Baseball advances to Championship Sunday
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
OZARK, Ala. -- The day was extremely long for the Miles baseball team on Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. and not finishing until almost midnight. But two outs from elimination and down two runs in the ninth inning, the Golden Bears (32-16) found a way to survive, downing Paine 8-7 in 11 innings before pounding Tuskegee 15-5. The wins eliminated both opponents and put Miles within two victories of a SIAC championship.
GAME 1 - (W2) Miles 8, (E2) Paine 7 (11 innings)
The Golden Bears did everything they could to win this game, and nearly as much to give it away. After forcing extra innings with a dramatic one-out rally in the ninth, then taking a two-run lead into the bottom of the 11th, Miles had to work out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam with the potential game-winning run on second base to advance.
Jimmy Brown, Jr.'s RBI single scored
Jacob Schuster to give Miles its first lead of the game and a squeeze play plated
Xavius Burden for an 8-6 lead going into the bottom of the 11th. But fortunes turned bad quickly for the Golden Bears. Two fielding errors led to a run for the Lions and left the bases loaded with no one out, a long day becoming even more ominous. But Burden, who was spectacular in relief, got a strike out and a double play to get out of the jam and preserve the victory. Burden allowed the one unearned run in the 11th on three hits and struck out seven in four innings to earn the victory, one that did not seem possible after seven innings.
After giving up three runs in the bottom of the seventh, Miles trailed 6-1 and showed little hope of putting together enough hits to stave off elimination. But a 2-run single by
James Gardner brought Miles to within 6-3, setting the stage for the epic ninth inning rally.
With one out, Schuster reached on a fielder's choice to score
Justin Langdale. Â Back-to-back walks by Burden and Brown scored
Kipp Cuevas, who had pinch ran for
Keland Smith. Another fielder's choice allowed Schuster to score to tie the game at six and left the bases loaded, but
Damion Williams hit into a double play to snuff the big inning and help send the game to extras.
Brown had three hits and two RBI while Gardner (two hits, three RBI) and Langdale (reached base four times) also did damage at the plate for Miles.
GAME 2 - (W2) Miles 15, (W4) Tuskegee 5 (eight innings)
Christopher Elias went the entire way, allowing just six hits and one earned run while striking out six as Miles jumped out to an early lead and never let Tuskegee back into the contest as the game was halted by the 10-run rule.
The Golden Bears pounded out 15 hits and every person who made a plate appearance reached base.
Aaron Williams (3-for-6, 4 RBI) and Smith (3-for-5, 2 RBI, 3R)Â each had big games at the plate. A 5-run second inning gave Miles a 6-2 lead and it would not trail again.Â
UP NEXT
Miles will face Stillman at noon. The two teams played a 3-game series earlier this season with the Tigers winning 2-of-3, which helped secure the West Division's No. 1 seed for the tournament. If Miles wins, they will face Claflin for the SIAC title at approximately 3 p.m. The Panthers defeated the Golden Bears 12-7 in the opening game of the tournament for both teams.
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