On a day where many Bear Baseball sophomores were honored on Sophomore Day, several were key contributors for Southwest Monday in a 12-2 seven-inning win over visiting Florida Post Grad.

"Today was a really good day of baseball," Southwest head coach Jack Edmonson said. "Noah Russ got us going early on the mound and the offense gave us a couple of runs to get us off on the right foot. We had a really good day of baseball."

The Bears (16-26) made a statement in the first inning. After Russ kept the Marlins off the board in the top half, the offense made sure to grab the lead.

Jake Meilstrup led off with a single and scored during the ensuing at bat when Gage Hinnant reached on an error putting the Bears up 1-0. The lead grew during the following at bat when Lane Steinwinder singled in Hinnant. Cru Bella followed suit later in
the inning with an RBI single of his own, scoring Steinwinder and giving the hosts a 3-0 advantage.

The Marlins pushed a run across in the second but the Bears rallied in the fourth to pull away. RBI singles from Hinnant and Cody Presley was followed by a fielder's choice which scored another run making the score 6-1 in favor of Southwest.

Another rally in the fifth produced four additional runs. A Jonathon Miller RBI single was accompanied by a Hinnant RBI double and an RBI single from Presley giving the Bears a nine-run advantage at 10-1.

Florida Post Grad scored its second run in the seventh but Southwest got the last laugh in the bottom half of the inning as Steinwinder hit a double to right scoring Miller and pinch hitter Tanner Moore giving the Bears the walk-off win.

After the game, Steinwinder – one of the sophomores recognized – said that he was aware of the walk-off situation and knew that he had to deliver.

"I knew going into the box I had a chance to be the hero," he said. "It felt good to come through and end the game."

Steinwinder went 2-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and three RBIs. Hinnant also had a big day with two hits including a double to go along with three runs scored and three RBIs.

The combination of Russ, Jackson Hawsey, Alden Spencer, Garrison Shows and Peyton Perdue gave up only three hits, two runs (one earned) and five walks while recording six strikeouts.

The Bears jump back into MACCC action on Wednesday hosting Hinds at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.