DELAND, Fla. — For the third consecutive year, Jacksonville opened the ASUN Tournament with a win, defeating Austin Peay on Tuesday afternoon at Melching Field.
The Dolphins totaled 12 hits, with five players recording multi-hit games in a full team effort.
Alex Walsh got the ball in round one and did what
Alex Walsh does. The ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year struck out five over five innings, allowing just one earned run. He earned his ASUN-leading eighth win of the season and his second victory at Melching Field in the last 10 days.
Jacksonville took the lead in the third, highlighted by back-to-back singles from
Conner Spelman and
Blake Edmonds.
After the Governors tied it in the fifth,
Logan Baratta wasted no time giving the lead back to JU, launching a 396-foot solo home run off the scoreboard. The homer left the bat at 101 mph and marked his fourth of the season.
The 'Phins scored in the third, fifth, sixth and seventh innings, but none were bigger than the four-run sixth.
The inning started with a leadoff single from
Sammy Mummau and a perfectly executed hit-and-run from
Roger Vergara to put runners on the corners. Mummau scored on a wild pitch, and
Derek Bermudez doubled in Vergara three pitches later.
Conner Spelman broke the game open later in the inning with a single to left field, plating both runners in scoring position and extending the Dolphin lead to 6-1.
Bermudez added another RBI double in the seventh, his second of the day and 53rd RBI of the season, giving Jacksonville all it needed to move on.
The 'Phins will face North Alabama tomorrow in round two at 2:00 p.m.
