Miles splits doubleheader with Morehouse
Box Score Miles opened its 2016 season with a doubleheader split against Morehouse on Saturday, dropping the opener 11-7 before taking the nightcap 6-2 at historic Rickwood Field.
Xavius Burden (1-0) scattered six hits, walked one and struck out four in a complete-game victory in the nightcap as the Golden Bears (1-1) scored in each of the first three frames to take control. The Maroon Tigers (1-1) did not get a hit until the fourth inning and did not have an extra-base hit the entire game.
Jacob Branham drove in three runs, two coming with two outs in the third of starter Anthony Dodd (0-1) to give Miles a 4-0 lead.
Morehouse would add single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to cut its deficit in half but the Golden Bears would get them right back in the bottom of the fifth. Branham's run-scoring groundout scored
Gary Mason, Jr. before an excellent safety squeeze by
James Gardner brought home
Justin Langdale for the final margin.
The opener did not go as well for Miles as several miscues and the hot bat of Morehouse leadoff man Ryan Christian put the Golden Bears in a big hole. Starter
Dylan Johnson gave up two runs in the first but
Damion Williams scored on a RBI single by
Keland Smith and
Aaron Williams scored on a wild pitch to knot the score in the bottom half of the frame.
The Maroon Tigers would retake a 3-2 lead in the top of the second, but the big blow came in the third. Two errors helped load the bases agaisnt Johnson (0-1), who then promptly served up a grand slam to Christian, who turned on an elevated fastball and drove it into a near 20-mile per hour win flying out to left for a 7-2 advantage. Christian went 3-for-4 with five RBI and three runs scored while Johnson, who was finished after getting the next out, allowed seven hits and three earned runs in his Miles debut.
Williams and
Jimmy Brown, Jr. each had two hits in the opener and Mason, Jr. and
Ryan Bargery each had two RBI for Miles, which travels to Clark Atlanta for a doubleheader on Thursday. First pitch is scheduled for noon.
