KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - CIU baseball made the most of their first-ever meeting with Johnson (Tenn.) on the diamond as the Rams swept their doubleheader with the Royals on Thursday. The wins give CIU their first Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) series victory of the season as CIU surges to 8-18 overall and 5-9 in conference action.
Game One: CIU 7 JU 6: CIU got on the board in the first inning as the Royals catcher mishandled a pitch, allowing James Lovera to score. The Rams built the advantage as Scott McDonough continued what has been an excellent week to put the Rams up 2-0 on the RBI single. The Rams allowed the lead to slip away, but Collin Greer and David Mora helped CIU respond in the fourth as the duo combined for two hits and three RBI in the inning (5-3). Emmanual Maldonado etched his name into the stat sheet in the eighth as the right-fielder picked up an RBI triple to add to CIU's lead. Again, the Royals answered, as the Rams found themselves in extra-innings knotted at 6-6. Kai Smith stepped for CIU, roping one to right field to score Darius Hatchette-Dunn. Pitcher Collin Otte then picked up a strikeout and forced two ground-outs to close the game for CIU in the bottom of the tenth.
Box Score Highlights:
- Otte posted a no-hitter through 2.1 innings of relief with three strikeouts. Matthew Garris was admirable on the mound as the starter, going 5.2 innings with four K's.
- Smith, Maldonado, Lovera, and Colton Lopez each had two hits: Lovera posted a double, and Maldonado posted a triple.
- Mora went 1-for-3 at the plate with a walk and two RBI.
Game Two: CIU 6 JU 3: The Rams once again scored first on a passed ball that brought home Lovera in the top of the third frame. The Rams tacked on two more in the inning on a McDonough RBI single and a Maldonado two-RBI double. CIU wouldn't score again in the game until the seventh when Shane Hammonds added an insurance run on a two-RBI single to left field. Rodrigo Rodriguez closed the game on the mound, facing five batters in the bottom of the seventh.
Box Score Highlights:
- Lovera went 2-for-4 at the plate, while both Hammonds and Maldonado had a hit and two RBIs.
- Deric Hanko picked up the win as the starter throwing five innings, giving up three hits, and sitting down five on strikeouts. Rodriguez recorded two innings of work on the mound.
What Assistant Coach Buddy Bleasdale is saying: "I'm really proud of this team, we've continued to fight throughout the season. This is what we can do if we can play a complete game. We've had some games that got away from us this season, but we can play with anyone when we put it all together and play a fundamentally sound game. Hopefully we can keep moving forward and keep building on this for the rest of the season."
Up Next: The Rams will travel back to Knoxville on Saturday, Mar. 16, to complete the series with the Royals with a single game beginning at 1:00 p.m. EST.
