The Falcons baseball team took three out of four games over the weekend as part of the Perfect Game Spring Swing tournament in Emerson, Ga.
The team won Friday afternoon against the Georgia State Panthers 4-1, and again Friday night against the Army Black Knights 5-0. They then fell to Army on Saturday night 5-0, but ended the tournament on a high note with a 6-3 victory over Georgia State on Sunday afternoon.
“We had all three phases going for us in the doubleheader,” Falcons head coach Danny Schmitz said. “We were real flat (on Saturday) against Army, but then, give the team credit, they came back against Georgia State and played extremely well.”
Friday afternoon’s game started with a first inning home run from senior infielder Greg Basalyga to give the Falcons an early 2-0 lead. The team added to the advantage in the second with an RBI double from sophomore catcher Jeff Scott. Both teams would be held off the board until the sixth inning, when Georgia State hit a homer of their own to cut the lead to 3-1. However, the Falcons countered in the seventh with an RBI single from senior infielder Nick Glanzman. Georgia State was unable to make a comeback as the Falcons took the 4-1 victory.
“I thought it was huge that Greg Basalyga hit the two run homer in the top of the first inning,” Schmitz said. “That allowed (pitcher) Tyler Anderson to go out there and be extremely aggressive with power in the zone. I thought he did a great job giving us another quality start, gave us a chance to win, which we did. I thought the defense played well behind him and we executed offensively.”
The Friday night game began with the teams going scoreless until the fourth inning, when Basalyga again got the scoring started, though this time with an RBI double for a 1-0 lead. In the sixth inning, sophomore infielder Riley Minorik hit an RBI single, then Basalyga got another RBI later in the inning. Junior infielder Randy Righter finished up the scoring in the inning, taking advantage of an Army fielding error to score another run for a 4-0 advantage. Basalyga hit his third RBI of the game with a double in the eighth, allowing the Falcons to take a 5-0 win.
“It was a very good pitching performance,” Schmitz said. “When you get that performance in game one, like Tyler Anderson and the rest of the bullpen, the next guy that’s handed the ball, which was Chase Antle, that’s what you want him to do.”
Saturday’s game had an opposite start to the previous matchup, as Army took advantage of two RBI doubles in the second inning to go ahead 2-0. Neither team could get any more offense until the sixth, when Army added another run with an RBI single. Army tacked on two more runs in the eighth on a fielder’s choice and a sacrifice fly to win 5-0.
“We warned the guys that Army would be ready to play,” Schmitz said. “Unfortunately, I don’t think that we matched that energy. I tip my hat to Army, but I was very disappointed in the lack of effort.”
Sunday’s game started with Georgia State taking an early lead in the second inning, scoring on a fielding error and sacrifice fly to go up 2-0. However, the Falcons responded with a big fourth inning. Sophomore outfielder R.J. Williams drew a bases loaded walk for his first RBI of the season to cut the lead in half, then freshman outfielder Jake Wilson tied it up on an RBI groundout. Glanzman completed the inning by scoring two more runs on a throwing error, giving the Falcons a 4-2 lead. Georgia State cut the advantage in half with an RBI sacrifice fly in the sixth, but Wilson and Glanzman added insurance runs on an RBI double and RBI sacrifice fly respectively to win 6-3.
“The guys definitely had more energy,” Schmitz said. “They were much more focused and it was a great way to finish the tournament.”
The team will next play in their first home series of the season on Friday, Saturday and Sunday against the Niagara Purple Eagles.
