FLORENCE - With a late inning rally the Purple was able to hold on for a 5-4 win over the Gold and complete a sweep of annual University of North Alabama baseball Purple-Gold series.

In a must win for the Gold, starting pitcher Kevin Henry got off to a rough start as Ross Parker led off the game with a single, stole second and scored on a Blake Stroth double. After a strike out and a pop up, the Gold’s defense, collapsed again with back to back errors to allow Stroth to score and take an early 2-0 lead.

Purple starter Drew Clark retired the first two batters then Jacob Lamar singled. Zack Summy followed with a walk but Clark was able to end the threat with a soft ground ball to second base to keep the Gold scoreless.

The Purple started the second inning with Clark reaching first base on another Gold error which allowed him to advance to second. After getting the next two batters, Henry faced Mitch Handley who delivered a two-out hit single to score Clark from second and make it 3-0. The Gold responded in the bottom of the second with a lead off single by Kevin Williams. For the first time in the series, the Purple’s defense let them down with back to back errors, allowing Williams to score. After the errors, Clark recorded a strike out and a flyoutl to right field to end the inning.

Henry and Clark both kept the teams scoreless in the third. Patrick Hinton entered in the top of the fourth and quickly recorded two outs. Parker, who reached base all three at bats, worked Hinton for a two-out walk.
Parker then stole second and third, then scored on another clutch hit by Stroth to make it 4-1.

With a three-run lead, Clark walked the first two batters and was relieved by Casey Jones, who already had two saves in the series. Jones was greeted by a Will Dennis single past first base to score McGregor moving Williams to third. Trey Mitchell hit a soft groundball to second to score Williams as the Gold moved within one run of the Purple. Scott McGough also grounded to second for the second out, but moved Dennis to third.
With two outs, Mothershed grounded to short and forced an errant throw, which allowed Dennis to score the tying run. Mothershed then stole second and Drew Humphrey hit a sharp line drive to left but Parker came up and made a perfect throw to Jordan Wakefield, who tagged Mothershed out at the plate to end the inning and keep the game tied. Porch led off the fifth with a single to centerfield and he moved up to second on the
throw. Josh Cyr took a 1-1 fastball and drove it down the left field line to score Porch and regain the lead for
the Purple. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Jones faced the three, four, and five hitters. Lamar led off the inning with a single but was thrown out at second attempting to steal. Jones did what he had done all series and ended the threat with a strike out and a weak groundball back to the pitcher, recording a save in all three games.