Baseball Drops Heartbreaker on the Road

Senior+Nick+Funk+stations+himself+behind+the+plate+for+a+pitch.

photo courtesy of the Athletic Department

Senior Nick Funk stations himself behind the plate for a pitch.

Cody Gibson

Panther’s baseball team dropped a heartbreaker on Apr. 4  on the road to Pfeiffer University, falling 12-11 in non-conference action at Joe Ferebee Field.

The Panthers went on top 6-0 in the first inning, including runs off Nick Funk’s, senior, single to left field, Tyson Measamer‘s, senior, sac fly to left field, and Justin Brady, senior, double down the right field line. Pfeiffer got three runs in the bottom of the frame, including a run off Cory Lackey’s lead-off solo bomb over the left-field fence.

Clayton Micheal, junior, had an RBI single to left and Funk had a sac fly to center in the second inning, then Benjamin Thomas, junior, ripped an RBI single up the middle in the third to make it a 9-3 game. C.J. Acosta cut the margin to 9-7 with a grand slam in the bottom of the third, then the Falcons added four runs in the sixth inning and a run in the seventh to take a 12-9 lead.

The Panthers picked up two runs in the top of the eighth inning, one each off Grayson Chitwood, senior, RBI single up the middle and Ozzie Torres, senior, sac fly to center field, but that was all the Panthers would get.

Key stats from the game: Pfeiffer: Josh Turner 3-5, double, run; RP Adam Bridgeman (W, 1-0), 1 inn, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB
Panthers: Michael 4-5, double, run, RBI; Funk 2-4, run, 3 RBI; RL Caleb Turner, freshman, (L, 0-1) 0.1 inn, 4 hits, 3 ER, 1 BB

Coach Ryan Brittle‘s team will be back in action Sat, Apr 8, at the University of Lynchburg. The Old Dominion Athletic Conference doubleheader is set to start at noon in Lynchburg, VA.