Big innings cost Rio against Buffaloes, Lindsey Wilson

Rio Grande Sports Information
     KINGSPORT, Tenn. - The University of Rio Grande baseball team was betrayed by a big inning in one game and a late rally in the other as the RedStorm suffered a pair of losses in the "Clash of the Conferences" hosted by Milligan University, Saturday afternoon, at Dobyns-Bennett High School's J. Fred Johnson Stadium.
     Head coach Brad Warnimont's squad dropped a mercy rule-shortened 11-0 decision to the host Buffaloes in their opening contest, before falling to Lindsey Wilson College, 9-8, in its nightcap.
     The two losses left Rio Grande at 1-4 for the season.
     In the opener against Milligan, the Buffaloes sent 14 batters to the plate in the home half of the fourth inning and scored 10 times against three Rio pitchers to break up a scoreless affair.
     Anthony Guzman and Caleb Berry delivered consecutive one-out, run-scoring doubles and Vicente Mendoza followed with a two-run single to produce a 4-0 lead and spell the end of the day for Rio senior starter Clayton Surrell (Carroll, OH).
     Back-to-back singles off of sophomore reliever Gabe Carter (Huntington, WV) loaded the bases and a wild pitch moments later made it 5-0.
     Jaden Steagal followed with a two-run single to left and Carter was lifted in favor of sophomore Reid Shultz (Minford, OH), who immediately negotiated the second out of the inning.
     But a subsequent single by Casey Haire preceeded a three-run home run to right-center by Braden Spano to round out the scoring explosion.
     Haire closed the scoring with a solo home run in the sixth inning.
     Guzman finished with three hits - including two doubles - for Milligan, while Haire and Berry added two hits of their own.
     Patrick Collins picked up the win for the Buffaloes, scattering six hits over four shutout innings.
     Canyon Geren collected a save with three hitless innings of shutout relief.
     Surrell suffered the loss for the RedStorm, allowing five hits and five runs - all earned - over 3-1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out four.
     Graduate senior Andrew Daria (Villa Hills, KY) had two hits, including a double, in the loss for Rio Grande.
     The nightcap against Lindsey Wilson saw the RedStorm erase a 4-1 deficit by scoring five times in the fourth inning, but cough up an 8-5 advantage entering the seventh and final inning by allowing the Blue Raiders to score four times.
     LWC snapped a 1-1 deadlock and took their three-run lead in the top of the fourth thanks to a solo home run by Chance Stayton and a two-run homer by Austin Rayno.
     Rio Grande went in front in the bottom of the frame thanks to a two-run triple by junior Trey Carter (Wheelersburg, OH), a two-run double by junior AJ Thomas (Pickerington, OH) and a run-scoring hit by junior Daniel Rutherford (Coal Grove, OH).
     Jordan Blick got the Blue Raiders to within 6-5 on a solo homer in the top of the sixth, but the RedStorm countered with a two-run single by Daria for a pair of insurance markers in the bottom of the inning to push the lead to 8-5.
     Then came the disastrous seventh.
     Jonathan Gallagher and Sam Gage opened the inning with consecutive hits and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Michael Sizemore followed with a base hit to score Gallagher.
     Another wild pitch put the tying runs in scoring position and, one out later, a sacrifice fly by Blick plated Gage to make it 8-7.
     An intentional walk of Stayton and a stolen base set the stage for a go-ahead, two-run single through the left side by Lucas Bault.
     The RedStorm put the would-be tying run on base in the home seventh when sophomore Alex Scoular (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) drew a one-out walk, but each of the next two batters were retired routinely by Jonathan Phipps - the last of four Lindsey Wilson pitchers - to end the game.
     Sizemore, Stayton and Gallagher all had two hits in the win for the Blue Raiders, while Blick, Bault and Rayno all drove in two runs each.
     Thomas finished 2-for-3 with two RBI in the loss for Rio.
     Junior Lane Mettler (Bainbridge, OH), the last of four RedStorm hurlers, took the loss after allowing five hits and four runs - all earned - over two innings.
     Rio Grande wraps up its weekend schedule on Sunday afternoon against Thomas More University at TVA Credit Union Ballpark in Johnson City, Tenn.
     First pitch is set for 2 p.m.