Anchors Walk-Off Single Lifts Bucs Past Snead State

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – Freshman center fielder Owen Anchors delivered a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Nov. 20 Shelton State Community College baseball team to an 8-7 win over Snead State on Friday afternoon at Frazier Field.

Shelton State (6-4) rallied from 2-0, 4-2 and 7-5 deficits to win the game in walk-off fashion.

Snead State (6-4) has its four-game winning streak snapped.

Snead State right-hander Blake Dobbins, the fifth pitcher used by the Parsons, took the mound in the bottom of the ninth and did not record an out. Dobbins (0-1) allowed one run and one hit, with two walk and a hit batter in the loss.

Shelton State sophomore Mitt Landers (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his first career win with the Bucs.

Freshman shortstop Griffin Rardin was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and sophomore second baseman Landon Ingram drew a four-pitch walk.  Freshman Ellis Hamiter was called up to pinch-hit and drew a six-pitch walk to load the bases.

Anchors then dopped a 1-2 pitch into right field for the game-winning single that scored Rardin with the winning run. Anchors finished the day 2-for-6 with a home run and three RBIs.

Shelton State had a chance to win the game in the eighth inning but left two runners on base. Sophomore right fielder Jackson Henderson and sophomore first baseman James Graphos led of the inning with back-to-back singles to put runners at first and second with outs.

Snead State reliever Mason Busch bounced back to strike out the next three hitters on 10 pitches to keep the game tied.

Trailing 7-5, Shelton State scored two runs in the sixth inning to tie the game.

Anchors struck out to lead off the inning but reached on a passed ball. Henderson then followed with a walk to put two runners on base. With one out, sophomore third baseman Slade Sulivan smashed an RBI single to center field to score Anchors. With two outs, freshman Glavine Lamberth delivered a pinch-hit single to left to score Handerson with the tying run.

Snead State scored three runs with two outs in the fifth inning to retake the lead at 7-5. Brooks Parkerson tied the game with a single to centerfield and Drew Oelke followed with a two-run home run to left field.

The Parsons scored two runs in the first inning without benefit of a hit. The run came off three walks, one hit batter, one wild pitch and one infield ground out.

The Bucs answered in the bottom of the inning to take a 3-2 lead. Graphos drove in the first run with an RBI single and freshman left fielder Jarret Scott followed with a two-run single to give the Bucs an early lead.

Snead State regained the lead 4-3 with two runs in the top of the second inning. Caid Finn had an RBI double and Forrest Heacock added an RBI single.

Shelton State retook the lead 5-4 in the bottom of the second inning on a two-run home run by Anchors. He leads the team with two home runs and 12 RBIs through 10 games.

The Bucs finished the game with 11 hits, including two hits from Anchors, Henderson, Graphos and Scott.

The two teams combined for 30 strikeouts in the game. The Bucs struck out 18 times, while Parsons fanned 12 times.

Shelton State sophomore Kenneth Diddell recorded five strikeouts in three scoreless innings.

The Bucs close out the weekend and Florida road trip on Saturday, Feb. 21 with an 11 a.m. game against No. 20 Gulf Coast State.