TIFTON – The ABAC Stallions broke open a close game with a six-run sixth inning and defeated Thomas University's Night Hawks 9-5 Thursday afternoon at Stallion Field.
While the Stallions have already qualified for next week's Southern States Athletic Conference tournament, the win was still an important one as Coach
Blake Williams's team is trying to hold down its fourth place spot. The Stallions entered the series one game ahead of Middle Georgia and two games ahead of Mobile. The Knights and the Rams both won their conference series openers earlier in the day.
ABAC led 2-1 going into the bottom of the sixth when their offense erupted. Cam Campbell and
Chasin Cash led off the inning with singles and
Harrison Childers walked to load the bases. A wild pitch plated one run and
Dylan Davis walked to load the bases again, still with no outs. Shortstop Quentin Rawls made Thomas pay with a two-run single to left for a 5-1 lead and right fielder
Joe Cooney wiped the bases clean with his sixth home run of the year, a three-run blast to left for an 8-1 lead.
The Night Hawks, who have also nailed down a conference playoff berth as the eighth and final team to qualify, had trouble against ABAC starter
Reigh Jordan. The junior pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing three hits and one run. With the 8-1 lead, Williams opted to pull him in the seventh, especially since the SSAC tourney begins next Wednesday. The win was Jordan's sixth of the year.
First baseman Cris Walley returned to the lineup for the first time in three weeks after an arm injury and he opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with an RBI single.
Brayden Fordham followed Walley with a single to score another run for a quick 2-0 lead. ABAC tagged on a final run in the ninth on Cooney's sacrifice fly which scored Rawls.
Rawls, Walley and Cash each had two hits for ABAC while Rawls also picked up his 30
th stolen base of the year.
Now 30-14 overall and 16-12 in the SSAC, ABAC will close out its regular season and finish the series Friday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.