Pioneers win five in a row 2006
There’s nothing like a five-game winning streak to cure your ails.
The Volunteer State Community College baseball team, which entered this weekend with a 1-5 record, captured five wins in a row, including three conference tilts, to put the Pioneers over the .500 mark.
Vol State (6-5, 4-1 in conference play) swept the three-game series with Southwest Tennessee, winning one on Friday and two on Saturday to move to 4-1 in league play.
The Pioneers then took a double-dip over Miami Hamilton-Ohio on Sunday.
In Friday’s contest the Volunteer State pitching was the big story. Dustin Crabtree hurled seven innings of two-hit ball, allowing an unearned run and striking out 10 as VSCC won 7-1.
The Pioneers rapped 10 hits, including two each from Chris Rankhorn, Craig Thompson and Matt Stanley.
The Pioneers wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, collecting four runs in the bottom of the first.
Rankhorn led off with a double and Kyle Hicks reached on a fielder’s choice that moved Rankhorn to third. Rankhorn scored and Hicks moved up to second on a wild pitch, making the score 1-0.
Stanley walked, Blake Bratcher doubled to center to score a run and Danny Pulley grounded out to bring home a run, making it 3-0. Thompson’s RBI single plated the fourth run.
After Southwest Tennessee scored in the top of the second to cut it to 4-1, the score remained that until the bottom of the eighth when the Pioneers struck for three more.
Pulley had an RBI single and Tim Perkins drove home two with a single to give the hosts the extra cushion.
In Saturday’s first game, pitching again was a key for Volunteer State.
Dane Archer went four innings to go 1-0 on the season. He allowed two hits while striking out four in the win. Bart Cherry tossed three innings of one-hit ball to finish things.
The Pioneer offense was also on fire, collecting 11 hits as a team. Bratcher was the big stick in the game, going 3-for-4 with six RBIs, including a three-run homer in the first inning.
Thompson added three hits and Perkins was 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
Vol State scored five times in the bottom of the first, thanks to Bratcher’s three-run blast, to take a 5-0 lead.
Southwest Tennessee struck for all three of its runs in the top of the third to cut the lead to 5-3.
Perkins had an RBI double, Bratcher doubled home two more runs and two runs scored courtesy of SWTN errors in the VSCC fourth.
The third game of the series and second of the day Saturday proved to be the closest between the two rivals.
Vol State scored all four of its runs early and held off a Southwest Tennessee rally in the seventh to win 4-3.
White House product Kevin Whitaker (1-0) earned the win in relief, going 1.2 innings of one-hit ball, striking out a batter. Steven Suter earned the save, tossing the final 0.2 innings.
Matt Stanley had the hot bat in the win, going 2-for-3 with a solo homer to lead off the third inning. He scored twice.
Thompson was 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Bratcher was 2-for-3 wth a run and RBI. Pulley also drove home a run for the Pioneers, who had seven hits as a team.
On Sunday Volunteer State squeaked past Miami Hamilton-Ohio 4-1 and 4-3.
In the first game Jason Brock allowed just two hits and one run over five innings, striking out 10 to earn the win (1-1). Ruter picked up his second save.
Rankhorn was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, while Jeremy Hazen was 1-for-2 with two RBIs. Stanley also drove home a run while Perkins was 1-for-3 with a run scored and Ben Trombly was 1-for-2 with a run scored.
Suter, who had a big weekend, earned the win in relief in the second game, tossing two innings of no-hit ball.
Vol State won the extra-inning affair in the bottom of the eighth when Hicks singled, moved up on Stanley’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Bratcher’s game-winning single through the right side.
Chris Brown was 1-for-2 with two RBIs in the win while Perkins also drove home a run.
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