Wallace College - Baseball Press Releases

Wallace wins rubber game against LBW	2008-02-26
Wallace coach Mackey Sasser had to be thinking, “Here we go again.” He watched as starting pitching Adam Oliver hit the first batter of the game. This, after the Govs and LBW Saints had spent all day plunking or walking each other in their Sunday double-header.
Oliver did give up two runs in that first inning, but after that he was pretty much in control. Oliver settled down and the Govs bats came to life and Wallace rolled to an easy 12-4 victory. “This is what can happen when you get good pitching,” Sasser said. “We got seven good innings out of our starting pitcher and once again we hit the ball well. It’s important to get good pitching because the bats may not always be there.” With the victory, Wallace won the conference series 2-1. Overall, the Govs improved to 7-4 on the year. While the Govs corrected their pitching problems from the previous day, LBW was not as fortunate. Though he was spotted a two-run lead before ever taking the mound, LBW starting pitcher Thomas Fultz gave the lead right back in the bottom of the first. Fultz walked two batters, gave up RBI singles to Ryan Reece and Jonathan Eaves, and hit Anthony Kopacz with the bases loaded. So after the first inning the Govs had a 3-2 led. While Oliver got into a groove, Fultz didn’t make it out of the second inning. When he walked the first batter, he was replaced by Trey Waltman who didn’t fare much better. Waltman walked the first batter he faced, and later gave up an RBI ground out to Daniel Torrente and an RBI single to Brett Chamberlain. The 5-2 lead after two innings was just the beginning. Anthony Kopacz added to the Govs lead in the third with a solo home run, his second of the year. After LBW got one run back in the fifth on Allan Park’s solo home run, the Govs really poured it on in the bottom of the inning. Waltman walked two more batters before he was replaced by Matt Ford. But once again this was a case of relief pitching providing no relief. T.J. Rivera greeted Ford with a two-run triple to the deepest part of the field. The ball actually cleared the fence, but was brought back in play by center fielder Jack Materne. Next, Esterlin Perozo got an infield single that scored Rivera. But the man of the hour was Chamberlain. This time he hit a three run homer over the right field fence. For Chamberlain, who didn’t hit a single home run last year, this was his fourth. In the game, he went three-for-four with a walk and four RBIs. His homer also gave the Govs a 12-3 lead. LBW was able to add a late run off a Wallace error. But in addition to Chamberlain, the story of this day was Oliver. He allowed only seven hits and gave up only three runs. “I settled down,” Oliver said of his pitching performance after the first inning. “I wasn’t bending my back and throwing to my target. Plus, I didn’t have to worry about giving up runs. Just look at the scoreboard.” “When you get good pitching and hitting, this is what can happen,” Sasser said. “We just need to get more consistency.” The Govs will be on the road this weekend. They will take on Chattahoochee Valley in Phenix City this Friday and Saturday. GAME NOTES Brett Chamberlain hit everything in site Monday afternoon. In addition to going three-for-four with a home run with four RBIs, Chamberlain also nailed Wallace photographer Nate Frazier in the mid-section with one of his hard hit line drives. The only out he made was also a hard hit line-drive that the third baseman jumped up and caught. As a team the Govs got 11 hits. The only other player to have more than one hit was Harman Watkins who had two singles. This latest series between Wallace and LBW is very unusual. Generally the two schools play close, tightly contested games. None of the games in this series were close. Nathaniel Frazier is Sports Information Director for Wallace Baseball. He can be reached at NFrazier@DothanEagle.com .