Green Goes Deep Twice as Indians Split at Bevill State

FAYETTE, Ala. – ICC walked out of Bevill State with a split that somehow felt like two different days in one. The Indians opened the season with a five-inning, 14-4 run-rule win, then watched the Bears storm back with six runs in the bottom of the seventh to steal the nightcap 9-8.

Game 1: ICC 14, Bevill State 4 (5 innings)

Houston Green put his stamp on opening day, hammering two home runs and driving in three as the Indians rolled to a 14-4 run-rule victory.

ICC jumped on the Bears immediately in the top of the first with back-to-back homers from Reid Kent and Green for a 2-0 lead. Bevill answered with two runs in the bottom half to tie it, but ICC kept pushing.

Brody Thompson put the Indians back in front 3-2 in the second with a double that brought home Cannon Graham. The Bears matched it again in the bottom of the inning, tying the game 3-3, and that was the last time it felt like a toss-up.

ICC created separation with a run in the third and three more in the fourth. Graham doubled to score Green in the third. In the fourth, Tyler Pickens came home on an error, then Green struck again with a two-out, two-run homer to stretch the lead.

The fifth was the knockout. ICC poured in seven runs to break it open. Pickens doubled to bring in Will Caviness and Thompson. Madden Butler followed with a single to score Pickens. Jacon Pearl scored when Kent reached and moved up on an error. Kent scored when Green reached on another error. Green then scored on Graham's RBI single as the inning kept stacking runs until the margin hit 14-3.

Bevill scratched one back in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out error, then a groundout to third ended it and sealed the run rule.

Drew Rowsey earned the win, allowing three runs on three hits across four innings with two strikeouts and five walks. Connor Edge closed it out in the fifth, giving up one run with no hits and two walks in an inning of work.

ICC finished with 15 hits. Green and Graham had three hits each, while Thompson, Bryson Jackson, Butler and Pickens added two apiece.

Game 2: Bevill State 9, ICC 8

The Indians built a 7-0 lead, added one more in the sixth, then ran into a seventh inning that flipped the entire day.

Green started the scoring again, giving ICC a 1-0 lead in the first. The Indians added on in the third when Graham doubled home Green and Jackson to make it 3-0. In the fourth, Butler singled to bring in Thompson. ICC kept stacking runs in the fifth: Jackson scored on a passed ball, Graham scored on an error, and Pearl singled to score Thompson to push the lead to 7-0.

Bevill got on the board with a run in the bottom of the fifth, but ICC answered in the sixth when Kent scored on Graham's sacrifice fly to make it 8-1.

Then came the bottom of the seventh. Bevill State plated six runs, highlighted by a grand slam, then a bases-loaded walk, and the final run scoring on a hit by pitch to complete the comeback and take the 9-8 win.

Green, Graham and Pearl each had two hits. Graham went 2-for-2 with three RBIs.

Up next, the Indians see the same Bevill State club again tomorrow in Fulton.