Tallington’s Career Day Lifts Bearcats To Victory In Slugfest Finale

HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. – The Rust College baseball program rode a huge offensive performance from the trio of Devin Tallington, Shemaar Stapleton, and Christian Hill to a high-scoring triumph on Sunday afternoon, snapping its four-game slide to the Bleu Devils in a 15-14, seven-inning offensive extravaganza.

It was a huge win in the sense that it kept the Blue and White among the top four of the GCAC's eight-team standings with two conference series' remaining before the tournament arrives.

The Basics: 

• Score (7 Innings)
• • Rust – 15
  • Dillard – 14

• Records
• • Rust (12-25, 8-7 Gulf Coast)
  • Dillard (10-24, 6-8 Gulf Coast)

• Location
• • Holly Springs, Mississippi – Bearcat Field

• Series History (Since 2023)
• • Dillard Leads 5-4 (44.4%)

• Winning Streak (Since 2023)
• • Rust (W1) | Dillard's Last Win: April 6, 2024 (Game 2, 13-1)
    

Rust Top Performers:

• Tallington easily had his best outing of his tenure in Northern Mississippi in the batter's box, setting career-highs with five RBIs, three hits, and two doubles on top of coming around to score.

• Stapleton reached base and scored all four times he stepped to the dish, blasting a two-run homer, a double plus a single in addition to stealing a base and walking once.

• Christian Hill also drove in a trio of Bearcats during a 2-of-2 showing, driving each student-athlete home in a different fashion, once courtesy of a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded, once on a sacrifice fly, and once on a hard single through the left side of the infield.

• Rashid Muhammad put a charge in one strong enough to send it sailing out of Bearcat Field, falling a triple shy of the cycle similar to Stapleton as he went 3-for-5 with a pair of both ribbies and scores.

• Kyrent Cole was a perfect 2-of-2 to go along with a free pass, a run batted in, and touched home twice while Arvis Latting tied for the team's win lead by securing his third victory on the hill in 2024 (3-2), hurling 2.1 relief innings in which he gave up zero earned runs (one total) on just one base knock and one base on balls, striking out one Dillard hitter in the process.

Next:

• A pair of mid-week matinees are on the docket over the next three days as RC travels to Memphis twice in back-to-back days for matchups at Christian Brothers on Tuesday and LeMoyne-Owen on Wednesday.

#BatesBall | #PawsUp