COLUMBIA, S.C. - A Christian Orr led effort on the mound helped CIU baseball to a (2-1) series win over Bryan College (Tenn.) on Saturday as the Rams split with the Lions in their series-ending doubleheader. CIU (16-26, 7-17 AAC) pounced all over Bryan (16-22. 11-10 AAC) in game one of the day, knocking off the Lions 7-2 before succumbing to Bryan 13-7 in game two. CIU closes out the series moving to 4-2 all-time versus Bryan.
GAME ONE: CIU 7 BC 2: Back-to-back RBI doubles from Buddy Bleasdale and Britton Morris put the Rams in front (2-0) in the first inning. More doubles would follow as Jan Maldonado recorded an RBI double in the third and Robert Bell tallied a two-RBI double in the fourth as CIU extended the advantage out to 5-0. Bryan cut the deficit down to 6-2 in the eighth, but the Rams were able to stave off any comeback taking the first contest of the day 7-2.
BOX SCORE NOTES:
- Christian Orr was superb on the mound with eight strikeouts as he pitched six innings and tallied the win.
- Brett Collins recorded his second save off the series allowing just one hit in 1.1 innings pitched.
- CIU's offense clicked for eight innings as the Rams had five players record multiple hits while tallying five doubles and 15 hits as a team.
GAME TWO: BC 13 CIU 7: CIU was seemingly out of the contest trailing 10-0 in the fifth inning. However, CIU rattled off a burst of five runs to cut the deficit to 10-5 in the bottom of the inning. Each team added several more runs before the end of the seven-inning game, but CIU ended up on the wrong end of a 13-7 Bryan victory.
BOX SCORE NOTES:
- Alex Miller was a spark off the bench for CIU, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
- Sophmore Jan Maldonado had a 2-for-3 outing of his own as he added an RBI to his season total.
- CIU had six different pitchers represent them on the hill in game two.
What Coach Johnson is saying:
"Great team effort this weekend to pull off another conference series win. It was a momentum builder having so many different guys doing their part this weekend. We are finally starting to look like the team that we are capable of being."
Up Next:
CIU will host Truett McConnell (Ga.) at Miller Field in a single game on Tuesday, April 12. at 4 p.m.