HANCEVILLE? Freshman pitcher Bret Marks continued his stellar work on the mound, Greg Conner finished with a pair of hits and four RBIs and Wallace State prevailed 7-2 over Calhoun late Saturday night at James C. Bailey Stadium, wrapping up a four-game sweep.
Wallace State won a pair of games at Decatur on Thursday, 18-1 and 7-6, and opened Saturday?s doubleheader with a 5-4 triumph, resuming the Lions (20-8, 9-3 Alabama Community College Conference) strong roll in conference play.
And less than two months into the season, Wallace State is two wins away from matching last year?s win total.
?When you?re successful, you have a lot of good leaders and one thing this team has is leadership. Our leaders are very competitive and hate to lose. You love to have that attitude on your team,? said Wallace State coach Randy Putman. ?A four-game sweep on any level is hard to do. You have to play sound baseball in all three phases toaccomplish that.?
Marks and Conner guaranteed the Lions capped the four-game set with a sweep.
Marks tossed a seven-inning complete game, allowing two runs on five hits, striking out five and walking two. Marks, a Roswell, Ga. native, has delivered each outing for Wallace State, compiling a 5-1 record with four saves. He has a 0.76 ERA in 36 2/3 innings, adding a save in the Calhoun series.
?Bret has started some big games for us and closed when we?ve needed him to,? Putman said. ?We feel we have a good chance to win when Bret?s on the mound.?
Conner provided the big offensive blow to support Marks, clearing the bases in the first with a two-out, three-run double for a 3-0 lead. Conner added an RBI single in the third.
The Lionsextended the lead in the fifthwith Tim Zurrer and Luke Toms drawing RBI walks and Sawyer Williams an RBI hit by pitch.
Brodie Jeffery and Connor McCain each finished 1-for-3 with a run and stolen base and JudSherill scored a pair of runs.
For Calhoun, Taylor Shanks had a double and a run scored and T.J. Eifert, Hunter Kelley and Matthew Title had singles apiece.
In Saturday?s opener,Braten Dill earned the win in relief for the Lions, working the final 4 1/3 innings, striking out four and allowing only one hit.
Wallace State overcame a 4-3 deficit in the sixth, rallying for two runs.
Nathan Vincent finished with a solo homer for the Lions---his sixth of the season. Sherrill had two hits and a run, Jeffery and Luke Toms each had a double and a run, Andrew Dennis and Davis Blair had run-scoring singles and Conner contributed a sac fly.
Tittlefinished 2-for-5 with a run for Calhoun, Kelley had a pair of singles and AnthonyRapiere had two singles and a run.
Wallace State travels to Marion Military on Saturday for a 1 p.m. game.
For more information about the Wallace State athletics, visit wallacestate.edu.
ACCC STATS
Jacquise Moore