KCU rallies past RedStorm, avoids series sweep

Rio Grande Sports Information
     GRAYSON, Ky. - Pinch-hitter's Caiden Skelton's three-run seventh inning home run snapped a 1-1 tie and lifted Kentucky Christian University to a 5-2 win over the University of Rio Grande, Saturday morning, in River States Conference baseball action at Knights Field.
     The Knights, who avoided a series sweep with the victory, improved to 21-19 overall and 11-13 in league play.
     Rio Grande slipped to 27-18 overall and 11-13 in the RSC with the loss.
     The RedStorm find themselves tied with KCU for seventh place in the conference standings, one game behind Brescia and Indiana University Kokomo - who are tied for fifth place - and two games behind fourth place Midway University, with three games left to play.
     The top six teams qualify for the River States Conference Tournament, which begins April 30 at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.
     Rio Grande took a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by senior Josiah Devapalan (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), but the Knights tied the game in the bottom of the frame on a single by McLaughlin before taking the lead on Skelton's one-out circuit clout in the seventh.
     The RedStorm closed the gap to 4-2 thanks to an RBI groundout by Devapalan in the eighth, but KCU got the run back in the bottom of the inning to set the final score.
     James Elliott had two hits and Harrison Simpson doubled in the win for the Knights.
     Rio Grande had just four hits in the loss - two each by junior Joel Pagan (Humacao, P.R.) and sophomore Gregory Catano (Santo Domingo, D.R.). One of Pagan's hits was a double.
     Redshirt junior Jacob Napier (Alexandria, KY) suffered the loss in relief, allowing three hits and two runs in his lone inning.
     Isaiah Emmons got the win in relief for KCU, allowing two hits and a run over two innings. Ryan Farr worked the ninth inning for a save.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action this weekend at Indiana University Columbus.
     Due to the threat of inclement weather, the series is now scheduled for Thursday and Friday.