#TCCBaseball: Eagles rally past Chatt Valley again

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (February 24, 2018) – For the second straight day, Tallahassee Community College's baseball team came from behind to defeat Chattahoochee Valley (Ala.) Community College, knocking off the Pirates, 11-9, on Saturday at Eagle Field. 

Tallahassee's winning streak is now at seven games, and the Eagles (12-6) are a season-high six games above .500. Chatt Valley, ranked No. 10 by the NJCAA, is now 10-5. 

A stiff breeze was blowing out at Eagle Field on Saturday and both teams' hitters were all too happy to oblige, combining for 20 runs and 24 hits, including five home runs and ten extra base hits. 

Logan Lacey started the scoring with a solo homer in the second, but Chatt Valley erased the Eagles' lead with four runs in the third, capped by Jason Rooks' two-run homer, his second of the series. 

Tallahassee answered with four runs in its half of the third.

With one out, Jayson Sowden narrowly missed a home run, sending a shot off the top of the right-centerfield wall for a triple. After Mason Miller bunted his way on, Sowden scored on Tanner Thomas' sac-fly and Cole Vann tied the game with a two-run homer to left. 

Lacey, Rayburn and Trey Polewski all followed with singles, the last an infield hit which was accompanied by a throwing error by third baseman Jack Copley, allowing Lacey to score and give Tallahassee a 5-4 lead. 

Chatt Valley tied the game in the fifth then scored four times in the sixth to grab a 9-5 lead. 

Miller's sac-fly scored Luke Ard in the seventh then, like Friday night, Tallahassee forged ahead in the bottom of the eighth. 

Rayburn led off the inning with a solo homer to right to cut Chatt Valley's lead to 9-7. Following a pitching change, two hit batsmen, a passed ball and an error left the bases loaded for Sowden. 

It was Sowden who drove in the go-ahead run with a double in Friday's 6-4 win. He came through again on Saturday, smacking a bases-clearing double to right for a 10-9 lead. He later scored on Thomas sac-fly. 

Sowden went 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI. 

Alex Stobert came on and pitched a scoreless ninth to record the save, his third, and preserve the win for Tyler Lehrmann (1-0).   

Lehrmann allowed four hits and one earned run over 2.2 innings. He also struck out three, helping the Eagles' staff to another double-digit strikeout performance (10). 

Lacey (3-for-5, two runs, RBI) and Rayburn (3-for-5, run, RBI) led the Eagles' 13-hit attack with three hits each. Vann was 2-for-4 with two RBI. 

Sunday's series finale was rained out meaning Tallahassee's next game will be on Tuesday – a 4 p.m. first pitch at Florida State College at Jacksonville.