Sports
Rio Grande Baseball Swept In Weekend Series
By: Corbin Bagford
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The Campbellsville Tigers (24-14, 13-7) swept the visiting Rio Grande RedStorm (17-25, 4-17) in three games this weekend.
On Saturday evening, Campbellsville won 4-3 on the arm of its starter, Bret DeRooy (5-3). DeRooy struck out 12 RedStorm batters and allowed just two earned runs in 8 2/3 innings. Campbellsville scored in the second, third, fifth, and eighth innings to gain a 4-0 lead. Alex Kline led the Tigers by going 3 for 4 at the plate, with a run and an RBI.
Rio rallied in the top of the ninth with two infield singles to leadoff the inning. Luis Jimenez drove in both runs, but was thrown out trying to stretch his double into a triple. Rio was able to put runners on second and third with two outs, but Mike Makuchto struck out to end the game.
“We rallied late, but [DeRooy] had [12] strikeouts,” Rio Grande manager Brad Warnimont said. “That’s hard to overcome.”
Campbellsville rallied from behind to win game one of Sunday’s doubleheader, 4-3, in 11 innings. After lining out into a triple play in the ninth, Rio Grande looked poised to even the series when Kirk Yates scored on a past ball in the top of the 10th. The score gave the RedStorm a 3-2 lead. Warnimont made the decision let his starter, David Steele, complete the game. The decision proved costly.
“We had some silly plays in the first game,” Warnimont said. “Those extra pitches took a toll on David’s arm.
After getting the first batter of the to ground out to short, Steele allowed a single and a double. Warnimont then brought in Kyle Miller with runners on second and third base. Miller hit the first batter he faced to load the bases. Campbellsville ran a successful squeeze play to even the score. Miller buckled down and stranded runners on second and third to end the inning.
With two outs in the bottom of the 11th, Carlos Torres drove in Gentry Kinsella to walk-off with the victory.
In the series finale, Campbellsville struck first in the fourth on two unearned runs, and then added on in the fifth to take a 5-0 lead. Kevin Arroyo, who went 2 for 3 in the game, scored the first of two Rio Grande runs in the sixth inning. That was all the RedStorm were able to bring in, as they lost, 5-2.
“We battled,” Warnimont said. “We had some opportunities. We gave up two unearned runs early, and that really hurt us. I honestly don’t think we were prepared for 80 degree temperatures.”
Junior first baseman Kyle Findley injured his shoulder in the loss. Findley has been a key player on offense for Rio, driving in 20 runs, which ranks second on the team.
“We’ve got to continue to get better,” Warnimont said. “The last three teams in the conference all fell this weekend. We could’ve gained some ground, but we didn’t.”