BLUEFIELD, Va. -- After taking a 10-1 win in the opener, the Bluefield College baseball team rallied with back-to-back four-run innings to overtake visiting Shawnee State University by an 8-5 margin in the twinbill finale, Tuesday afternoon in non-conference action at Bowen Field.
Bluefield improves to 14-11 with the pair of wins. Shawnee State falls to 8-14 with the losses.
Nic Ratliff led the Rams with five RBI on the day, highlighted by an RBI single and a bases-loaded clearing double in game one. Will Kane went 3-for-4 at the dish in the first game for three RBI.
Game 1The Rams overpowered the Bears from the start in game one, outhitting the visitors by a 12-3 margin in the contest.
Bluefield plated three runs in the first inning. A double-single combo from
Tyler Timmer and Kane plated the first run. After a walk to
Garrett Schilling,
Sawyer McLamb's double scored Kane, while Ratliff's single brought courtesy runner
Addison Wood in for the 3-0 lead.
Chaz Miller had a strong outing on the mound, tossing five innings and retiring the Bears in order in four of his five frames. The Bears had a pair of singles in the third, while a passed ball scored their only run.
The Rams tacked on five runs in the bottom of the third. Timmer and Kane connected back-to-back hits once again, with Kane driving in Timmer all the way from first on a double of his own. Schilling was hit and McLamb singled to load the bases, with Ratliff driving a double down the left field line to score all three Rams.
Tyler Rome then traded places with Ratliff on the Rams' third double of the frame, making it 8-1, Bluefield.
Timmer and Kane went back-to-back yet again in the fifth, each earning an RBI--Timmer on another double and Kane on a single.
Dylan Cole and
Dylan Ruth tossed an inning apiece to close out the game for Bluefield. Miller took the win, while SSU's Clay Tefft took the loss, going four innings and allowing eight runs on 10 hits.
Game 2Shawnee State took a 5-0 lead through five innings, but the Rams mounted a rally over two innings for the come-from-behind win.
Bluefield entered the bottom half of the fifth with no hits, but pieced together a four-run frame thanks to a trio of walks, three hits and an SSU error in the inning. Timmer's bases-loaded single scored Rome, while Kane reached on an error in which
Ryan Lawson scored. The Rams' next two runs came in on bases-loaded walks before a strikeout ended the frame.
After a leadoff double for the Bears in the sixth, Ruth made his second appearance of the day, getting a groundout and a pair of strikeouts to hold Shawnee to a 5-4 advantage.
The Bears quickly got two outs in the bottom half, but a pair of walks kept the Rams alive. A deep flyball to left field was then dropped, with both
Chris McCollister and Timmer scoring on the error. Schilling reached on another walk, while McLamb's double plated both Kane and Schilling for the 8-5 lead.
Shawnee State placed their first two on base in the bottom half, but a first-to-short double play by Rome and Timmer quickly changed the Bears' tone. A fly out wrapped up the win.
Bluefield returns to action on Wednesday, hosting Johnson University (Tenn.) for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
