Rio Grande Sports Information
PIPPA PASSES, Ky. - The University of Rio Grande rode an early lead in game one and a strong pitching performance in game for a doubleheader sweep of Alice Lloyd College, Sunday afternoon, in River States Conference baseball action at Fred Mullinax Athletic Field.
The RedStorm picked up their wins by scores of 12-3 and 4-1, improving to 14-19 overall and 7-8 in league play in the process.
The host Eagles closed the day at 11-21 overall and 0-14 against RSC foes.
In game one, Rio Grande followed up a three-run first inning with four second inning markers and never looked back.
ALC closed the gap to 8-3 after five innings, but the RedStorm scored twice in both the seventh and eighth innings to pull away for good.
Graduate senior Andrew Daria (Villa Hills, KY) finished 3-for-6 with a double and three RBI to lead the RedStorm, while senior Clayton Surrell (Carroll, OH), junior Jakob Johnson (Pickerington, OH) and junior Trey Carter (Wheelersburg, OH) all were 2-for-4 with a run batted in.
Junior Darius Jordan (Minford, OH) also had two hits and sophomore Alex Scoular (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) drove in a pair of runs in the winning effort.
Surrell also earned the win as a pitcher, allowing five hits and three runs over five innings. He walked two and struck out four.
Chase Conley started and took the loss for Alice Lloyd, which drastically hurt its own cause with six errors. He allowed nine hits and eight runs over five innings.
Noah Dingess had a pair of hits for the Eagles, while TJay Mullins had a home run and Corey Jefferson hit a triple and drove in a run.
Game two saw Rio Grande snap a 1-1 first inning tie with a third inning run and then seal the win in the seven-inning nightcap with two runs in the fifth.
Junior AJ Thomas (Pickerington, OH) had a run-scoring single in the first for the RedStorm before Mullins did the same for the hosts in the home half of the frame to knot the score at 1-all.
Thomas put Rio back in front with an RBI groundout in the third and junior Daniel Rutherford (Coal Grove, OH) tacked on insurance in the fifth with a two-run home run.
Thomas finished 2-4 in the win, while Surrell also had two hits, including a double.
Senior Trey White (Crooksville, OH), who followed junior starter Brady Choban (Wadsworth, OH) to the mound, picked up the win by tossing 2-1/3 innings of one-hit relief.
Junior Lane Mettler (Bainbridge, OH) notched his fourth save with 1-2/3 innings of scoreless relief. He walked two and fanned five.
Peyton Branham started and took the loss for Alice Lloyd. He allowed eight hits and four runs over six innings.
Nicholas Collinsworth added a double in the loss for the Eagles.
Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Tuesday afternoon when it hosts Shawnee State University in a non-conference doubleheader at Bob Evans Field.
First pitch for game one is set for 2 p.m.
Both contests will be seven-inning affairs.
