Andalusia battled back, but a three-run first inning by T.R. Miller pushed the Tigers to a 7-5 win Thursday night in Andalusia.

 

The Tigers led off the game with a pair of singles, and then back-to-back errors by the Bulldogs’ infield allowed three runs to come across in the opening inning.

 

Hunter Earnest got the Bulldogs’ offense off to a strong start by ripping a triple to right field.

 

Earnest would come around to score when Brayden Burkhardt singled to left field.

 

The Tigers plated two more runs in the top of the second inning.

 

The Tigers’ first batter of the inning doubled, and then came around to score on an error.

 

Burkhardt struck out the next batter before a passed ball led to the Tigers’ fifth run of the game.

 

The Bulldogs narrowed the gap in the bottom of the third inning by bringing two runs across.

 

Todd Wright singled with one out, and then advanced to third base after a couple of passed balls.

 

Taylor Griffin reached after getting plunked by a pitch.

 

Wright scored from third when the Tigers’ catcher attempted to throw out Griffin stealing second.

 

With two outs, Payton Garner singled up the middle to bring Griffin around to score from third.

 

At the end of the third, the Bulldogs trailed, 5-3.

 

The score remained 5-3 until the Tigers plated two more runs in the top of the sixth inning on a two-out two-run home run.

 

The Bulldogs weren’t going to go away without a fight though.

 

The Bulldogs loaded the bases to start the bottom of the sixth inning, and Earnest hit a ball deep enough to right field that Clay Stephens and Ashton Elmore each tagged up and scored.

 

Big time pitching for the Tigers managed to get the next two Bulldogs to strikeout to end the threat.

 

The Bulldogs kept the Tigers off the scoreboard in the top of seventh, but weren’t able to get anyone on base in the bottom half of the final inning.

 

“I was pleased with the way we fought back twice,” Bulldogs’ head coach Tyler Dent said. “We played well, and Brayden pitched well enough to win. I’m also proud of the way we are hitting the ball right now. We have changed our approach at the plate, and it has worked well lately. We still have a few things to fix, but we know what those things are and we will get them fixed.”

 

With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to 5-8 on the season.

 

The Bulldogs will be back in action on Tuesday at Elba.