Wallace College - Baseball Press Releases

Even with flu-like virus, Govs defeat Alabama Southern	2009-03-13
It wasn’t pretty, and that’s not just the ball game. Several of the Wallace Govs have come down with some form of a flu-like virus. So in addition to battling Alabama Southern on the baseball diamond, the Govs were battling themselves Friday afternoon.
At game time, the Govs starting pitcher wasn’t on the mound. Instead Starling Arias was stretched out on a couch in the press box. This was a huge loss, considering he struck out 14 during his last start. Many of those who did play were throwing up and coughing before and during the game. “I just hope we can out score them,” Wallace coach Mackey Sasser said before the game. “We’ve got a make-shift lineup today. A lot of people are playing out of position. We’re just trying to put a team on the field.” Somehow, it all came together. Despite all the obstacles—including three key errors—the Govs were able to hold on and defeat the Eagles 8-6. Perhaps the savior of the day was Wallace pitcher Brett Birdsong. Normally a reliever, Birdsong came on with one out in the fourth inning. He pitched the rest of the game and didn’t allow a single earned run. For Birdsong, it was his longest outing of the year. “I knew I needed to step up,” Birdsong said. “I was getting the job done with my change-up and slider, and then I would mix-in my fastball. I needed to keep them off balance because they are a good hitting team.” “I used one of my Saturday starters (Tyler Claburn) to open the game,” Sasser said. “But he didn’t have much. He had thrown a long side session on Wednesday, so I know he was tired.” Clayburn pitched the first three innings. He gave up four hits and allowed two runs, so the Govs were in an early hole. But in the bottom of the third inning, the Govs discovered the long ball and took the lead. The Govs got back-to-back solo home runs from Chris Sasser and Yeriel Nieves and a three-run blast from Miquel Pagan Vargas to take a 5-2 lead. But it was a very short-lived lead. In the top of the fourth inning, Claburn was replaced by Daniel Vargasvila. He only faced four batters and three of them ended up scoring. That tied the game at 5-5. Birdsong entered the game with one out in the inning, and that gave the Govs offense time to get in gear. In the bottom of the fifth, the Govs took the lead for good when they scored two runs. The first came on the second home run of game of the bat of Nieves. T.J. Rivera scored the second run without the benefit of a hit. Rivera and Pagan Vargas both walked. When the Eagles attempted a pickoff of Pagan-Vargas at first, the ball ended up rolling toward right field and Rivera scored all the way from second. The Govs scored their final fun in the seventh inning, and once again Nieves was right in the middle of it. He led off with a single and later scored on an error. Nieves reached base all four times he came to bat. He had two home runs, a single, a walk, and two RBIs and he scored three times. The Eagles were able to add their final run in the top of the ninth. It came courtesy of the Govs third error of the game. “I can’t say enough about the job Birdsong did today for us,” Sasser said. “He stepped up and we were able to get some big hits. This type of win shows we are never out of a game.” Wallace is now 14-8 on the year and 4-0 in the Southern Division. Saturday’s double header against Alabama Southern has been moved up to 11 a.m. in hopes of getting them in ahead of the rain. Nathaniel Frazier is Sports Information Director for Wallace baseball. He can be reached at NFrazier@DothanEagle.com .