PANAMA CITY, Fla. (January 30, 2015) - FCSAA No. 9 Tallahassee Community College split two games on Opening Day at the annual First Pitch Classic hosted by Gulf Coast State College.
The Eagles (1-1) slid past Darton (Ga.) State College 9-8 in the day's first game. However, they fell to Gordon (Ga.) State College, 5-0, in game two.
Tallahassee will play the same two teams on Saturday, but in the reverse order - Gordon State at 1:30 p.m., Darton State at 4 p.m.
In the opener, a game the Eagles had under control turned into a nail bitter in the final inning. With the score tied at four, the Eagles scored five runs in the top of the seventh.
Robert Henderson's two-run single scored Ethan Crout and D.J. McKnight to give Tallahassee a 6-4 lead. Zach Featherstone followed with a three-run homer to give the Eagles a seemingly comfortable 9-4 advantage.
In the Cavaliers' final at bat, TCC allowed the first six batters to reach base. That trimmed the Eagles lead down to 9-8. Matt Schaeffer was forced to dig in to try to save the victory. Schaeffer retired the next three batters in order. Tyler Atwell caught the final out on a line drive to third base.
Schaeffer (1-0) picked up the win in relief, tossing the final two innings.
Atwell and Cody Fulton lead Tallahassee's 12-hit attack with three hits each. Jonathan Burkett was 2-for-3.
Against Gordon State, the Eagles managed only three hits in the 5-0 loss.
Dustin Dye (0-1) took the loss for Tallahassee, allowing four earned runs over five inning of work. He did strike out five.
Micah Dunn pitched the final two innings and held the Highlanders hitless.
Atwell had two of the Eagles' three hits.
***TCC Athletics
