COLUMBIA - Game one of CIU baseball's Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) series on Friday saw the Rams outplay visiting Bluefield (Va.) in several different facets but come up just short, falling 4-3. CIU drops two games below .500 with the loss to move to 8-10 overall on the young season.

CIU was held scoreless through the sixth inning, but a Mason Turner double brought the Rams life as CIU threatened Bluefield's 4-0 advantage. Unfortunately, Turner was thrown out trying to advance to third as CIU ended the inning scoreless. The Rams would turn to Turner again in the seventh as the Lexington native notched a two-RBI triple, which followed Tre Williams's RBI single to help CIU come storming back. The Rams entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 4-3 and looked poised tie the game after a Maurice Gomez double but ultimately could not add more runs before the final out.

Box Score Highlights:

• Davin Miller-Madden got the start for CIU and recorded six strikeouts in five innings, while Miller Stuck represented the Rams on the mound for the last four innings, not allowing a hit.
• The Rams had three players with more than one hit as CIU recorded ten hits on the evening compared to five from Bluefield.
• Turner went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple.

Up Next: CIU will face Bluefield in a doubleheader at Miller Field tomorrow, Saturday, Mar. 1, beginning at 12 p.m. ET.