RedStorm earns walk-off win over Golden Bears

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The opening game of the University of Rio Grande's final home series of the 2023 baseball season certainly didn't find itself lacking in drama.
     The RedStorm scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning before plating both the tying and winning runs on a one-out single by Alex Scoular in the home half of the ninth inning for a 6-5 win over West Virginia University-Tech, Friday afternoon, in River States Conference play at Bob Evans Field.
     Rio Grande climbed to 22-23 overall and 12-10 in league play with the win, maintaining a game-and-a-half lead over both Oakland City University and Ohio Christian University for fifth place in the RSC standings.
     The top six teams in the conference at the conclusion of regular season play next weekend qualify for the RSC Championship Tournament.
     The loss was crippling for WVU-Tech which, at 17-26 overall and 9-13 against RSC foes, finds itself three games back of Rio and 1-1/2 games behind both Oakland City and Ohio Christian.
     For the longest time, it looked as if some early offense and a solid pitching performance by starter Matthew Gainer would give the Golden Bears a much-needed victory.
Jordan Thurmond hit a three-run second inning home run and Logan Stump added a run-scoring single in the fourth inning to give Tech a 4-0 advantage.
     Gainer, who entered play with an earned run average of 5.57, blanked Rio until sophomore Braeden Gaul (Huntington, WV) hit his first home run of the year - a two-run shot in the fourth inning - to slice the deficit in half.
     Thurmond added a run-scoring single in the eighth inning to push the Golden Bears' lead to 5-2 and set the stage for the wild finish.
     Junior pinch-hitter Ashton Focht (Lebanon, OH) led off with a single and, one out later, senior Clayton Surrell (Carroll, OH) drew a walk.
     After a flyout by junior pinch-hitter Zach Price (Delaware, OH), Gainer was lifted in favor of Isaac Wengert, the Tech closer.
     Wengert promptly surrendered consecutive RBI singles to juniors AJ Thomas (Pickerington, OH) and Daniel Rutherford (Coal Grove, OH) and then saw Rutherford steal second to put the tying- and go-ahead runs in scoring position before retiring graduate senior Andrew Daria (Villa Hills, KY) on a flyball to left to maintain a one-run cushion.
     The ninth inning rally began with a single by sophomore Angel De La Cruz (Santo Domingo, D.R.) and continued moments later when Gaul was controversially ruled to be hit by a pitch.
     The home plate umpire originally ruled a foul ball on the play - a decision confirmed by the base umpire after the duo conferred at the request of the Rio Grande head coach Brad Warnimont.
     After the conference failed to change the original call, Warnimont asked the home plate umpire to inspect the wrist of Gaul. The inspection prompted a reversal of the call and drew the ire of WVU-Tech head coach Lawrence Nesselrodt.
     Once play resumed, freshman Josh Whent (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada) came on to run for Gaul and, along with De La Cruz, was bunted into scoring position by junior Trey Carter (Wheelersburg, OH).
     Scoular, a sophomore from Whitby, Ontario, Canada, followed by grounding a 1-0 pitch into right-center to score both runners and give the RedStorm the win.
     Gaul and Scoular both went 2-for-3 with two RBI, while Thomas and Rutherford both had two hits and a run batted in.
     Senior Trey White (Crooksville, OH) picked up the win with 4-2/3 innings of solid relief. The left-hander allowed four hits and a run while striking out four.
     Thurmond finished 3-for-5 with four RBI in a losing cause for the Golden Bears, while Francisco Calderon went 2-for-4 with a double and Logan Spurlock added two hits of his own.
     Noah Lukas also doubled for WVU-Tech.
     The two teams will conclude their series on Sunday with a doubleheader beginning at noon.