CULLMAN – Owen Lovell belted a pitch over the left field fence for a 3-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, lifting the Cullman Bearcats past the James Clemens Jets 5-2 at Bill Shelton Field Thursday evening.
The home run from Lovell was the second by the Bearcats in the game and enabled Cullman to regain control of the contest, after they allowed James Clemens to tie the score in the top half of the sixth on a double and two errors.
It was a pitcher's duel as Cullman's Kade Williams allowed one run on one hit through five innings, striking out seven. His defense gave him good support as catcher Wheeler Eastman threw two runners out attempting to steal second base.
Grant Hopkins pitched well for the Jets, until he surrendered a two-run homer to Levi Thomas in the fourth that put Cullman on top for the first time.
Hopkins was the first of six to go on the mound for the Jets, who lost for the first time in three games on the young season.
Williams, at one point, retired nine in a row, before he hit Chris Sanders in the fifth with one out. The Jets got Sanders into scoring position at second, but he was left there when Duell McCrory lined to Lovell at center to end the inning.
Michael Myers took over for Williams in the sixth and began the inning with a strikeout. Then the Jets got a runner on base by a throwing error and tied the game when Garrett Brown ripped a double into the gap in left-center, making it a 2-2 score.
A key play after the Brown double and advancing to third on an error, was Noah Fondren throwing out Brown at home, trying to score on a grounder off the bat of Tommy Crider.
With one out in the Cullman sixth, Wes Norton drew a walk, and a single by Fondren put him into scoring position. Reliever Jared Barnes struck out Thomas for the second out, before Lovell took a 1-1 pitch and landed it on the roof of the Bearcats' indoor batting cage, outside the left field fence.
Myers got two outs quickly, then surrendered a single to Austin McGhee to keep the inning going for James Clemens. The two-hour, 10-minute contest came to a close when Myers struck out Carter Richardson on a curve ball.
Myers got the win for the Bearcats, allowing one run on two hits and striking out three.
Lovell had three hits in four plate appearances, as did Fondren, with Cullman collecting nine for the encounter.
Cullman has a busy weekend with a game Friday at Helena and two in the Hoover area on Saturday, before they return to Bill Shelton Field Monday to face Sparkman at 5 p.m.
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