Rio Grande Sports Information
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The University of Rio Grande rallied from an early deficit by scoring once in the sixth inning and 10 times in the seventh for an 11-1 game one win over West Virginia University-Tech, Sunday afternoon, in River States Conference baseball action at Go-Mart Ballpark.
The host Golden Bears managed a split of the twin bill and took the series by hanging on for a 3-2 win in the nightcap.
Rio Grande finished the day at 14-25 overall and 6-12 in conference play.
WVU-Tech moved to 20-16 overall and 9-9 in the RSC.
The Golden Bears, who routed the RedStorm, 15-0 in seven innings, in Saturday's series opener, grabbed a 1-0 first inning lead thanks to a run-scoring single by Noah Cummings and carried that same advantage into the sixth.
Rio tied the game in the sixth, though, when sophomore Andy Amstutz (Kettering, OH) was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a single by senior Luke Lindamood (Minford, OH) and scored on a single by senior Angel Cruz (Santo Domingo, D.R.) and subsequent error on the same play.
Then came the seventh inning uprising.
Sophomore Josh Whent (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada) led off with a walk, sophomore Darwin Oleaga (Boston, MA) reached on a bunt single and senior Darius Jordan (Minford, OH) reached thanks to a fielder's choice on his sacrifice bunt attempt to load the bases.
Freshman Samuel Colina (Maracaibo, Venezuela) walked to force home the go-ahead run and Lindamood was hit by a pitch to make it 3-1. Cruz followed with a grand slam home run which pushed the lead to 7-1.
WVU-Tech then lifted Robert Kelley for Braedan Pakkala, but the onslaught continued.
Junior Likeiry Jimenez (Reading, PA) ended up a third base thanks to an error and scored on a single by freshman Omar Chirinos (Santa Rita City, Venezuela).
Junior Waskar Martinez (Santiago, D.R.) singled and, one out later, consecutive singles by Oleaga and Jordan plated Chirinos and Martinez and pushed the lead to 10-1.
Moments later, Amstutz doubled home Oleaga with the final run of the inning.
Lindamood, Cruz and Oleaga all finished with two hits in the win.
Junior Justin Anaya (Brownsville, TX) started and got the win for the RedStorm, allowing three hits in the team's first complete game effort of the season. He walked four and struck out four.
Kelley started and lost for Tech, allowing seven hits and as many runs over six-plus innings.
Cummings had two of the Golden Bears' three hits.
Rio Grande grabbed a 1-0 third inning lead in the seven-inning nightcap thanks to a sacrifice fly by Martinez, but the Golden Bears rallied to score three times in the fourth for a 3-1 advantage.
The RedStorm stranded a runner in scoring position in the fifth and left two runners on in the sixth before finally cutting into the deficit in their final at bat.
Jimenez led off with a walk and, after a pitching change and a flyout, stole second. He moved to third when Whent reached on an error and scored on a steal of home while Whent was stealing second.
Oleaga kept the rally going by drawing a walk and, following another pitching change, Jordan drew a walk to load the bases.
After yet another pitching change, Anaya struck out to end the game.
Lindamood finished 3-for-3 in the loss, while Chirinos had two hits, including a double, and Jordan finished 2-for-3.
Junior Gabe Carter (Huntington, WV) started and lost for Rio, allowing six hits and three runs over 3-2/3 innings.
Wyatt Sisk, the second of Tech's five hurlers, got the win. Cole Cline, who recorded the final out, got the save.
William Gray and Logan Spurlock had two hits each for the Golden Bears.
Weather permitting, Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action with non-conference games at Bluefield (Va.) University on Tuesday and at Wilberforce University on Wednesday.
