CLEVELAND – The Alabama-Huntsville Chargers pulled off arguably the biggest upset of the 2010 Morgan Keegan Gulf South Conference Baseball Tournament by outlasting the No. 18 Delta State Statesmen in a 20-18 slugfest Tuesday at Ferriss Field.
Seven Charger players recorded multi-hit games as the Alabama-Huntsville (26-18), the No. 4 seed team from the GSC East, staved off elimination with the victory.
Delta State (34-16-1), which scored 13 unanswered runs in the middle innings after falling behind 12-3, was eliminated from the GSC Tournament despite being the unofficial home team. The Statesmen will need help from other teams in the region in order to make the NCAA South Region tournament.
Dan Lazzaroni (3-0) pitched 4 2/3 innings of relief to pick up the victory for the Chargers. He gave up six runs (three earned) and struck out six batters.
Toby Easterly (1-4) absorbed the loss for the Statesmen in relief. DSU's starting pitcher Trey Griffin was chased after giving up 10 runs in two innings, though only five of those runs were earned.
Defensive miscues and unearned runs proved to be Delta State's downfall, as the Statesmen committed five errors which yielded 10 unearned runs for the Chargers. Josh Branstetter, who came in to the game in relief of Griffin, absorbed five unearned runs of the seven he was charged.
Delta State's errors covered the miscues by Alabama-Huntsville, which committed four errors of its own. The Statesmen scored 18 runs despite recording only 12 hits and 12 RBIs in the game.
Matt Discon and Josh Gordon drove in three runs apiece for the Statesmen. Both players went 2-for-5 in the game, with Discon belting a two-run home run in the fourth inning.
Chris Escobar and Michael Vinson also recorded multi-hit games for the Statesmen. Escobar went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and scored four runs. Vinson went 2-for-6 and drove in two runs.
The Statesmen opened the scoring in the top of the first inning when a fielding error by Huntsville third baseman Jordan Parker allowed Michael Niemann to score from second base. Delta State's lead, however, would not last as the Chargers plated seven in the bottom half of the inning.
The Statesmen trailed 12-3 at the end of the third inning, but got two runs back in the top of the fourth when Discon homered to deep left field, scoring himself and Escobar.
Alabama-Huntsville's lead was totally evaporated in the top of the fifth inning when six of the Statesmen's first seven batters reach base and the Chargers needed three pitchers to get two outs in the frame.
Trailing 12-8 in the inning, the Statesmen's running game took advantage of three wild pitches, scoring two more runs. Vinson tied the game with a single up the middle that scored both Niemann and Gordon, respectively. It was Vinson's second hit of the inning.
The Statesmen added four more runs in the top of the sixth inning even though they did not record a base hit in the frame. Gordon drew a bases-loaded walk that allowed Chase Blanchard to come home and give DSU a 13-12 lead. Two batters later, Vinson's two-out fly ball to deep center field was dropped and allowed three more Delta State baserunners to score.
Once again, DSU's lead proved to be short-lived as the Chargers responded with five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Statesmen briefly reclaimed the lead in the top of the seventh on RBIs by Niemann and Gordon to put the green-and-white ahead 18-17.
But in an all-too-familiar turn of events, the Chargers came back and added two runs of their own. Corey Whittle's double down the left field line tied the game, and then he himself scored what would be the game-winning run on a single by Ryan McCrory.
The game was the second highest scoring game in GSC Tournament history. The combined 37 runs by both teams were six shy of the 29-year-old school record. The Statesmen defeated Indianapolis 28-15 in the 1981 Central Regional.
The Chargers will face the loser of Tuesday's West Florida-North Alabama game. First pitch is scheduled for 9:30 a.m.
