cole Johnson slammed the door shut with the save. 

Up next, the Point Skyhawks head to Blue Mountain, Mississippi for a three-game set against the Blue Mountain Christian University Toppers. The opening game will be this Friday, February 27 at 6:00pm EST.