The Rattlers looked to pick themselves back up from a devastating 13-to -2 loss against Mercer University on Tuesday as they faced Edward Waters College. The Rattlers went down in a 16-to-15 shoot out to the Tigers the first time they met this year in Jacksonville.
This time the Rattlers were eyeing revenge as they hosted the Tigers at Moore-Kittles Field. The Rattlers took the field first as pitcher Miguel Parga (2-4) took the mound before a crowd of 150.
The Tigers kicked off their strike with third baseman Mo Turknett hitting a line drive single. Left-fielder Neil Martino reached base on a fielder’s choice and Turknett advanced to second base on a throwing error to first by pitcher Parga.
Then Tigers first baseman Brian Fitzpatrick crushed the ball up the middle of the field hitting his first single of the day and advancing Martino to third. This play allowed Turknett to score putting Edward Waters up 1 to 0.
Miguel Parga then took a breath and tried to collect himself, but he delivered a wild pitch, which allowed Martino to score putting the Tigers up 2 to 0. Parga then tried to refocus himself as he struck out catcher Joeshual Velez, but his focus did not last for long as he gave up a hard double down the left field line to designated hitter Bryan Joseph scoring Fitzpatrick.
Parga ended the inning as he gave up four runs, four hits and committed two errors.
During the top of the second inning the Tigers continued their attack as they scored three more runs putting Edward Waters up 7 to 0.
The Rattlers showed some signs of life during as they came to the plate. Catcher Jimmy Terrell showed off some of his power as he crushed a homerun over the left field wall, but the Rattlers could not add anymore to that inning as they were down 7-to-1 in the bottom of the second.
The Tigers continued to pounce on the Rattlers as they scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning and one in the top of the fifth knocking Rattler Parga off of the mound for the day.
The Rattlers tried to battle back in the bottom of the ninth as a combination of hits by Courtney Goner, Elliot Bonner, Derrick Shaw, Jimmy Terrell and Darius Washington. However, this was not enough to get the win as they lost their eight straight game to Edward Waters College 12 to 9.
Coach Lucas spoke on the loss and the losing streak, “We don’t play well enough, and we don’t think well enough to try to be a team to play in the tournament.
Third Baseman Derek Shaw looks to keep his head up after the loss. “We have to forget about our record and just come together.” “We need to be more confident out on the field just like we are in practice.”
The Rattlers look to get back in to the win column as they face at Alabama State University today at Moore-Kittles Field at 1 p.m.