Sports
Rio Grande Baseball Wins First Series Since March
By: Andrew Bagford
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Rio Grande (20-26, 6-18) won two of three games this weekend over Lindsey Wilson (26-24, 12-11) to improve its chances of making the upcoming Mid-South Conference tournament.
Game One
Mike Deitsch (3-5) stepped up in his last start at Bob Evans Field to give Rio Grande a 2-1 victory over the Blue Raiders. The senior held his opponents’ bats to just one earned run in 7 2/3 innings.
Lindsey Wilson scored first in the third inning when Derek Shugart scored on a short sac-fly just beyond the reach of second baseman Grant Tamane. The Blue Raiders failed to cross the plate for the remainder of the game, leaving a season-high 16 runners on base.
The RedStorm’s two runs were both scored in the fourth inning and unearned. Kevin Arroyo and Tamane scored on a misplayed grounder off the bat of Kirk Yates.
Lindsey Wilson’s starting pitcher, England Smith (4-4), threw nine innings of four-hit baseball Friday afternoon, but received the loss despite not allowing any earned runs.
David Steele came in relief after Deitsch’s exit and completed the four out save for his second of the season.
Game Two
The first game of Saturday’s doubleheader took 12 innings to complete, and it was Lindsey Wilson that emerged on top, 7-6.
The RedStorm fell behind in the top of the 12th when Arroyo bobbled a grounder and allowed Alex Bautista to cross the plate for the third time in the game, putting the Blue Raiders up one.
Bautista led Lindsey Wilson with two homeruns on the day that started the Raiders on a comeback to send the game into extra innings.
Jason Turner (5-4) received the win with a quality 6 2/3 innings in which he allowed no runs and just two hits.
Rio’s shortstop, Daryin Lewis, led the RedStorm with two RBI on two hits in the defeat.
Game Three
Rio manager Brad Warnimont has long been a fan of aggressive baseball tactics and he turned to them on Saturday afternoon to walk-off with a victory.
The RedStorm ran a squeeze play to score Daulton Kenyon on a Tamane bunt to defeat the Blue Raiders, 6-5, in the seventh and final inning of the afternoon’s second affair.
Rio Grande led 5-1 entering the top of the seventh when Lindsey Wilson came alive for a four-run outburst. A Rio Grande error and wild pitch aided the Raiders to tying the game.
Kenyon, a freshman, led off the bottom of the inning with a single. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on an Arroyo single and scored on Tamane’s bunt.
Rio Grande’s series victory was the first MSC series the RedStorm have since a series against University of the Cumberlands in early March.