Rio Grande Sports Information
RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande used a pair of home runs to take a commanding early lead and then held on late for a 6-4 game one win over Aquinas (Mich.) College, Sunday afternoon, in non-conference baseball action at Bob Evans Field.
The RedStorm failed to capitalize on a chance to sweep the doubleheader, coughing up a big lead late in the nightcap as the Saints escaped with a 9-8 victory.
Rio Grande finished the day with a record of 7-11.
Aquinas headed back north at 4-4.
Rio got a first inning solo homer by junior AJ Thomas (Pickerington, OH) and a three-run fourth inning blast by junior Daniel Rutherford (Coal Grove, OH) to take a 4-0 lead in the first game of the twinbill.
A run-scoring double by senior Clayton Surrell (Carroll, OH) and a sacrifice fly by Thomas extended the lead to 6-1 in the fifth inning.
The Saints made things interesting with a trio of sixth inning markers, but senior Trey White (Crooksville, OH) and junior Lane Mettler (Bainbridge, OH) each tossed two-thirds of an inning of hitless, scoreless relief to preserve the victory for junior starter Trey Carter (Wheelersburg, OH).
Carter allowed two hits, two walks and one run over 4-2/3 innings.
Rutherford finished 2-for-3 at the plate for Rio Grande.
Grant Martin was 2-for-3 with a run batted in for Aquinas, while Nathan Wilcox finished 2-for-2 with two RBI. The hit total for both also included a double.
Dane Smitz and Mark Binkowski added a double of their in a losing cause.
Martin started and took the loss for the Saints, allowing one hit, three walks and three runs over 3-2/3 innings.
In the nightcap, the RedStorm looked poised to record a sweep after scoring twice in each of the first three innings for a 6-3 advantage.
That's how things stayed until the top of the sixth when sophomore reliever Gabe Carter (Huntington, WV) quickly surrenderd a run thanks to a pair of walks and two hit batsmen.
Carter was lifted in favor of Mettler, who promptly hit another batter to force in another run before delivering a wild pitch which tied the game at 6-6.
One out later, Martin singled to left to score the go-ahead run. It was the only hit in the four-run inning.
The RedStorm rallied in the home half of the frame to regain the lead thanks to a run-scoring fielder's choice grounder to shortstop by Thomas and an RBI single to short by junior Darius Jordan (Minford, OH).
Rio's momentum and prosperity failed to last very long, though.
Freshman Hayden Simon (Stouffville, Ontario, Canada) - the RedStorm's sixth pitcher of the day - was called on to nail things down and quickly retired each of the first two batters that he faced.
But each of the next two batters reached on errors to put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position and Luke Lacross followed with a two-run single to left to give the visitors a 9-8 advantage.
The RedStorm threatened in their final at bat against Nate Myers thanks to a two-out double by junior Jakob Johnson (Pickerington, OH) and an intentional walk to Thomas, but Rutherford popped out to third to end both the comeback attempt and the game.
Johnson finished 3-for-4 with a run batted in, while Rutherford had two hits and drove in two runs in the loss.
Jordan also had two hits and an RBI, while junior Ashton Focht (Lebanon, OH) was 2-for-4.
Evan Douglass, who appeared ticketed for a loss in his first collegiate appearance on the mound, ended up getting the win.
The save for Myers was his first of the season.
Lacross finished 2-for-4 with three RBI for Aquinas, while Nico Verdugo also had a pair of hits in the winning effort.
Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Friday when it opens its River States Conference schedule at perennial league power Indiana University Southeast.
The teams will play a single game on Friday and a doubleheader on Saturday.
