Baseball Swept by North Alabama
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 While the weather was flawless on Saturday, Miles was unable to enjoy it as much as it would have liked during its season opener against North Alabama at historic Rickwood Field. The Golden Bears struggled to put any runs up against the Lions, scoring just once over two 7-inning games in falling 8-0 and 6-1.
In the opener, Miles looked like they were going to take an early lead after Ernest Harris singled, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. But Harris was thrown out at home attempting to score on
Justin Langdale's fly ball and the inning was over. UNA (2-0) then used a big second inning to put the game out of reach. The first six hitters reached against starter
Austin Pate (0-1), who was then pulled in favor of
Justin Bartley, who was tapped for one more hit and a run that was charged to Pate. Bartley kept UNA at bay until the fifth, when the Lions tacked on two more runs to secure the margin of victory.
The nightcap saw a little more life from the Golden Bears offense but another early deficit made any chance for victory a bit more difficult. The Lions had already scored three times when Miles came to the plate in the bottom of the fourth. Bartley led off the frame with a double and Tristan Davis came in to run for him. Xavier Burden singled to advance Davis to third and he scored when
Justin Shadix singled to bring home Davis. It looked as if Miles may break through with a big inning but one out later, on a single by Trent Ridlehover, Shadix went too far around the bag at second as was thrown out trying to retreat. That ended the threat and ultimately, ended the Golden Bears' chance at grabbing a win.
Starter Christopher Elias (0-1) took the defeat but pitched well, allowing three runs and four hits in four innings of work.
Harris, Bartley and Brown each had two hits on the day for Miles, which hits the road for the next seven games, starting with the first of a three-game series against Erskine College beginning at 1 p.m. on Feb. 6.
