Bison Weekly: SU baseball, softball teams off to hot starts; men’s basketball get first conference win
The Southern Union Bison snapped a six-game conference losing streak with a 88-79 win over Marion Military Institute last Thursday. The win was the first in conference play for the Bison.
Terrance Taylor had 29 points and 7 rebounds for Southern Union, including a 14-for-15 performance from the free throw line.
Point guard Tommy Carter posted a double double with 19 points and 10 assists, and Mayo Tyler added 13 points and 6 rebounds off the bench.
The Bison followed that up with a 91-81 loss to Lawson State Monday. SU fell behind by as many as 17 points in the first half before a second-half rally ultimately fell short in a game that saw both teams spend a lot of time at the free throw line.
The teams were whistled for a combined 62 fouls and attempted a total of 87 free throws (48 for Lawson St. and 39 for SU).
Jeremiah Smith was the biggest benefactor of all those fouls as he hit 14-of-17 free throw attempts and finished with a game-high 30 points, to go along with 12 rebounds.
Carter added 18 points and 5 assists, and James Richards finished with 10 points for the Bison.
SU is now 9-12 overall and 1-7 in conference play. They will travel to Marion Military Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. contest.
Statistical leaders (season)
James Richards (15.2 PPG)
Jeremiah Smith (13.2 PPG, 7.1 RPG)
Tommy Carter (8.7 APG)
Lady Bison fall to 2-4 in conference
Southern Union’s women’s basketball team lost to Lawson State 72-64 in a Monday conference game. The Lady Bison won the first matchup between these two teams, 81-52 on January 7, but they were undone by a 24-12 Lawson State advantage in the second quarter Monday night in Wadley.
Elexus Bell had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Lady Bison in the loss. Tierra Williams (14 points) and Myrical Heard (10 points) scored in double figures, while Michela Cope dished out 10 assists for SU.
The Lady Bison are now 11-11 overall and 2-4 in conference play. They will take on Snead State at home Monday at 5:30.
Statistical leaders (season)
Elexus Bell (14 PPG, 9.6 RPG)
Tierra Williams (10.8 PPG)
Miranda Powell (4.6 APG)
Hot start for softball
The SU softball team (4-0) began its season with a pair of doubleheader sweeps last week.
A.J. Broome, a freshman outfielder out of Spring Garden High School, set the pace with a perfect day at the plate in the opening series against LaGrange College Thursday.
Broome went 7-for-7 with a double, a triple, a home run and three RBI as SU won 7-3 and 11-10.
Sophomore Savannah Sands, who went 8-6 with a team-best 2.44 ERA last season, pitched five scoreless innings and allowed just two hits and a walk to pick up the win in game one.
Kenzie Bayer went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI in the second game, while Jacey Akin and Anna Kate Hare added three hits apiece.
Ansley Glover got the final four outs in the circle to preserve the one-run victory and get her first save of the year.
SU continued its good work with a pair of wins against Gordon State College in Barnesville, Ga. Sunday.
Sands (2-0) turned in another solid start as she allowed two runs and six hits in 5 and 2/3 innings of work, and Bayer homered for the third straight game as SU won 4-2 in game one against Gordon.
The Lady Bison also got RBI from Yuntasia Thomas (2-for-3, 2B) and Katlyn Jaye (1-for-3) and 1 and 1/3 scoreless innings of relief from Kali Barbour to contribute to the winning effort.
The Lady Bison jumped out to a 8-1 lead after the first three innings, then held on for a 8-7 win Sunday’s second game against Gordon.
Madison Purcell went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, while M’Kiyah Mitchell and Ansley Ogletree drove in two runs apiece. Bayer and Broome each went 2-for-4 with a double.
The Lady Bison will put their perfect record to the test Friday and Saturday with six scheduled games in the Dothan Invitational tournament.
Statistical leaders (season)
Pitching: Savannah Sands (2-0, 1.31 ERA)
Hitting: AJ Broome (.714 avg./2.143 OPS/1 HR/3 RBI)
Hitting: Kenzie Bayer (.500 avg./1.819 OPS/ 3 HR/9 RBI)
Baseball sweeps Roane State
New SU baseball coach Aaron Everett said before the season that one of the strengths of his first Bison team would be on the offensive side.
“We’re going to be able to swing it,” he said.
If the first three games are any indication, he was right.
SU scored 28 runs in three games against Roane State over the weekend, including a 16-run outburst in the second game, as the Bison came away with a three-game sweep of their season-opening series.
The offense was more subdued in game one as the Bison maximized six hits to come away with a 5-1 win Saturday. Six different players recorded those hits, and Casey Baynes, Kasey Clark and Clayton Phillips each drove home a run.
SU’s pitching and defense made those five runs stand up as Reed Jinright, Drew Nobles, Ethan Johnson and Andrew Cronan combined to give up one earned run on six hits while recording 10 strikeouts, and the defense played errorless ball in the field.
The bats came to life in Saturday’s second game, a 16-6 SU victory. Clark and Brody Syer, a transfer from West Georgia, each had a double, two hits and four RBI to set the pace at the plate.
Phillips and Will Patota, SU’s leading hitter from last season, added two hits apiece, and leadoff man Mitchell Rottier scored five runs.
Sunday’s series finale went to extra innings but the Bison were able to win it 7-6 with two runs in the bottom of the 10th.
Patota went 2-for-5 with a home run, a double, and two RBI, and Jake Spivey was 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBI.
Former Ranburne Bulldog Brock Young missed out on his first win of the season despite pitching four shutout innings and recording four strikeouts to start the game. Jordan Brown picked up the win in relief as he allowed an unearned run in 1 and 1/3 innings and was the beneficiary of the Bison’s 10th-inning comeback.
SU will return to the field Saturday with a home doubleheader against Faulkner University’s JV team beginning at 1 p.m.
Statistical leaders (season)
Pitching: Reed Jinright (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 K in 2.1 IP)
Pitching: Brock Young (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4 K in 4 IP)
Pitching: Drew Nobles (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5 K in 2.2 IP)
Hitting: Clayton Phillips (.455 avg./.962 OPS/2 RBI
Hitting: Kasey Clark (.385 avg./.923 OPS/5 RBI
Hitting: Will Patota (.333 avg./1.083 OPS/ 1 HR/ 2 RBI)
Hitting: Brody Syer (.333 avg./.906 OPS/5 RBI)
Southern Union’s Jeremiah Smith had 30 points and 12 rebounds in the Bison’s 91-81 loss to Lawson State Monday.
