Miles got two outstanding pitching performances from
Kolton Easterwood and
Austin Douglas while the offense offered them plenty of run support in sweeping Stillman 23-1 and 3-0 at historic Rickwood Field on Friday in the team's home opener.
James Bitner had four hits,
Max Davenport walked six times, scored five runs and stole three bases - including home twice - while
William Johnson and
Jeffrey Wright each drove in three runs across the two games.
GAME 1 - Miles 23, Stillman 1
Easterwood (1-0) scattered four singles among five shutout innings while striking out four in earning his first win of the season. But his job was made a lot easier as the Golden Bears jumped all over Tigers starter Tre'en Dorsett in the opening inning. The first five batters reached base and
Cade Glass drove in two runs for a 3-0 lead. Dorsett was gone after he walked Davenport and all of those runners would score. Davenport would steal home, and Johnson and
Jordan Pearson would drive in runs and the Golden Bears led 6-0 after an inning.
The third inning saw another offensive explosion as Miles scored eight times.
Clifton Orr and Bitner drove in runs with hits, Wright just missed a home run but tripled to left center and Johnson got him in with a ground out for a 14-0 advantage. The Golden Bears struck with two outs in the fourth as consecutive doubles by Davenport, Wright and Johnson upped the ante to 18-0
Head coach
Ty Roberts inserted his reserves in the latter portions of the game but the onslaught continued.
Eli Snelson,
Drake Fondren and Hagen Gringras each had RBI in the fifth inning. In the sixth,
Cameron Holmes came off the bench and rapped the team's sixth double of the game that drove in two for a 23-0 advantage. The Tigers would score a run on a wild pitch with two outs in the seventh.
GAME 2 - Miles 3, Stillman 0
The Golden Bears managed just two hits but all of their runs were scored with out needing those safeties and Douglas and
Tyler Allen combined for a three-hit shutout.
Miles got on the board in the first when
Jacob Bisharat, who led off with a single, scored with one out on a balk by Steven Oates for the early lead. Bitner added a single later that inning but the Golden Bears would not get another hit for the remainder of the contest. In the second, Davenport coaxed a walk from Oates and went directly to second base as Ball Four went to the screen. Oates then tried to pick him off at second but the ball ended up in center field. Davenport would come all the way around to score for a 2-0 lead.
Stillman had its best chance to score in the third, loading the bases on a walk, single and a hit-by-pitch with one out. But Douglas posted back-to-back strikeouts to get out of the jam. The Tigers would get just one more hit against Douglas, who struck out four in his six innings of work.
In the fourth, Miles would score again without a hit. Much as he did in the second, Davenport walked and immediately went to second on a Ball Four wild pitch. He would proceed to steal third and - after a two out walk to Pearson - stole home on the back end of a double steal to increase the Golden Bears lead.
Allen came on in the seventh and got two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 inning to record his first save of the year.
UP NEXT
Miles will host West Alabama on Wednesday at Rickwood Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
