The sun was shining bright with a slight breeze at the baseball game Tuesday afternoon. A few students were scattered in clusters in the bleachers while parents sat in lawn chairs down the third baseline fence. The National Anthem played through the speakers as Union baseball players stood on the field facing the flag, hats off, hands clasped behind their backs.
The Bulldogs’ dugout rang of cheers and encouragement as Skyler Harrison threw the first pitch. Union beat LeMoyne-Owen 11-1, giving Harrison his fourth win of the season.
“Today was a good game for us,” the sophomore sports management major said. “We have been struggling as of late so today’s win was big for us.”
Harrison was proud of his team and the way they played. Dylan Moore started the offense off by hitting a three run homer in the first inning. The Bulldogs ended in the seventh inning by a sacrifice fly scoring their final run ending the game.
“We clicked on all cylinders today and hopefully we will continue to do so moving forward,” Harrison said.
The Bulldogs play University of West Florida this weekend with a double header Saturday and ending the weekend Sunday.
The Lady Bulldogs had their fair share of team bonding Monday afternoon as they defeated Lane College both games.
In their first game, the Lady Bulldogs scored each inning of play. Haley Barnette and Hailey Cummings both with 3-for-3 at the plate and Cummings pitched five innings with no runs scored. Union defeated Lane 10-0 in five innings.
The Lady Bulldogs let Lane score once in the second game, but their bats were still on fire. Union ended the second game winning 15-1.
“It was really nice to see everything come together on Monday,” Cummings said. “We have been struggling all year to put everything together, pitching, hitting and defense. People who had been struggling to hit had huges hits monday and our defense and pitching were solid.”
Cummings is excited for this weekend after Monday’s afternoon play.
“It’s never an easy weekend in our conference because every team is so strong,” Cummings said. “But if we can put everything together like we did on Monday, and even really starting with Miles and West Alabama, we might be able to pull out a couple wins against West Florida.”
The softball team plays the University of West Florida at home this weekend. Cummings feels that a couple of wins this weekend will be huge confidence booster for the team.