Rio Grande Sports Information
RIO GRANDE, Ohio - It wasn't exactly how the University of Rio Grande envisioned the end of its regular season schedule.
Fortunately, though, some help from another old rival helped ease some of the disappointment.
Shawnee State used a four-run sixth inning in game one to pull away for a win, while the Bears made an early lead in game two stand up for a doubleheader sweep of the RedStorm in River States Conference baseball action, Saturday afternoon, at sun-splashed Bob Evans Field.
The Bears, who also won Friday's series opener, finished their regular season slate at 23-19 overall and 17-7 in the RSC.
Rio Grande, which began the weekend trying to nail down home-field advantage in the play-in phase of next week's RSC Championship, dropped to 18-28 overall and 9-15 in league play.
The RedStorm, who held a one-game lead over Ohio Christian University for fourth place in the RSC East Division entering the weekend, managed to maintain their cushion, though, thanks to the Trailblazers being swept by West Virginia University-Tech.
For that reason, head coach Brad Warnimont's club will enterain West Division No. 5 seed Brescia University in the best-of-three play-in series on Friday, at 2 p.m.
Game two with the Bearcats is set for Saturday, at 11 a.m., with a third game - if needed - to follow at 3 p.m.
The winner will be among the eight teams advancing to the tourney's final site - VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio - for double-elimination play beginning May 2.
Saturday's opening game saw Shawnee State score once in both the third and fourth innings to take an early 2-0 lead, but Rio Grande countered with two fourth inning runs of its own - one on a solo home run by senior Angel Cruz (Santo Domingo, D.R.) and the other on a squeeze bunt by junior Braeden Gaul (Huntington, WV) to tie the game.
The deadlock remained intact until the Bears roared to life with a massive two-out rally in the sixth.
Angelo Castanos opened the inning with single to left, spelling the end of the day for Rio sophomore starting pitcher Daewin Spence (Portsmouth, OH).
Sophomore reliever Hayden Simon (Stouffville, Ontario, Canada) retired Kyle Eslick on a sacrifice bunt and Tyler Lund on a groundout to first as Castanos advanced to third, but Ryan Scott followed with a go-ahead single through the right side to make it 3-2.
Consecutive walks to Nolan Tressler and Hunter Warner loaded the bases and preceeded an error by Simon which allowed Scott to score and the SSU lead to grow to 4-2.
Two more runs scored moments later when Noah Sniadach's apparent inning-ending fly to center was errored by senior Darius Jordan (Minford, OH) and the Bears' lead ballooned to 6-2.
As things turned out, the four-run cushion was more than enough.
Rio Grande went down in order in the sixth, failed to score after putting two on with one out in the seventh, managed an eighth inning run on a groundout by junior Likeiry Jimenez (Reading, PA) and was retired in order again in its final at bat.
Carson Wireman, the second of four Shawnee State pitchers, picked up his sixth win in as many decisions with 3-2/3 scoreless innings of work. He allowed just one hit and walk while fanning four.
Evan Hood worked the perfect ninth for his first save.
Spence suffered the loss for the RedStorm, allowing four hits and three runs - two earned - over five-plus innings.
Jordan went 2-for-4 to lead Rio offensively.
Castanos had two hits in the win for the Bears.
In the seven-inning nightcap, Shawnee State scored single runs in each of the first three frames for a 3-0 lead and, after Rio Grande cut into the deficit with a fourth inning marker, the Bears scored again in the sixth to make it 4-1.
The RedStorm made it interesting in the bottom of the sixth when senior Seth Mills (South Shore, KY) hit for junior Alex Scoular (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) and drew a leadoff walk.
Scoular then re-entered and, one out later, stole second before senior Luke Lindamood (Minford, OH) was hit by a pitch.
Scoular and freshman Chase Christian (Oakville, Ontario, Canada), Lindamood's courtesy runner, proceeded to steal third and second, respectively, setting the stage for a run-scoring single to left by junior Beiker Fuentes (Crystal Lake, IL) to slice the deficit to 4-2.
A groundout by Cruz plated Christian and moved Fuentes, representing the tying run to third, but Jimenez grounded out to end the inning.
Rio went down in order in the home half of the seventh.
Eric Oakes started and got the win for SSU, allowing two hits and a run with six strikeouts over five innings. Trent Tice recorded the final five outs for his first save.
Oakes also helped his own cause at the plate by going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI. Tressler also had two hits, including a double, in the winning effort.
Junior Justin Anaya (Brownsville, TX) started and lost for the RedStorm, allowing four hits and three runs over 2-1/3 innings.
Cruz had two RBI for Rio, which managed just three singles.
