PENSACOLA, Fla. -- The Barry Buccaneers battled the elements and the 15th-ranked and third-seeded Montevallo Falcons to advance at the 2023 South Region Tournament at Jim Spooner Field on Thursday. After a 6:10 delay for rain and lightning, Barry blasted the Falcons 10-3 to advane to the winner's bracket game tomorrow against the winner of West Florida/Florida Southern.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: Barry 10, #15 Montevallo 3
Records: Montevallo (38-15); Barry (33-17)
All-Time Series: Barry leads 4-1
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING:
SUMMARY:
- T1: Barry got started early with a two-out rally in the first. Braden Forchic singled and Joe Stella walked. Forchic scored o RBI double by Kevin Noriega. | Barry 1, Montevallo 0
- T2: In the second, Brandon Sanchez drew a lead off walk and Jake Ogden doubled to right field. After Sanchez scored on a passed ball, Steven Nitch slashed a single to right to score Ogden. | Barry 3, Montevallo 0
- B2: The Falcons got on the board in the third when they loaded the bases on two infield singles and a walk. One run scored on a sacrifice fly and another on a wild pitch. | Barry 3, Montevallo 2
- T3: Barry got the runs right back in the third. Stella singled with one out. After Noriega reached on a fielder's choice, Savi Delgado beat out an infield hit and stole second. Both runners scored on a single by Sanchez into shallow left. | Barry 5, Montevallo 2
- T4: Barry finally chases Falcon Starter Michael Morse (3-2) in the fourth. After putting two on with two out, the Falcons went to the pen for Zach Toth. Toth quickly gave up a double steal by Forchic and Evan Wickeri and walked Stella. A passed ball by Falcon catcher Luke Mitchell scored one run and Noriega drove in a pair with a single to right. | Barry 8, Montevallo 2
- B7: Jake Smallwood drew a lead off walk from Barry reliever Federico Zapata, who then threw away a ball at second, allowing Smallwood to make it to third. He scored on a fly out. | Barry 8, Montevallo 3
- T8: The Falcons threw the run right back to the Bucs in the eighth. Noriega went all the way to third on a error by pitcher Reilly Kirkpatrick. Delgado followed with a double to left center. | Barry 9, Montevallo 3
- T9: Steven Nitch smashed a lead-off homer to right in the ninth. | Barry 10, Montevallo 3
NOTEWORTHY:
- Trevor Baker (2-3) was outstanding in only his second start of the season. He worked six innings, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks and struck out six, throwing 98 pitches.
- Zapata worked two innings with one unearned run and Derek Cabrera worked a scoreless ninth.
- Morse took the loss for Montevallo, who drop to the loser's bracket game tomorrow. In 3.2 innings, he gave up seven runs on eight hits and three walks and struck out just two.
- Noriega went 2-for-5 with a double and three RBI to lead the Bucs at the plate.
- Delgado and Nitch each had three hits, while Stella added two.
- Eight of the nine Bucs' starters had hits in the game and Barry walked 10 times off Falcon pitching.
- The game could have been worse, as Barry stranded 14 runners and ran into a pair of outs on the bases.
- For the third time in four trips to the NCAA Regional, Barry started off the tournament with a win (7-5 over Presbyterian in 1998 and 6-0 over Nova Southeastern in 2011).
- The win extended the win streak for the Bucs to six games.
- It was the first win over a ranked team for the Bucs this season.
ON THE HORIZON:
Barry will face the winner of the #2 West Florida vs. #7 Florida Southern game in the winner's bracket on Friday. That game time is still to be determined.
