ALBANY, Ga. -- After dropping the first two games against Albany State, Miles got strong pitching from
Nick Copen and banged Golden Rams pitching for a couple of home runs to take the final game of the three-game set. Albany State won the opener on Friday, 11-1, then took the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, 8-5. The Golden Bears won the nightcap, 9-4, to bring their overall record to 5-9 and their conference mark to 4-2. Five different players hit home runs during the weekend for Miles.
GAME 1 - Albany State 11, Miles 1 (7)
After enjoying a big offensive series last weekend against Clark Atlanta, the bats went cold in the opener as the Golden Bears were only able to cobble together three hits in a contest that ended early due to the 10-run rule.
With one out in the first,
Mason McClammy singled and
Brandon Leroy walked but a double play off the bat of
Nick Copen ended the threat. Albany State responded, scoring eight times over the first three innings against Miles starter
Branson Honea (0-2). The Golden Bears got an infield single from Leroy in the fourth and a solo home run by
Kolby King in the fifth off Golden Rams starter Brady Davis (2-0), but it was not enough. Albany State added three more runs off
Conner Whitfield to finish the job and get the early victory.
GAME 2 - Albany State 8, Miles 5
Trey Rutledge and
Max Davenport clubbed solo home runs and Rutledge added a run-scoring sacrifice fly to give Miles a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the fourth. But Albany State scored three times in the bottom of the frame off starter
Trent Jones (1-2) and reliever
Camden Matthews to take the lead for good.
Davenport drove in another run with a groundout in the seventh to draw the Golden Bears to within 6-4 but the Golden Rams scored twice in the bottom of the inning against
Drew Shackleford to extend the lead. Miles made some noise in the ninth.
Auston Brewer walked and stole second.
Isaiah Jordan singled to move Brewer to third and Brewer would touch the plate after a a failed pickoff against pinch runner
Lakell Freeman. But the rally ended there, and so did the game, after the Golden Bears failed get any more traction with the final two hitters.
GAME 3 - Miles 9, Albany State 4
Miles broke a five-game skid against the Golden Rams, getting some generosity from their defense to open the scoring. A misplayed ball in center field with two outs that would have ended the first inning turned into two runs as Rutledge and Leroy, who both walked, came home for a 2-0 advantage. The Golden Bears added two more in the second. Matthews hit his first home run of the season, a blast to left, which was followed by an inside-the-park home run for the speedy Brewer, his second round-tripper of the campaign, for a 4-0 lead.
Brewer had a big game at the plate, with three hits and three RBI. He drove in a run in the fourth with a single and scored on a Leroy RBI double (his team-leading 13th RBI on the season), then he drove in Matthews (who preceded the score with a RBI single that plated Davenport) with an infield single for an 8-1 Miles lead in the fifth. Matthews (also 3-for-4 with 3 RBI) tacked on another run with a single that scored King in the seventh. That was plenty of run support for Copen (2-2), who pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing just four hits and two earned runs while striking out three.
UP NEXT - Miles travels to Memphis to take on Christian Brothers on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
