Miles splits with Morehouse
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Miles had already earned the West Division's No. 1 seed for next week's Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Championship but looked to stay hot in its final regular season series against Morehouse. The Golden Bears (27-18, 15-4) pummeled the Maroon Tigers  in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader 15-4 but saw their 10-game win streak come to an end in an 8-7 loss in the nightcap at A.H. Parker High School Field.
Damion Williams had four hits, including a home run, as he and
Xavius Burden both reached base seven times.
Darione Adkison and
Peyton Logan each had three hits and three runs batted in to pace Miles offensively.
GAME 1: Miles 15, Morehouse 4
The first eight hitters got on base for the Golden Bears and they all scored against Morehouse starter Jordan Davis.
Gary Mason, Jr. and Adkison had back-to-back 2-run doubles to highlight the frame. A 2-run double in the third by Logan was part of a six-run inning that gave Miles a 14-1 advantage.
That would be more than enough for starter
Austin Pate (8-1), who was making his final home start for Miles. He allowed six hits and just one unearned run in five innings in his final tuneup for the Championships. He even got to take his first at-bat since his sophomore season and got an infield single - his second career hit - as the Golden Bears finished with 16 hits for the game. One of those hits was a solo home run by
Cameron Honeycutt in the seventh, his first.
Pate started pitching to a batter in the top of the sixth but was pulled by head coach
Ty Roberts as the fans applauded the senior right hander. He was replaced by his brother,
Colby Pate, his pitched the final two innings to close out the Maroon Tigers.
GAME 2: Morehouse 8, Miles 7
Miles fell in an early hole and trailed by five runs with six outs remaining. A big comeback, though, came up just short as the Golden Bears had the tying run on base in each of the final two innings.
Miles starter
William Donahoo (7-3) struggled from the start, giving up five runs in the first three innings, all with two outs. Zachary Lowe's two-run single in the second inning made the score 4-0 and Jason Davis scored on the back end of a failed double steal attempt to put the Golden Bears in a big hole.
But Morehouse starter Jason Davis ran into big trouble in the third. He walked five of the first six hitters - Logan and
Kolby Brannon both with the bases loaded - to put Miles on the board and get him off the mound. Kristopher Skinner entered and got the final  to outs to squelch the threat and after four inning, the Golden Bears trailed 7-2 and did not have a hit.
The offense, though, would start to come alive in the fifth. Logan singled to right for the Miles' first safety and he would score on Mason's sacrifice fly.  Morehouse would add a run in the sixth on a two-out RBI single by Bryan Armstead but the Golden Bears went right back to work in the bottom of the frame. Williams led off with a home run to left. Walks to
Ryan Bargery and Reaves Brashear (who was replaced by pinch runner
Brandon Conner) and subsequent stolen bases set the table for Burden, who's two-run double tightened the gap.
Trevor Bates would come and run for Burden and he would score on a run-scoring single by
Kolby Brannon to make it a one-run game.
But a controversial batter's interference call on a stolen base attempt by Brannon brought an abrupt ending to the inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Williams reached base with a one-out walk but he was thrown out trying to steal. Conner would pop out to second base and the Maroon Tigers would earn just their third win in their last 10 games.
UP NEXT: The two teams will play the rubber game of the series and final game of the regular season Sunday at A.H. Parker High. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
