COLUMBIA, S.C – CIU baseball finished their series with Kentucky Christian on Saturday and have now won seven games in the last seven days. The Rams won both of their doubleheader games against the Knights. CIU dominated KCU 11-1 in the first game of the day and then continued to impress winning 10-0 in game two. CIU is now 3-0 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) and 7-5 overall on the season. Kentucky Christian is still searching for their first win, moving to 0-8 on the year.

Game One: Sophomore pitcher Justin Parish started the game for CIU and would yield one run in the 1st but it would be only the score of the game for the Knights. Carter Willis got the offense humming in the bottom of the first as he singled to score Skye Foster. The Rams would score five more runs in the inning, two of them coming off a Kody Trujillo triple which sent home Alex Miller and Bryce Spittle. Buddy Bleasedale joined in the offensive dominance as well, recording an RBI single in the inning. CIU added to their total in the 3rd inning as left fielder Shane Hammonds recorded an RBI on a sac-fly while Joshua Hernandez brought Bleasdale and Trujillo across home plate with a double. Spittle put the exclamation point on the contest with his first home run as a Ram with a shot over the left-field fence in the 7th inning. Two at-bats later, Bleasedale officially ended the game with an RBI double which run-ruled the Knights 11-1.

Game Two: Tyler Parker took the mound to start the second game of the doubleheader as CIU picked up three outs in three at-bats in the top of the 1st inning. Spittle went back to work in the bottom of the inning, sending shortstop Rafeal Gonzales home for the RBI single. Alex Miller notched two RBI's several batters later as he singled past the Knight's first baseman as Robert Bell scored from second and Carter Willis scored from third. Bleasedale recorded a sac-fly before the Knights could get out of the inning as CIU led 4-0. The Rams scored once more in the 2nd, and KCU struggled to throw strikes in the 3rd as CIU added four more runs in the inning. Hernandez gave the Rams double-digit runs in the 4th with an RBI single while pitcher Hunter Garris put the Knights out of their misery in the top of the 5th, and CIU secured the 10-0 win.

Doubleheader Notes:

• Eight different batters recorded a hit for the Rams over the course of the doubleheader.
• Kody Trujillo notched a double and a triple on his way to two RBI's and three hits in the first game of the day.
• Joshua Hernandez had three RBI's over the course of the day while designated hitter Alex Miller notched four RBI's in just two at-bats in the second game on Saturday.
• Justin Parish tallied his first win of the season as he secured four strikeouts while only giving up two in five innings.
• Tyler Parker and Hunter Garris gave CIU's pitching staff their second shutout of the week as the duo combined to only give up two hits against 17 batters faced in the Rams 10-0 win. 

Up Next:

CIU will face in-state foe, Bob Jones, on Tuesday in a doubleheader starting at 1 PM.