Gold Team reigns supreme, captures Tech baseball's 2014 Purple & Gold Series title
Another successful fall is in the books for the Tennessee Tech baseball team as the Golden Eagles wrapped up its annual Purple & Gold Series last week, with a contest that represented the theme of the series.
By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Another successful fall is in the books for the Tennessee Tech baseball team as the Golden Eagles wrapped up its annual Purple & Gold Series last week, with a contest that represented the theme of the series.
For the first time in over three years, the series did not make it to a deciding Game 5 scenario as the Gold Team took home bragging rights after a 4-2 victory over the Purple Team in Game 4 on Nov. 4.
All four contests were decided by two runs or less, including the arguably series-changing Game 3 which saw an extra-inning contest go to the squad in gold.
Several players emerged as heroes for their squads at different stages in the series starting with Game 1.
Game 1 (Oct. 28) GOLD 5, PURPLE 4
The first match-up of the fall series pitted last year's two returning weekend starters head-to-head, with Chris Chism representing Team Purple and Evan Fraliex taking the hill for the Gold.
Things seemed to be in favor of the Purple squad early as Chism held the Gold to one run on two hits over two and a third innings, fanning an impressive six batters along the way. Team Purple received big offense from infielder Jake Farr and designated hitter Johnny Carpenter. Farr tallied a home run on a 2-for-3 day at the dish while Carpenter drove in two runs with a triple.
Despite the four runs surrendered over the first three innings, the Gold Team proved resilient, fighting back with production all across the lineup to edge out its opponent, 5-4. Outfielder Alex Junior led the comeback, finishing 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run.
The win went to reliever Jeb Scoggins, who covered three innings for Team Gold with the tiniest blemish, a single hit surrendered. He struck out four before giving way to Travis Moths, who earned a one-inning save.
Game 2 (Oct. 30) PURPLE 8, GOLD 6
Game 2 saw the Purple squad just explode offensively, receiving another diesel performance from the woodwork of Carpenter. The outfielder drove in four runs on two hits in three trips to the plate. He led the attack with a two-run double, one of four two-baggers for the Purple in the contest. He added a sac fly for good measure.
Fellow outfielder Taylor Maxey proved to be a hard out in the contest, going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI. The Gold Team could have used outfielder Matt Cunningham on the basepaths a few more times as he managed to score twice while going 1-for-2 with a walk.
In the end, Austin Tolle and Team Purple reigned victorious with a solid 8-6 victory. Tolle tossed three and a third innings with just one run on his conscious. Will Gardner took home a two-inning save, striking out two and holding the Gold squad hitless.
Game 3 (Nov. 1) GOLD 4, PURPLE 3 – 8 inn.
While offense didn't necessarily dominate the contest, Game 3 proved to be the most pivotal and most exciting, requiring an extra frame to determine a victor and the all-important 2-1 edge in the series.
Starters Jacob Honea (Purple) and John Gora (Gold) each battled through three innings of work, with Honea claiming a one-run advantage. He struck out four while allowing just one run off two hits. Gora fanned five, but saw two runners cross the plate despite just two hits and a walk.
The pitcher's duel continued throughout, with Andrew Barkley replacing Honea with three innings of relief, seeing an unearned run cross the plate and knot things up at 2-2. Scoggins pitched fantastic after taking over for Gora, cruising through the final four stanzas. He allowed a single hit while setting down four on strikes.
A scoreless seventh by Kyle Godwin led the extra frame, which proved difficult for the newest relievers. Entering the eighth, runners were place on second and third for each team with no outs.
Team Gold's Travis Moths surrendered a single that allowed the Purple squad to take a 3-2 advantage. He settled down quickly however, striking out the side and limiting the damage in a very difficult scenario.
Will Gardner managed to record two outs, but his one mistake ultimately led to the end of the contest. After the tying run crossed on a sac fly by Adam Reed, infielder Josh Pankratz laced a double into the outfield to drive in the game winner, the only hit surrendered by Gardner.
It was the second two-bagger of the game for Pankratz, who finished 2-for-3 with the game-winning RBI. Moths claimed the victory of the Gold Team as the series moved on to Game 4.
Game 4 (Nov. 4) GOLD 4, PURPLE 2
Evan Fraliex and Adam Reed stole the show in Team Gold's series clinching victory, with Fraliex dominating from the start to Reed providing a spark that led to clutch hits across the lineup.
Both sides located its stuff quite well, with the Purple squad recording 10 strikeouts and the Gold Team tallying 11. Purple's Chris Chism managed five Ks on the day, but also surrendered three runs on five hits.
Fraliex, however, kept his opponent off the scoreboard with four innings of three-hit ball. He set down five batters on strikes and gave the Gold squad all the room it needed to take control of the game.
Adam Reed tattooed a ball as part of a 2-for-3 day at the plate, driving in one run with the signature hit of the day. Both Connor Goodspeed and Alex Junior drove in runs with sacrifice flies as the Gold Team turned to Kit Fowler and Cain Sloan to take them to the Promised Land.
Fowler delivered two innings of relief, allowing one run while striking out four. Sloan took home the save after closing out the final inning with one run allowed and two strikeouts.
| TEAM PURPLE | TEAM GOLD |
| Scotty Adkins | David Allen |
| Andrew Barkley | Dakota Bateman |
| Tyler Brazelton | Chase Chambers |
| Johnny Carpenter | Andrew Contreras |
| Chris Chism | Matt Cunningham |
| Anthony El Chibani | Ryan Flick |
| Jake Farr | Kit Fowler |
| Will Gardner | Evan Fraliex |
| Kyle Godwin | Connor Goodspeed |
| Jacob Honea | John Gora |
| Jordon Hopkins | Alex Junior |
| Kyle Keatts | Travis Moths |
| Ryan Julian | Gunner Osbourne |
| Andrew Knell | James Paisley |
| Trevor Maloney | Josh Pankratz |
| Taylor Maxey | Adam Reed |
| Luke Nientimp | Jake Rowland |
| Trevor Putzig | Jeb Scoggins |
| Caleb Savage | Cain Sloan |
| Austin Tolle |
