CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 3, 2024) – The University of North Alabama baseball team picked up a pair of crucial ASUN victories over Queens on Friday in Charlotte.
The Lions defeated Queens 11-7 in the rain delayed first game before closing out the afternoon with an 8-2 game two win. Due to the rain delay in the first game, the two games lasted a combined eight hours and four minutes.
The Lions improve to 16-29 on the season with an 8-15 record in ASUN Conference play, while Queens falls to 11-36 with a 7-16 record in conference play. With the game one victory, UNA surpassed last season's win total of 14 and following the game two win, UNA ties the mark for most wins in a season during the Division I era with 16, set back in 2019.
Game 1 - North Alabama 11, Queens 7
UNA freshman
Bryant Loving picked up four RBIs in the first game to power the Lions to a crucial ASUN win. Loving tallied five RBIs between the two games after picking up just seven in his first 20 games of the season.
After Queens opened up the game with two quick runs on a first inning home run, Loving brought home his first two RBIs of the game on a single back up the middle.
The Royals responded in the third with a solo shot before North Alabama southpaw
Jacob James settled in and picked up his fifth victory of the season. James tossed five innings and picked up eight strikeouts in his 12th appearance of the season.
The lefty from Loretto, Tenn. moves closer to becoming UNA's all time career strikeout leader after bringing his career total to 272. With two projected starts remaining, James is eight strikeouts away from tying Chad Boughner for the most in program history and nine away from holding sole possession of first.
Andrew Knight tied the game at 3-3 with a solo home run to lead off the fourth inning. Knight ignited a rally that included six hits and brought home four runs to give UNA its first lead of the day.
The Lions picked up two more runs in the fifth inning, using a
Dominick McIntyre RBI single and a sacrifice fly from Loving to make the advantage 8-3. Queens added three runs of its own to the total in the home half of the inning.
After the bottom of the fifth inning, the field was tarped due to severe weather in the area. The delay lasted around one hour and 34 minutes before play resumed.
Brycen Parrish entered the game for UNA following the lengthy delay and closed out the contest, picking up his second save of the season. Parrish allowed just two hits and one earned run while striking out four batters across 4.0 innings.
Jackson Ferrigno tacked on a pair of runs with a seventh innings double while
Kyle Machado capped off the scoring for North Alabama with a double down the line in the eighth to score
Gehrig Frei from first base.
The win ended a seven-game losing skid and helped UNA move up a spot in the ASUN Conference standings.
Pitchers of Record
L – Landry Jurecka (3-7)
Game 2 - North Alabama 8, Queens 2
Queens opened up the scoring in game two of the evening with a pair of runs across the first three innings. Queens starting pitcher Carson Magill opened up the contest with three scoreless frames, allowing just one North Alabama hit in that span.
The Lions took back a run on a bases loaded sacrifice fly from McIntyre before Ferrigno and
Levi Jensen pulled off a double steal of second base and home, respectively, to knot the game at 2-2.
Jacob Bradshaw settled in after the early runs and closed his outing having allowed just five hits and two earned runs while exiting the contest in a tie game after 5.0 innings.
Loving gave North Alabama the lead for the second consecutive game, singling up the middle before coming around to score on a
Jonathan Lane double.
UNA solidified the lead in the ninth inning following a walk from Knight to bring home a run. Jensen stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and drove a double to the right-center field gap, scoring all three runners.
Dane Sykes entered the game for Bradshaw in the sixth inning and turned in his best outing of the season. Sykes struck out a season high nine batters across 4.0 innings while not allowing any hits and letting just two Queens baserunners reach safely. Sykes earned the win, picking up his second victory of the season.
The Lions look ahead to the third game of the series, seeking just the second series sweep this season. UNA swept UT Martin on March 9-10 in Florence earlier this year.
Pitchers of Record
L – Carson Magill (2-4)
S – None
COMING UP NEXT
UNA and Queens return to the diamond for the third and final game on Sunday, May 5 at noon.
