Three home runs allow Stingers to stay alive

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — A pair of two-run home runs allowed Florence-Darlington Tech to take control Wednesday and claim a 6-4 victory over the College of Southern Nevada in an elimination game of the Alpine Bank Junior College World Series.

Clinging to a 6-3 lead in the seventh inning, reliever Marcus Locklear hit the leadoff batter in the bottom of the seventh, and coach Preston McDonald went right to his closer, Derek Duval. The Coyotes (53-12, 2-2 JUCO) got the run home when Ashton Zacher's foul ball was caught in the left-field bullpen by Tyler Kamerer for a sacrifice fly, but Duval shut the door after that for his second save of the tournament.
It was the second close game played between the two teams this week. Florence-Darlington claimed a 9-8 victory in the second round Monday.

The eighth-seeded Stingers (54-11, 3-1 JUCO) got a solo home run from Kamerer in the second inning to tie the game at 1-1, but ninth-seeded CSN put up two in the fourth, including a steal of home by Kaiden Smaka.

A leadoff walk got Florence-Darlington going in the sixth, with Ethan Plyler following that with a home run to left field. An outfield error led to three unearned runs, including Jackson Proctor's two-run shot to the batters' eye in center field.

Southern Nevada starter Lucas Boesen took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits through five innings. He struck out seven, giving him 14 in his two starts of the tournament.

Locklear got the win for Florence-Darlington, which plays at 2 p.m. Thursday in yet another elimination game against the loser of Wednesday night's game between the last two undefeated teams in the tournament, Blinn and Georgia Highlands.

This article was first published here: https://jucogj.org/news/2024/5/29/juco-world-series-three-home-runs-allow-stingers-to-stay-alive.aspx