Bears hold off Rio in series opener

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Shawnee State University scored twice in the first inning, added two more runs in the fifth and then held on down the stretch for a 5-3 win over the University of Rio Grande, Friday afternoon, in River States Conference baseball play at Bob Evans Field.
     The Bears improved to 21-19 overall and 15-7 in the RSC with the win despite being outhit, 8-5.
     Rio Grande dropped to 18-26 overall and 9-13 against conference foes.
     Shawnee State's first inning lead was the result of a run-scoring triple by Noah Sniadach and an RBI hit by Eric Oakes, while a sacrifice fly by Nolan Tressler and an RBI single by Sniadach in the fifth pushed the advantage to 4-0.
     Rio Grande got on the board in the fifth inning when senior Darius Jordan (Minford, OH) reached on a one-out single, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a two-out single by Luke Lindamood (Minford, OH), but the Bears got the run back in the eighth inning when pinch-hitter Eli Jones reached on a error and later scored on another errant throw.
     The RedStorm made things interesting in the home half of the frame when Lindamood led off with a walk and junior Beiker Fuentes (Crystal Lake, IL) followed with a base hit which advanced freshman pinch-runner Chase Christian (Oakville, Ontario, Canada) to second.
     A flyout by senior Angel Cruz (Santo Domingo, D.R.) moved both runners into scoring position and both scored moments later when sophomore Darwin Oleaga's (Boston, MA) groundball to first base was errored.
     Sophomore Andy Amstutz (Kettering, OH) came on to run for Oleaga and, one out later, moved to third on a double to left by sophomore Josh Whent (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada), putting the tying runs in scoring position.
     The threat died moments later, though, when freshman Samuel Colina (Maracaibo, Venezuela) grounded out to shortstop.
     James Bodrock, the last of five Shawnee State pitchers, retired the side in order in the ninth to nail down the win.
     Carson Wireman, the second of the Bears' hurlers, got the win with two innings of scoreless relief.
     Tyler Lund added a double in the winning effort for SSU.
     Junior Gabe Carter (Huntington, WV) started and lost for Rio Grande, allowing five hits, a pair of walks and four runs.
     Fuentes, Whent and junior Likeiry Jimenez (Reading, PA) all had two hits in the loss for the RedStorm.
     The two teams conclude the series on Saturday with a Senior Day doubleheader beginning at noon.