RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande rallied from early deficit to present head coach Brad Warnimont with a milestone victory, but Campbellsville University rebounded in game two to earn a split of their Mid-South Conference baseball doubleheader, Friday afternoon, at Bob Evans Field.
The RedStorm spotted the Tigers an early 3-0 lead in the opener before rallying to post a 9-4 victory - the 600th win in Warnimont's career - while Campbellsville followed up a five-run third inning with three fourth inning markers en route to an 11-4 triumph in the nightcap.
Rio Grande, which snapped a six-game losing slide inside the conference with the opening game win, went to 27-23 overall and 6-13 in the MSC with the split.
The Tigers improved to 33-14 overall and 13-6 in conference play.
Campbellsville took a 3-0 lead in the opener, scoring twice against sophomore starter Mike Deitsch (Cincinnati, OH) in the first inning thanks to a sacrifice fly by Chance Kopacz and a run-scoring groundout by Craig Edwards and once in the second on an RBI single by Brandon Johnson.
Rio, which went down in order against Campbellsville starter Ryan Richardson in each of the first three innings, began the road back by scoring twice in the fourth inning as a result of back-to-back singles by junior Kyle Perez (Casselberry, FL) and freshman Grant Tamane (Pickering, Ontario, Canada), an RBI groundout by junior Shane Spies (Polk, OH) and a run-scoring hit by junior Vince Perry (Cypress, CA).
The RedStorm tied the game in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Perez, but went in front to stay by scoring five times in the sixth.
Spies led off with a single and, one out later, freshman Kyle Findley (Cincinnati, OH) drew a walk, setting the stage for a tie-breaking, two-run double to right by senior Brian Suerdick (Dayton, OH). Infield singles by freshmen Ethan Abell (Mount Vernon, OH) and Luke Taylor (Pedro, OH) plated Suerdick and, after a walk to Perez loaded the bases, a walk to Tamane and a throwing error brought home two more runs to make it 8-3.
The Tigers got one of the runs back on a two-out solo home run to center by Kopacz in the seventh, but Tamane bunted home a run for Rio in the eighth to set the final score.
Suerdick and Taylor finished with two hits each in the win, while Deitsch pitched the first seven innings to get his fifth victory in 11 decisions. Senior closer Ryan Chapman (Racine, OH) came on to work out of a one-out jam in the eighth and pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save.
Johnson went 3-for-4 and drove in a run for Campbellsville, while Kopacz had two hits and two RBIs. Richardson, who entered the game with a 5-2 record and a 1.73 ERA, suffered the loss. He allowed seven runs - all earned - over 5-1/3 innings.
In game two, Campbellsville's Gibby Briones had an RBI single in the first inning and a two-run double in the Tiger's five-run third inning explosion against Rio junior starter Ryan Robertson (Waverly, OH). Danny Lapchak and Michael Durham added run-scoring hits in the third, while Johnson contributed a sacrifice fly.
The lead grew to 9-0 in the fourth thanks to an RBI double by Lapchak and a two-run single by Kopacz.
Meanwhile, Campbellsville starter Michael McBride limited the RedStorm to no runs and just two hits in the first four innings before the home team finally got on the scoreboard thanks to a two-run single by Perez in the fifth.
The Tigers got the two runs back in the seventh against sophomore reliever Dylan Perego (Waterdown, Ontario, Canada) thanks to a one-out walk to Rylan Chin, a double by Ryan Squires, a passed ball and a sacrifice fly by Tony Rossetto.
Rio set the final score with runs of its own in the seventh, one of which scored on a two-out error and the other on a double by junior Zach Dumler (Vandalia, OH).
Tamane and Taylor had two hits each and Perry added a double in a losing cause for the RedStorm. Robertson allowed 12 hits and nine runs - eight of which were earned - over 3-/13 innings, suffering his seventh loss in 10 decisions.
Lapchak and Kopacz had three hits apiece and combined for five RBIs for Campbellsville. Briones had two hits and three RBIs, while Edwards added two hits in the win. McBride allowed two runs and seven hits over six innings to get his eight win in nine decisions.
Weather permitting, Rio Grande is scheduled to close out the series - and its 2012 home schedule - with a 1 p.m. first pitch on Saturday. It will be the final home game in the career of the RedStorm's four seniors - Suerdick, Chapman, Jacob Cooke (South Charleston, OH) and Ben Schlater (Lewisburg, OH).
Rio needs a win in the series wrapup, as well as a Shawnee State win over the University of the Cumberlands, to avoid finishing eighth in the league standings and being forced to face No. 9 seed Pikeville in next Wednesday's MSC Tournament play-in game at Campbellsville.
A webcast of the game will be available at www.ihigh.com/redstorm beginning at 12:50 p.m.
