BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. - Tuesday, March 3, the Owls collected their first loss of the season against the Toppers of Blue Mountain College 9-6. The W falls 4-1 on the season.

The Owls baseball team fought hard as they competed against the Toppers. Throughout the first inning, the Owls were unable to score and allowed Blue Mountain to score three runs.

Coming into the second inning, Johndavid Birdsong scored the Owls' first run of the game on a batted ball by Brandon Jones. Defensively the Owls did not allow the Toppers to score and went into the third inning with Leon "Trey" Petite scoring due to a walk.

The Owls went scoreless in innings four and five but returned in the sixth inning with two runs. Matthew Bumpous was able to score the third run due to a double to left-center field by Damain Benefield. Following close behind was Heath Ford as he scored on a batted ball.
The Toppers continued to score throughout the third through sixth innings bringing them on top of the Owls, 9-4.
The Owls continued to work hard and were able to put one more run on the board in the top of the eighth and ninth by Ford bring the final score to 9-6.
Damain Benefield, Johndavid Birdsong, and Brandon Jones led the Owls at the plate with a 2-for-4 appearance. Petite, Birdsong, and Bumpous collected one run each as Ford led with three runs. Benefield led the team in RBIs with four.

On the mound, Logan Suggs pitched for three innings collecting three strikeouts, allowed six runs, five walks, and four hits. In 2.1 innings, Carson Forrester collected two strikeouts, allowed three runs, three walks, and three hits. Closing out for the Owls pitching 2.2 innings was Luke Hobson, as he collected two strikeouts, allowed zero runs, one walk, and two hits.

Coach Wolfe's Thoughts
"The guys fought hard today and competed until the end but the ball just didn't bounce our way. We hit the ball well but just didn't get the timely hits we needed when we had runners on base. Our pitching was not bad and our bullpen did well. When you play solid teams like Blue Mountain you can't have errors and mental mistakes on defense like we did today and expect to win."

UP NEXT
The Owls will continue on the road as they travel to take on Tougaloo College in Jackson, MS on Friday, March 6th. The doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m.