JSCC Baseball Update – Weekend shows signs of life in the Generals!

After three rough weekend conference outings yielding only a single victory the Generals took two out of three against the Tigers of Chattanooga State Community College last weekend.

Game 1 – March 23, 2018 (W 3-0)

In game one starting pitcher DJ Wright was the phenomenal force behind the Generals win. Coming into the day Wright’s ERA was 8.65, after throwing a complete seven inning game shutout that now falls to 6.82. Wright threw 99 pitches and six strikeouts while allowing only two hits. The only downside to his outing were three walks and three hit batters, but none of those base runners proved costly for the Generals. In fact only in the fifth inning did Wright have more than one baserunner at time. He finished his shutout retiring the side in order in the top of the seventh to give Jackson the win.

The Generals bats were producing hits from the start as Ian Bibiloni led off the bottom of the first with a single. From there Jackson produced five hits and three runs. Donnell Bailey was the first to score as he slammed a one out triple into right field in the bottom of the fourth inning and was sent home by a sacrifice ground ball from Josh Frantz. Jackson scored twice more in the sixth as Mike Conn reached first on a lead off bunt, Garret Guymon was walked and Bailey cracked an RBI single to score Conn and advance Guymon to second. Wright was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Parker Moss picked up the walk to bring in run number three. Not a huge day for the Generals bats but it was enough for the win.

Game 2 – March 23, 2018 W (11-1)

Game two seems like a blowout but for the first five innings that was not the case. Josh Coburn got his first start of the year from the mound and the through six innings he had as solid of an outing as Generals fans would expect. Coburn threw 104 pitches giving up 2 hits and only one unearned run while striking out seven. He also worked his way out of a two out bases loaded jam in the sixth inning with a strikeout. The Tigers managed one run in the fifth after Noah Fitzgerald reached on an error and came around to score off of a base hit three batters later.

The Generals offense had a relatively quite day even considering the score. The first run came in the second inning when Wright singled to lead off and was brought home by an error, a hit batter, and a dropped third strike. In the fifth inning Conn reached on a single and was brought home by a single from Bailey. Bailey would later score off of an RBI single from Wright. Then in the sixth the Generals sent a total of 13 batters to the plate and scored 8 more runs to finish the victory with a run rule (ten runs after five innings). There were a total of two hits, one error, five walks, and Ian Bibiloni was hit by a pitch for the twelfth time this season. A total breakdown of the Tigers relief pitching brought about Jackson’s commanding victory.

Game 3 – March 24, 2018 L (9-6)

On Saturday the Generals couldn’t quite make it three in a row. Tyler Proctor got his fourth start of the season and threw three innings. Innings two and three proved difficult for the Generals as Proctor faced 14 batters gave up five runs (3 ER) on six hits and hit one batter. Alan Rickman came in to relieve in the fourth inning and kept the Tigers to one run in the sixth and seventh. Kyle Brana finished the game and allowed two runs in the ninth to give the Tigers their total score of nine.

The Generals offense came back to life in this game. Jackson put up seven hits and scored six times, sadly it wasn’t enough to overcome Chattanooga. One big highlight for the Generals was Bailey’s fifth homerun of the season. It came in the bottom of the ninth as Jackson trailed by six. Conn reached on an error followed by a single for Guymon. Then with no outs Bailey connected with a bomb into left field and cut the deficit in half to give Jackson some life late in the game. The life didn’t last long however as the next three batters went down in order.

Jackson moves up one spot in conference standings to number eight. They have another opportunity this weekend as they face the number six Volunteer State on the road. Live coverage will be on WNWS.COM!