Wabash, IN- The baseball team returned to the field this afternoon after moving up two spots to #12 in the third week of the USCAA Baseball Coaches Poll. Today's doubleheader opened a three-game series against the Wabash College Little Giants as the Mountaineers looked to extend their three-game winning streak after their exciting walk-off win against Asbury University.
Berea was able to put two hitters on base as Devin Belleville earned a walk and Ron Overstreet hit a single to third base to open the game as two outs were already on board. The runners were stranded on base though as the next batter recorded the third out of the inning. Wabash took a 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the first inning. The second and third inning saw the teams both go scoreless as the pitching and defense picked up for both teams. The game became tied in the fourth inning as Overstreet hit a ball to the third baseman and Overstreet was able to move to second on the hit with one out in the inning. Andrew Akins came to the plate and hit a single to right center field which scored Overstreet and tied the game 1-1.
A chance for the Mountaineers to take the lead occurred in the fifth inning as Nicholas Bottom singled to left field to open the inning. Bottom quickly moved to third on Joshua Works' sacrifice bunt and a stolen base. The go-ahead run would not be though as Bottom was caught stealing home to end the inning. The home team took a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning and moved their lead to 4-1 as Berea came to the plate in the ninth inning. After the first two outs of inning occurred, Akins reached first base on a hit which caused an error and advanced to second on a wild pitch. The next batter, William Hislope, hit a single to right center field which scored Akins to bring the Mountaineers within two runs of tying the game. The next batter's fly out ended the comeback attempt and gave the Little Giants a 4-2 win.
Overstreet led the way at the plate, going 2-4 with a run scored. Akins and Hislope finished with a RBI each while Akins scored the other run for Berea. Griffen Norris started the game on the bump for the Mountaineers and pitched seven innings for the team.
The second game saw Nathaniel Summey earn a walk with his patience at the plate and a second base runner in Belleville reach on an error, moving Summey into scoring position at second base. Berea was unable to convert any runs in the first inning as the third out occurred to end the inning. The opposing pitcher stifled the Mountaineers offense throughout the game as the team could only mount three hits and did not score any runs. Berea went on to fall in the second game of the doubleheader 6-0.
Blade Hampton, Bottom and Works were the only Mountaineers to finish with a hit in the game. Michael Smither was the starting pitcher for the team.
#12 Berea (13-22) will conclude the three-game series against Wabash tomorrow with the game scheduled to begin at 1:00 PM. Live stats and video can be seen here.