Rio Grande Sports Information
PIPPA PASSES, Ky. - Needless to say, the University of Rio Grande took advantage of its late-game opportunities at the plate...twice.
The RedStorm scored eight times over their final three at bats in game one and nine times in their final at bat of game two en route to a pair of come-from-behind wins and a doubleheader sweep of Alice Lloyd College, Sunday afternoon, in River States Conference baseball action at the Fred Mullinax Athletic Field.
Head coach Brad Warnimont's club posted a 13-8 victory in the opener, while taking the nightcap, 11-3.
Rio Grande improved to 17-25 overall and 9-12 in the RSC as a result of the twin bill and series sweep.
Alice Lloyd finished the day at 16-27 overall and 3-18 in league play.
The host Eagles rallied from a 4-0 first inning deficit and a 5-3 second inning deficit in game one and took a 6-5 lead into the seventh.
Rio Grande tied the game in the seventh on a groundout by junior Likeiry Jimenez (Reading, PA) before scoring three times in the eighth to take the lead.
A four-run ninth inning - highlighted by a two-run single from senior Angel Cruz (Santo Domingo, D.R.) and RBI hits by freshman Omar Chirinos (Santa Rita City, Venezuela) and senior Darius Jordan (Minford, OH) - sealed the victory.
Cruz finished 3-for-5 with two doubles and four RBI, while Chirinos also had three hits and Jordan finished 2-for-5.
Senior Luke Lindamood (Minford, OH) and freshman Samuel Colina (Maracaibo, Venezuela) added two hits each in the win, while Jimenez had three RBI and sophomore Darwin Oleaga (Boston, MA) doubled and drove in a run.
Junior Beiker Fuentes (Crystal Lake, IL) earned the win in relief, allowing a hit, a walk and two runs over three innings.
Gibbs Cochran started and took the loss for Alice Lloyd, allowing 10 hits and eight runs - seven earned - over seven innings.
Joey Johnson went 3-for-5 with a triple and three RBI, while Thomas Mullins went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI and Aaron Rothballer was 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI.
Carson Tate and Naylen Turner also had two hits each in the loss for the Eagles.
In game two, Alice Lloyd trailed 2-0 before scoring twice in the home third and once in the fourth to take a 3-2 advantage.
The Eagles took that same lead into the seventh inning and needed just three outs for a split before Rio sent 13 batters to the plate and erupted for nine runs.
Colina opened the frame with a double and moved to third on a single by Chirinos before scoring on a bunt by Jordan.
Junior Alex Scoular (Whitby, Ontario, Canada), Lindamood and Cruz followed with consecutive run-scoring doubles and Jimenez had a run-scoring single to make it 7-3.
Jordan capped the inning with a two-run single.
Jordan finished with four RBI, while Chirinos went 3-for-4 and the trio of Jimenez, Oleaga and sophomore Josh Whent (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada) all went 2-for-4 with a run batted in.
Junior Reid Shultz (Minford, OH), the second of three RedStorm hurlers, picked up the win after tossing 1-1/3 hitless, scoreless innings.
Sunny Smith started and lost for Alice Lloyd. He allowed six hits and four runs - three earned - over six-plus innings.
Johnson drove in three runs for the Eagles, while Tate and Caleb Justice both doubled.
Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Friday when it opens a three-game series at Bob Evans Field against rival Shawnee State University.
First pitch is set for 2 p.m.
