Rio Grande Sports Information
RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Josiah Devapalan clubbed a two-out, fifth-inning grand slam to give the University of Rio Grande a 4-2 game two victory and a doubleheader sweep of Indiana University Columbus, Friday afternoon, in River States Conference baseball play at Bob Evans Field.
The RedStorm, which recorded an 8-5 win in the opening game of the twin bill, ran their season record to 6-7 and their winning streak to four straight with the wins in the first league contests of the season.
IU Columbus dropped to 2-9 overall and 0-2 in the RSC with the losses.
The Crimson Pride appeared on their way to a split of the doubleheader after taking a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning of the seven-inning nightcap.
Rio's go-ahead rally began with one out when freshman Riley Wooldridge (Cincinnati, OH) was hit by a pitch. He stole second and moved to third on a throwing error and, one out later, senior Beiker Fuentes (Crystal Lake, IL) was walked and junior Keniel Rosado (Juncos, P.R.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Devapalan - a junior from Brampton, Ontario, Canada - followed with his bases-clearing circuit clout over the fence in left to give the hosts the lead.
IUC made things interesting in the seventh thanks to singles by Zander Vonch, Carson McNulty and Lucas Slager - the last of which produced a run - but Rio junior reliever Schon Pespisa (El Monte, CA) retired each of the next two batters to routinely to nail down his second save of the season.
Senior Gabe Carter (Huntington, WV) started and got the win for the RedStorm, allowing just three hits and a run over six innings to even his season record at 1-1.
Brayden Furnish was the hard luck loser for the Crimson Pride, allowing four hits and two walks in a complete game effort.
Senior Likeiry Jimenez (Reading, PA) had two hits in the win for Rio Grande.
Vonch finished 2-for-3 with a double for IUC, while McNulty also had two hits in the loss.
In the opening game, IU Columbus opened up a 4-0 lead thanks a second inning run and a trio of third inning markers before the RedStorm rallied.
Rio got three runs of its own in the bottom of the third and a single run in the fourth to knot the score at 4-all, then scored again in the fifth to grab the lead.
Two more runs in the sixth and another in the seventh provided insurance and made it 8-4.
The Crimson Pride pushed across an eighth inning run to remain within striking distance, but were routinely retired in order in the top of the ninth inning.
Junior Hayden Simon (Stouffville, Ontario, Canada) got the win in relief for Rio Grande, allowing four hits and a run while fanning four over 4-1/3 innings of work.
Jimenez finished 2-for-5 with a run batted in for the RedStorm, while Wooldridge doubled and drove in a run and sophomore Chase Christian (Oakville, Ontario, Canada) knocked in two.
McNulty and Slager both had two hits and drove in a run for IUC. McNulty's hit total included a double.
Jared Ross hit a solo home run, while John Codner doubled and drove in a run and Johnny Sewell had a double in a losing cause for the Crimson Pride.
Jack VonDielingen started and lost for IU Columbus, allowing three hits and five runs over 4-2/3 innings.
The two teams will wrap up their weekend series on Saturday with a single nine-inning contest beginning at noon.
