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NUTTER FORT, W.Va. (April 16) – Despite allowing a tying run in the ninth inning, the Tigers walked-off Davis & Elkins on a sacrifice fly to earn a 5-4 win, before completing the doubleheader sweep with an 8-5 win in game two at Frank Loria Memorial Field Thursday evening.
The wins improve the Salem International University baseball team to 6-30 overall, 4-14 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). Meanwhile, the Senators fall to 1-13 in league play, 3-25 overall this season.
The Tigers entered the ninth inning with a 4-3 lead, but Davis & Elkins evened the score with a single, a sacrifice bunt that advanced the runner, and a RBI double to send the game into extra frames.
After a scoreless 10th inning, the Tigers led the bottom of the 11th off with a single by junior center fielder
Joe Drago (Albany, Ind./Delta) and a double by classmate
Anthony Bariso (Tarpon Springs, Fla./Tarpon Springs) to put runners at second and third with nobody out. The Senators intentionally walked the next batter to bring junior
Nicco Lollio (Carleton, Mich./Airport) to the dish with the bases loaded.
With the outfield playing shallow, Lollio looped a fly ball to left field. Senator left fielder Dylan Appel made a diving catch for the out, but was offline with his throw to the plate, allowing Drago to score and give the Tigers a walk-off win.
Salem International clubbed out a season-best 16 hits in the win. Bariso led the team at the plate with a career-high four hits, including two doubles, and two runs scored. Lollio and Drago each paced Bariso's effort with three hits, with Lollio adding two RBI. Senior
Manny Dominguez (Bronx, N.Y./Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics) chipped in two hits and two RBI in the win.
Junior
Charles Atherton (Newark, Ohio/Mount Vernon) improved his record to 1-3 with two innings of no-hit ball in relief of starter
Colton Lankford (Rowlett, Texas/Rowlett).
The Tigers stormed out to a 6-0 lead in game two and held on for an 8-5 win to complete the doubleheader sweep and take a three-game lead in the G-MAC standings for the sixth and final tournament bid.
Salem International got off to a fast start by plating four runs in the first inning. Bariso scored when he stole third and advanced home on a bad throw by the Senator catcher. Lollio followed up with a RBI single and scored when junior
Cody Whitmer (Elmira, N.Y./Elmira Free Academy) launched a RBI double to the fence in left field.
The Tigers added runs in the second and third innings to extend the lead to 6-0, before a three-run home run by Davis & Elkins in the fifth cut the lead in half.
Senior left fielder
Aaron Alderman (Lakeland, Fla./Lake Gibson) connected on a RBI double in the bottom of the fifth and sophomore
Trent Dalton (Logan, W.Va./Logan) followed with a RBI single of his own to push the Tiger lead back to six, 8-3, with the Senators down to their final six outs.
Davis & Elkins trimmed the Salem International lead to 8-5 with a pair of runs in the sixth and brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh, but Bariso, who started game two on the mound, struck out the side in the final inning to preserve the Tiger win.
Bariso (1-2) earned the win on the bump with a complete game effort (111 pitches). He limited the Senators to five runs (three earned) on six hits with a season-high seven strikeouts. The Florida native helped his own case at the plate with two hits and one run scored. Meanwhile, Austin Main fell to 0-5 this season for Davis & Elkins after allowing eight runs over 4.0 innings pitched.
Dalton led Salem International at the plate with a 3-for-3 performance with one RBI and two runs scored. Each member of the Tiger lineup, who matched their season-best 16 hits from game one, finished with a base-hit, including five players with two hits, apiece. Lollio and Whitmer led that group with two hits and two RBI, apiece.
The Tigers and Senators will conclude their four-game series tomorrow, Friday April 17 with another G-MAC twinbill. The first-pitch of game one, which was originally scheduled for noon, has been rescheduled for 3 p.m. due to rainfall in the forecast.
