The Austin Bulldogs continued their winning ways on Friday night, staging a scintillating come from behind win by scoring 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning to edge the visiting Knights 7-6.

Elkins jumped on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning, taking advantage of a base on balls and a hit to score the first run of the night. Starting pitcher James Sullivan put an end to the threat, however, when he would record his second strike out of the inning to retire the side.

The Bulldogs would answer in the bottom of the frame, when Sullivan would lead off with a walk and promptly steal second base. CF Tyler Whitaker would take advantage of a Knight error, one of five that they would commit in the game, reaching base and pushing Sullivan over to third. RF Brock West would follow with a single to fight field that would plate Austin's first run.

The game would remain tied at one until the top of the third inning, when Elkins would score their second run of the game by virtue of a Dawg fielding error and consecutive singles by their cleanup and number five hitter.

The Bulldogs would strike back in the bottom of the fourth inning to knot the score again, West scoring after reaching base with a walk and moving to third base when a pick-off attempt would result in the ball settling into left field, allowing West to claim two bases on the play. From their, 3B Tyler Hopson's deep sacrifice to right would be more than enough to allow the Dawgs to plate the tieing run.

Moving to the fifth inning, the Knights would do some damage as their first four batters would reach base with two singles, a walk and an Austin error, scoring three runs before the first out could be recorded. The Knights would add another run with a on a sacrifice fly to take a 6-2 lead with five complete.

Pitching in relief, Jared Boyle would hold the Knights scoreless over the last two innings.

With threatening skies, down to their final three outs and trailing by four runs, the Bulldog faithful would don their rally caps and hope for a little bit of that late-inning magic one more time and the Bulldogs would not disappoint. Hopson would begin the rally with a single to left field. SS Cody Brown would follow with a dink to right field that would pop out of the Elkin's right fielder's glove as he attempted to make a sliding catch; Hopson moving to second base on the play and beating the throw from the right fielder by only the slimmest of margins. C Chris Miller would follow with a hard ground ball that would be bobbled by the second baseman, allowing Miller to reach base and Hopson to score on the play, Brown moving to third. After a fly ball out to right field, LF Andrew Sciba would deposit a single to short center field, scoring Brown and moving Miller to third. A pop out to the second baseman would leave the Dawgs with only one more out with the tying runs on base, as Whitaker would come up to bat. Being no stranger to pressure-packed situations, Whitaker would respond by lacing a double to the right-center gap, scoring both Miller and Sciba to tie the game. As the rain drops began to fall, West would hit a smash up the first base line that was simply to hot for the Knight's first baseman to handle, allowing Whitaker to cross the plate to start the Dawgpile at home as Austin would celebrate the comeback win.

Defensive highlights for the Dawgs included 3B Tyler Hopson making a long cross-diamond throw from behind third base to just beat the runner, 1B Eric Abney stretching out to collect the throw. After a Knight lead off double to start the 7th inning, SS Cody Brown would make a heads-up play to get the runner trying to advance to third on a hot shot to short; Hopson completing the tag play. The 7th inning would end on a tailor-made double play, perfectly executed by the Bulldog middle infield of Brown, Sullivan, and Abney. The Bulldogs would also successfully execute an around-the-horn throw after a strikeout for the second game in a row!

Bulldog Offensive Highlights
Hits (8), Brock West (2), Andrew Sciba (2), Cody Brown (2), Tyler Whitaker, Tyler Hopson
RBI (5), Tyler Whitaker (2), Brock West, Tyler Hopson, Andrew Sciba
Extra Base Hits (2), Tyler Whitaker (2B), Brock West (2B)
Stolen Bases (3), James Sullivan, Chris Miller, Andrew Sciba

Bulldog Pitching Highlights
James Sullivan, 4 Inning, 5 Ks, 2 BBs, 5 Hits, 5 Runs (4 earned)
Jared Boyle (WP), 3 Innings, 1 Ks, 1 BBs, 3 Hit, 1 Runs (1 earned)


Score by inning: