Rio Grande Sports Information
MILLIGAN, Tenn. - Milligan University parlayed a pair of late rallies into a doubleheader sweep of the University of Rio Grande, Saturday afternoon, in non-conference baseball action at Anglin Field.
The host Buffaloes erased their third deficit of the day in game one with a pair of sixth inning runs for an 11-10 triumph, while a four-run fifth inning uprising accounted for all of the scoring in a 4-0 game two victory.
Both games were seven-inning contests.
Milligan finished its season-opening weekend at 4-0.
The two losses sent Rio Grande trekking home at 0-6.
In Saturday's opener, the RedStorm failed to maintain a two-run first inning lead, a one-run fourth inning edge and a one-run fifth inning advantage.
Rio took its first inning lead on a two-run home run by junior Likeiry Jimenez (Reading, PA) and, after the Buffaloes got one of the runs back in the home half of the inning, made it 3-1 in the second on a sacrifice fly by junior Beiker Fuentes (Crystal Lake, IL).
Milligan tied the game in the bottom of the second thanks to a two-run home run by Andrew Mathias and then took the lead with a four-run third inning which was highlighted by a three-run home run by Mathias.
The RedStorm mounted their own rally in the fourth inning by scoring five times to regain an 8-7 lead. A three-run home run by graduate senior AJ Thomas (Pickerington, OH) provided the big blow in the inning.
The lead was short-lived, though.
Jose Paula hit a solo home run and Vicente Mendoza doubled in another run in the home fourth to give the Buffaloes a 9-8 advantage, but Rio went back in front in the fifth thanks to a run-scoring groundout by sophomore Josh Whent (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada) and a run-scoring hit by junior Alex Scoular (Whitby, Ontario, Canada).
The lead stood until the home sixth when Vasili Kaloudis reached on an error to begin the inning and, one out later, Ryan Molinari clubbed a go-ahead two-run home run.
The RedStorm posed a major threat to tie or re-take the lead in their final at bat, but failed to score despite collecting three seventh inning hits.
Senior Darius Jordan (Minford, OH) opened the frame with a pinch-hit double, but was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a subsequent single to center off the bat of senior Luke Lindamood (Minford, OH).
Sophomore Darwin Oleaga (Boston, MA) followed with an infield single to second and a passed ball put both the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, but Milligan reliever Canyon Geren - the last of four hurlers for the Buffaloes - struck out both Whent and Scoular to nail down the win.
Oleaga finished 3-for-4 with a double in the loss, while Thomas added a double of his own and was 2-for-4 with three RBI. Lindamood also had two hits and Fuentes tallied two RBI.
Junior Weston Roop (Chillicothe, OH), the last of four Rio pitchers, suffered the loss.
Mathias finished 3-for-3 with five RBI to lead Milligan, while Paula, Molinari, Roangeraud Fraai, Braden Spano and Jack Sutton all had two hits each in the win. Molinari drove in three runs and Paula knocked in a pair.
Game two was a scoreless duel until the home team erupted for four runs.
Cade Kalehuawe opened the inning with a walk from Rio junior starter Gabe Carter (Huntington, WV) and was replaced by pinch-runner Miller Spence. One out later, pinch-hitter Gaven Jones reached on an infield single and Caleb Berry followed with a run-scoring double to make it 1-0.
Carter was then lifted in favor of Fuentes, who surrendered a two-run single to Paula and a hit to Spano before Kaloudis plated the final run of the inning on a groundout to third.
Rio Grande was limited to just three hits - all singles - by Milligan starter Anfernee Fernandez and reliever Ian Weil.
Fernandez allowed two hits and a pair of walks with nine strikeouts over five innings, while Weil allowed one hit and fanned two over the final two frames.
Carter took the loss for the RedStorm, allowing three of the four runs, along with four hits, three walks and five strikeouts over 4-1/3 innings.
Berry finished with two hits in the win for the Buffaloes.
Rio Grande returns to action next Friday when it hits the road again to open a four-game series with a twinbill at Brewton-Parker (Ga.).
