PULASKI, Tenn. – Only four outs away from clinching a win in the deciding game of an SSAC series with Tennessee Southern Saturday afternoon, it all fell apart for the ABAC Stallions.
 
Leading 8-4 with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, ABAC allowed eight straight Firehawks to reach base and when the damage was done, the Stallions trailed 10-8. ABAC managed to get the tying run to the plate in the top of the ninth before UT Southern escaped with a 10-8 win. The eighth-inning meltdown wasted another great offensive day for the Stallions and dropped their conference record to 13-11. By winning two of three in the series, the Firehawks climbed out of last place in the conference with a 6-15 mark.
 
ABAC trailed 2-0 until the fourth inning when the Stallions finally got to Firehawk starter Tavien Tigg. Chasin Cash's home run to left field tied the game before Dylan Davis and Harrison Childers both singled. Parker Wallace gave ABAC a 3-2 lead with a sacrifice fly and, with the bases loaded, right fielder Brayden Fordham ripped a two-run single to left field for a 5-2 advantage.
 
The Stallions added a lone run in the sixth on Cris Walley's 16^th home run of the year and got two more in the top of the eighth on an RBI double from Cash and a sacrifice fly from Childers before the UTS rally.
 
Starter Reigh Jordan scattered 14 hits over seven innings but only allowed four runs. Freshman Lalan Ellis suffered the loss while Ridge Raper, who took a loss for the Firehawks as the Game One starter, got the win by pitching one scoreless inning.
 
Quentin Rawls had three hits for ABAC. Joe Cooney led off the second inning with a single, extending his hitting streak to 21 games.
 
ABAC will stay on the road Tuesday for a 5 p.m. game against Thomas University in Thomasville. Though TU is in the Southern States Athletic Conference, Tuesday will be a non-conference game.