Baseball Stallions beat St. Claire

TIFTON - The Abraham Baldwin College baseball Stallions took advantage of a road-weary Saint Claire Community College team, sweeping a doubleheader here Thursday afternoon.

The Stallions held off a Skippers rally to win the opener 5-4 and then won the second 6-3. St. Claire, located near Detroit, is in the midst of a spring tour that has seen the Skippers play nine games in the past five days.

"We struggled to score some runs," said ABAC head coach Steve Janousek, "but we did enough to get the wins."

Matt Hyer picked up the victory in game one, but not before Michael Stubbs' heroic effort in relief.

Clinging to the one-run lead and a St. Claire runner on third, Stubbs was able to get the last out. The Stallions led 5-0 heading into the final frame.

In game two Waylon Stuckey got the Stallions off to a quick start with a solo home run in the first inning. But in the fourth, back-to-back Skipper doubles led to two runs and St. Claire added another run in the fifth.

Then in the bottom of the fifth, the ABAC bats warmed up as the Stallions strung together five hits scoring five runs. Former Tift County Blue Devil Chad Ward started things off with a single. He was followed by Stuckey's second hit of the game. The inning also featured a single by Ryan Riles and doubles by Jarin Lewis and Will Tyre.

Dan Hobby moved his record to 4-0 as he went six innings, giving up six hits and striking out six Skipper batters. Derek Fine came on in the seventh to close out St. Claire.

The Stallions are 17-12 and will face the John Wood Community College Trailblazers from Quincy, Illinois in a 1 p.m. doubleheader today. Saturday ABAC begins conference play hosting South Georgia in a 1 p.m. doubleheader and then again on Sunday in a 2 p.m. single game.

"I feel like we've been pretty competitive seeing as how we've been without our biggest offensive threat, LaVeazey Carter, for the past eight games," Janousek said. Carter has been out with a minor leg injury, but is expected to return today.

"It will be good to get him back in the lineup," added Janousek. He gives us that spark in the leadoff spot that we need."