Rio Grande Sports Information
RIO GRANDE, Ohio - As it tries to position itself for a spot in the upcoming River States Conference Baseball Championship, the University of Rio Grande certainly could've used a weekend sweep of visiting Brescia University.
And while it looked as if the RedStorm was going to notch said sweep of the Bearcats, they ended up having to settle for a series win - and not the sweep - instead.
Following a 13-7 win in Saturday's opening game, head coach Brad Warnimont's team watched Brescia mount a late rally and then hang on in the end for a 7-6 victory and a split of their RSC twin bill at Bob Evans Field.
Rio Grande, which had a seven-game winning streak snapped with the game two loss, failed to get back to the .500 mark for the season, closing the day at 18-20 overall and 9-9 in league play.
The Bearcats headed home at 9-26-1 overall and 4-14 in the RSC.
Brescia trailed 2-1 entering the sixth inning of the seven-inning back end of Saturday's doubleheader, but parlayed two hits, two walks, two hit batsmen, two errors and two wild pitches into five runs.
Miguel Rubio had the big hit for the Bearcats in the rally with a two-run single.
Rio Grande tried to rally in the bottom of the sixth inning by loading the bases with one-out, but came away empty-handed when junior Darius Jordan (Minford, OH) lined into an inning-ending double-play.
After Brescia tacked on an insurance run in the seventh to make it 7-2, the RedStorm did rally in the home half of the frame, but came up one run short.
Junior Trey Carter (Wheelersburg, OH) drew a one-out, bases-loaded walk to make it 7-3 and sophomore Braeden Gaul (Huntington, WV) added another run on a fielder's choice grounder to third.
Sophomore Alex Scoular (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) walked to reload the bases and senior Clayton Surrell (Carroll, OH) followed with a two-run single to slice the deficit to one.
The game ended moments later, though, when Surrell was forced out at second on a grounder to short off the bat of Jordan.
Jordan finished 3-for-5 with a run batted in, while Surrell and Gaul both had two hits and two RBI. Sophomore Angel De La Cruz (Santo Domingo, D.R.) also had a double in the loss.
Sophomore Reid Shultz (Minford, OH), the second of four Rio pitchers, took the loss, despite not allowing a hit or walk in two innings. The two runners who reached via the errors were his responsibility.
Tommy Clark started and got the win for Brescia, allowing seven hits and two runs over five innings.
Wyatt Griskey recorded the game's final out for his second save of the season.
Griskey finished 2-for-4 at the plate, while Brandon Gibson doubled and drove in two runs.
In Rio's game one victory, the RedStorm scored four times in both the sixth and eighth innings to snap a 5-5 deadlock.
Graduate senior Andrew Daria (Villa Hills, KY) finished 3-for-4 with four RBI, while Surrell was 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBI.
Jordan and junior Daniel Rutherford (Coal Grove, OH) both went 2-for-4 with a run batted in, while Scoular and junior AJ Thomas (Pickerington, OH) were also 2-for-4. Rutherford's hit total included a double.
Freshman Daewin Spence (Portsmouth, OH) got the win in relief, allowing two hits and a pair of unearned runs over 3-2/3 innings.
Manning Webb suffered the loss in relief for Brescia, allowing six hits and seven runs over 3-2/3 innings.
Cole Troutman led the Bearcats by going 3-for-5 with a run batted in, while Gavin Reames was 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI.
Kendal Kortz added two hits, including a double, in a losing cause.
Rio Grande returns to action with a single, nine-inning non-conference game at Bluefield (Va.) University on Tuesday afternoon.
First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at Bowen Field.
