Mar. 14—The Southwestern baseball team took the field for the first time in the 2023 season on Monday, facing a road test at South Laurel. In what was a close battle between the two schools, the Warriors managed to pull out a hard-earned 8-6 victory over the Cardinals.

Southwestern senior Ben Howard drew the opening day start and went three innings, allowing two earned runs while throwing three strikeouts. Junior Cameron Shipp earned the win and senior Braden Morrow got the save. Sophomore Kyle West had the first home run of the year for Southwestern during the contest, along with two RBI's. Howard and junior Wyatt Morgan each added an RBI apiece. South Laurel sophomore Will Alsip drew the start for the Cardinals, going four innings. The Cardinals were led by two RBI's each from senior Ayden Smith and junior Adam Harville.

Southwestern starts the season out 1-0 and will take on Mercer County on Tuesday before a crosstown battle at Pulaski County on Thursday evening. That game will start at 6 p.m.

Jacob Pratt is the Sports Editor of the Commonwealth Journal and can be reached at jpratt@somerset-kentucky.com. You can follow him on Twitter @PrattTheNation