PIKEVILLE, Ky. — University of Pikeville scored eight runs in the bottom of the eight inning to upset Campbellsville in game one but the Tigers turned the tides and rallied in game two with a 2-1 victory in extra innings on Thursday afternoon.
The Tigers blanked the Bears in the first seven innings and were sitting pretty with a 4-0 lead, but UPIKE (14-9, 1-4 MSC scored eight runs with two outs.
Ray Fernandez was unable to record the final out and allowed six earned runs.
In game two, the Tigers (14-10, 3-2 MSC) scored a run in the fourth and another in the eighth (seven-inning game) to even the Mid-South Conference series at one win apiece.
Logan Roberts pitched a complete-game five-hitter and only allowed one run in the fifth inning.
The two MSC foes will meet again on Friday afternoon with the rubber match of the series starting at Noon ET. Live stats is available via GameChanger and the link can be found on
www.campbellsvilletigers.com.
Game one: UPIKE 8, Campbellsville 4
Coming off Tommy John surgery,
Indalecio Romo pitched in his second game of the season and was terrific once again. He tossed four innings of three-hit ball and did not allow a run, while striking out one in 52 pitches.
The Tigers struck first with two runs in the opening inning, as
Brett Hamilton scored
Clay Valenzuela-Reece with a two-out double and Hamilton scored after
Diego Reynoso was caught stealing.
Nick Johnston pitched the next 3.2 innings and worked brilliantly before being pulled for Fernandez (0-1) in the eighth inning. Johnston recorded two outs and the defense let him down with an error before Fernandez replaced him on the hill. The Bears then picked up six singles, a pair of walks and reached on another CU error to pull out the victory.
Dexter Cline also saw action in the eighth innings, allowing one hit, a walk and one run.
Kirby Broadbent recorded the final out for CU to stop the bleeding.
Offensively, Hamilton was joined by
David Montoya,
Carlos Garmendia and Hunter Christiansen with two hits a piece.
Game two: Campbellsville 2, UPIKE 1
The Tigers set the tone with a run in the fourth inning.
Matthew Valdez led off with a single and came around to score on a suicide squeeze by
Diego Reynoso.
For the second-straight weekend, Roberts (1-0) was dominant on the mound, tossing a complete-game five-hitter. The Bears evened the score in the fifth inning after a leadoff walk came around to score on an RBI single.
With game two being a seven-inning contest, the Tigers had to capitalize late and they did. Montoya started the rally with a double to left field and was followed with an RBI single by Valdez to put CU ahead, 2-1, in the top half.
Roberts set the Bears down in order to even the series.
Offensively, Valdez and Valenzuela-Reece both recorded multi-hit games.
