Rio Grande Sports Information
RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Given the identity of the opposition, wins No. 899 and 900 for University of Rio Grande head baseball coach Brad Warnimont couldn't have been any sweeter.
Warnimont's RedStorm used a late rally in game one to post a 9-6 win and a blowout effort in game two for a 10-1 triumph and a doubleheader sweep of rival Shawnee State University, Tuesday afternoon, in non-conference action at Bob Evans Field.
Warnimont, whose 32-year career as a collegiate head coach also included stops at Bethany (WV) College, Ashland (OH) University and Salem (WV) University, picked up wins 636 and 637 at Rio Grande, where he's currently in his 22nd campaign.
The RedStorm, which had lost each of its last three meetings and eight of its last nine outings against the Bears dating back to 2014, pushed their winning streak to five straight and improved to 16-19 for the season.
Shawnee State, which hasn't played Rio on a regular basis since the RedStorm left the Mid-South Conference - of which the Bears still remain a member - slipped to 3-29 and watched its losing slide reach 17 straight games.
Shawnee failed to maintain leads in both ends of Tuesday's twin bill of seven-inning affairs, coughing up a 3-0 third inning cushion in the first game and a 1-0 first inning advantage in the second contest.
Rio Grande pushed across single runs in both the third and fourth innings of game one before erasing its deficit altogether with a four-run fifth inning uprising.
The Bears scored three times in the top of the sixth inning to knot the score at 6-6, but junior Daniel Rutherford (Coal Grove, OH) snapped the deadlock with a two-run home run and - two outs later - sophomore Angel De La Cruz (Santo Domingo, D.R.) hit a solo shot of his own to set what proved to be the final score.
De La Cruz finished 4-for-4 and drove in two runs, while Rutherford finished 2-for-3 with three RBI. Sophomore Alex Scoular (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) contributed a pair of sacrifice flies to the winning effort.
Freshman Hayden Simon (Stouffville, Ontario, Canada), who extinguished SSU's sixth inning rally, picked up his first win of the season in four decisions.
Junior Lane Mettler (Bainbridge, OH) did allow a walk, but struck out the side in the seventh to notch his fifth save.
Austin Crawford, the third of four Shawnee State pitchers, suffered the loss.
Noah Sniadach was 2-for-3 with a triple and two runs batted in for the Bears, while Tanner Lund doubled and drove in one.
Game two saw Rio Grande counter Shawnee's first inning run with three of their own in the home half of the frame.
The markers were the first of what proved to be 10 unanswered runs by the RedStorm, who scored at least one run in five of their six at bats.
Graduate senior Andrew Daria (Villa Hills, KY) finished 3-for-3 with a double and three RBI for Rio, while Rutherford remained hot by going 3-for-4 with a triple and a run batted in.
Junior AJ Thomas (Pickerington, OH) added a home run and a doubled to the winning effort.
Sophomore Reid Shultz (Minford, OH) allowed three hits and the one run over five innings, while walking three and striking out six in his first start of the season. The win was his fifth in as many decisions.
Ryan Scott started and took the loss for the Bears, allowing seven hits and five runs - four earned - over three innings.
Zach Gaspar went 2-for-3 with a double, while Sniadach doubled and drove in a run in a losing cause.
Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Friday when it hosts the start of a three-game River States Conference weekend series with Brescia University.
First pitch is set for 2 p.m.
