Tigers Complete Sweep of Rio Baseball

RIO GRANDE, Ohio – Georgetown College finished off a series sweep of the University of Rio Grande by taking both ends of a doubleheader, 5-2 and 3-2, Saturday afternoon, in Mid-South Conference baseball action at Bob Evans Field.

The Tigers, who are ranked No. 23 in the latest NAIA coaches poll, upped their record to 20-4 overall and 9-3 in league play with the come-from-behind victories.

Rio Grande slipped to 10-17 overall and 3-9 against conference foes, dropping into last place in the MSC standings.

The RedStorm have now lost their last five outings.

Georgetown pushed across three unearned runs in the top of the eighth inning to pick up the game one victory and rallied from a 1-0 deficit entering the fourth inning to win the seven-inning nightcap.

Senior right-hander David Steele (Kettering, OH) was the hard-luck loser in game one for Rio, scattering 10 hits and a pair of walks over 7-1/3 innings. He allowed all five runs – only two of which were earned – and fanned nine.

Fellow senior righty Eric Ford (Chagrin Falls, OH) took the loss in game two, despite pitching well enough to win. He allowed four hits and all three runs, while walking one and striking out three in a five-inning stint on the mound.

Junior Kevin Arroyo (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) had four hits on the day for the RedStorm – two in each game – while junior Grant Tamane (Pickering, Ontario, Canada) had three hits and two runs batted in on the afternoon and freshman Luis Jimenez (Salinas, Puerto Rico) added one hit in each contest.

Brian Barry got his fifth win in six decisions for GC in game one, allowing four hits and two runs over six innings. Craig Ramsey allowed one hit and one walk over three scoreless innings to record his third save.

Shaun Meyer went the distance on the mound for the Tigers in game two to improve to 2-0.

Justin Moore and Steven Mancilla each had four hits on the day to pace the GC offense. Moore also drove in two runs.

Tyler Coker, Martin Lemus, Armando Lomeli and Ryan Rodriguez all had two hits in the twinbill for the Tigers, while Coker and Rodriguez also had two RBIs apiece.

Rio Grande took a 1-0 lead in the opener on a third inning run-scoring single by Tamane, but the Tigers tied the game in the fifth on a two-out RBI single by Moore and took a 2-1 lead of their own on a single by Rodriguez.

The RedStorm rallied to tie the game in the home seventh on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt by sophomore Chris Ford (Athens, OH), but the Tigers went in front to stay with their trio of unearned markers in the eighth.

Lemus led off the inning with a single after having his at bat extended by an error when Rio freshman right fielder Carlos Flores (Guayanilla, Puerto Rico) dropped a routine flyball in foul territory.

Mancilla followed with a single up the middle and continued on to second when the throw to prevent pinch-runner Tanner Unkel from advancing to third was late.

Michael Encinas followed with a sacrifice fly to center and David Higuera singled home Mancilla, giving the Tigers a 4-2 lead and spelling the end of the day for Steele.

Higuera then stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch by Rio sophomore reliever Kirk Yates (Chillicothe, OH) and later scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Rodriguez.

The RedStorm went down in order against Ramsey in the eighth and failed to score in the ninth, despite putting runners at second and third with two outs and bringing the tying run to the plate.

Game two saw Rio take another 1-0 third inning lead on a two-out single by Tamane, but the Tigers tied the game in the fourth on a leadoff home run by Coker and went in front to stay with two runs in the fifth.

Rodriguez reached on a one-out walk in the fifth and Duran Elmore was hit by a pitch before Moore delivered a game-tying single to right.

Coker then laid down a squeeze bunt which Ford fielded in front of the mound, but his throw to catcher Austin Hall (Wheelersburg, OH) was ruled late as Elmore slid in with the go-ahead run.

Rio rallied in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit in half, but saw its hopes of tying the game cut down at the plate.

Chris Ford led off with a single to right and, after being bunted into scoring position, scored on a two-out single to right by Arroyo, who advanced into scoring position himself when the throw home to get Ford was late.

Tamane followed with a single to right, but Arroyo was thrown out at the plate to prevent the tying run from crossing and neither team scored over the final two innings.

Rio Grande returns to action on Sunday in a non-conference doubleheader against West Virginia Tech at Bob Evans Field. Both games will be seven-inning contests.

First pitch for game one is set for 1 p.m.