Grenadiers rally late, slip past Rio

Rio Grande Sports Information
     CHILLICOTHE, Ohio - After pulling off an upset of second-seeded Point Park University in Thursday's opening round of the River States Conference Baseball Championship, the University of Rio Grande appeared set to turn the same trick on Friday night against one of the league's other perennial powers.
     But, often times, it's not so much about how you start than it is how you finish.
     The RedStorm built a pair of early multi-run leads and another late game cushion but failed to maintain any of the three as third-seeded Indiana University Southeast rallied to post an 8-6 victory in winner's bracket action of the double-elimination tournament at VA Memorial Stadium.
     Rio Grande, the tourney's No. 5 seed, dropped to 25-27 with the loss and will now face top-seeded Midway University in an elimination game on Saturday, at 11 a.m.
     The Eagles slipped into the loser's bracket as a result of a 14-6 loss on Friday to Indiana University Kokomo.
     IU Southeast improved to 32-18 with its win over Rio and now finds itself in the driver's seat as the lone unbeaten team left in the tourney.
     The Grenadiers will face the Rio Grande-Midway survivor on Saturday at 7 p.m.
     Rio Grande grabbed a 2-0 second inning lead on Friday night thanks to an RBI single by sophomore Braeden Gaul (Huntington, WV) and a subsequent error on the same play, but IUS tied the game in the bottom of the frame on a sacrifice fly by Trevor Goodwin and a run-scoring double by Brayden Hazlewood.
     The RedStorm wasted little time in re-gaining the advantage, though, pushing across three more markers in the third inning.
     Graduate senior Andrew Daria (Villa Hills, KY) and junior Darius Jordan (Minford, OH) sandwiched RBI singles around a sacrifice fly by junior Trey Carter (Wheelersburg, OH) to push the lead to 5-2.
     IU Southeast started the road back again with two runs in the fifth inning - one scoring on a hit by Slater Schield and the other on a passed ball - and tied the game in the sixth on a run-scoring groundout by Schield.
     Rio Grande went back in front, 6-5, on an RBI single by Carter in the top of the seventh, but watched things unravel one last time thanks to a disastrous bottom half of the frame.
     Kody Putnam reached on a one-out double to right, but Rio freshman reliever Daewin Spence (Portsmouth, OH) rebounded to strike out Ben Berenda for out number two.
     Spence then appeared to induce Goodwin into a routine inning-ending flyball to left, but Rio junior left fielder AJ Thomas (Pickerington, OH) failed to make the catch, perhaps losing the ball in the lights. The play was ruled an error, with Putnam scoring the tying run.
     Blake Cook followed with a single to center which plated Goodwin with the go-ahead run and put the Grenadiers in front to stay.
     Rio Grande put the potential tying run on base with one out in the eighth inning when senior Clayton Surrell (Carroll, OH) was hit by a pitch, but any potential threat was quickly snuffed out when sophomore Angel De La Cruz (Santo Domingo, D.R.) bounced into an inning-ending double-play.
     IUS tacked on an insurance run in the eighth, all after the first two batters were retired. Trevor Campbell walked, moved to second on a balk and, after Mason White was intentionally walked, scored on single by Putnam.
     The RedStorm went down routinely - and in order - in the ninth fo finish things off.
     Putnam, Cook and Hazlewood all had two hits and a run batted in for the Grenadiers.
     Four IUS pitchers allowed 10 combined hits, but also teamed to walk just one and strike out 16 Rio Grande batters. Starter Luke Shafer allowed eight hits and five runs over six innings, but only two of the runs were earned. He was responsible for the one walk and had 11 of the strikeouts.
     Cade Reynolds got the win, despite allowing the go-ahead run in the seventh. Garrett Hill worked the perfect ninth for his seventh save.
     Spence, the last of three pitchers for the RedStorm, suffered the loss. The right-hander allowed five hits, four walks and four runs - two earned - over three innings.
     Gaul finished 3-for-4 in the loss for Rio, while Carter had two hits, including a double.
     De La Cruz also doubled in a losing cause.