Day 2 Recap: RSC Baseball Championship
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio -- After two complete days at the RSC Baseball Championship, there are still five teams left in the bracket. That's after Friday's second day of action at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio. The championship rolls on Saturday with three more games followed by the championship round on Sunday.
No. 3 seed IU Southeast is the lone unbeaten team remaining as the Grenadiers improved to 2-0 on the weekend with Friday night's 8-6 comeback over No. 5 Rio Grande (Ohio). No. 2 Point Park (Pa.) stayed alive with an elimination game victory over No. 6 Oakland City (Ind.), 6-1, to start the day Friday. In between, No. 4 IU Kokomo became the cause of five teams still remaining when it beat No. 1 Midway (Ky.), 14-6.
All of that leaves four teams at 1-1 to battle it out in elimination games in the first two matchups on Saturday. IU Southeast will wait for its opponent on Saturday night. See below for a recap of Friday's games.
NO. 2 POINT PARK 6, NO. 6 OAKLAND CITY 1
Javier Cardoso struck out 12 batters and walked none in 8.0 strong innings to power Point Park to a loser's bracket win over Oakland City to start the day. He allowed just three hits, and he did not give up an earned run.
Oakland City's only score versus Cardoso was an unearned run on an infield error, which made the score 2-1 in the fourth inning. Before and after that, Point Park had enough offense with its 10 hits and two homers to come out with the win.
The Pioneers padded the lead with three scoring innings later on. Carlos Martinez stroked an RBI double in the fourth for a 3-1 cushion. Two innings later, Justin Oakley hit his 10th homer of the year, a solo shot for a 4-1 lead. Isaac Santana bumped the lead to 6-1 on his opposite-field shot in the eighth.
Ben Simmons took the loss pitching into the sixth inning for Oakland City. He gave up four runs, struck out six and yielded seven hits. Jared Kirkman had two of the Mighty Oaks' three hits.
NO. 4 IU KOKOMO 14, NO. 1 MIDWAY 5
The Cougars led from start to finish with an offense that lasted all nine innings versus the top-seed Eagles. IU Kokomo had 16 hits and scored in five different innings with all of those being crooked numbers.
IU Kokomo built leads of 5-1, 8-3 and 10-5 before getting four more in the top of the eighth to put the game out of reach.
Tucker Platt was 2 for 5 with three RBIs, and Dylan Steele went 2 for 3 with three RBIs and two runs off the bench. Platt's two-run double made the score 8-3 in the sixth. Steele came off the bench for a two-run homer and a 10-5 lead in the seventh.
The offense helped the Cougars with a safe lead as the bullpen covered the final 5.1 innings. Ethan Leslie got the win in 3.0 innings of middle relief. Connor Hurt finished it off the last 2.0 innings.
Midway got within 8-5 on Cameron Nichols' two-run double in the sixth. He was 2 for 2 with three RBIs. Eli Glasscock was 2 for 4 with two runs, and the Eagles totaled eight hits. But it wasn't enough to keep up with the Cougars.
Midway starter Owen Clark was saddled with the loss in 5.0 innings. He did not get the run support early and thus was faced with a deficit when he left after eight strikeouts, two walks and three earned runs.
NO. 3 IU SOUTHEAST 8, NO. 5 RIO GRANDE 6
The Grenadiers stayed in the winner's bracket with another late comeback, this time over Rio Grande. A pair of runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh put IU Southeast ahead, 7-6, and the Grenadiers added an insurance run in the eighth to set the final.
A key error tied the game in the IU Southeast seventh, 6-6. That kept the inning going for Blake Cook, who had the winning RBI for the second night in a row. He provided a base hit in the seventh to push the Grenadiers ahead. Kody Putnam added an RBI single in the eighth for more breathing room.
The IU Southeast buillpen gave up just one run over its 3.0 innings. That was in back of starter Luke Schafer, who had a no-decision in 6.0 innings of only two earned runs. He struck out 11 and walked just one, but three errors were a big reason Rio Grande had the lead of 5-2 through three innings.
The Grenadiers tallied nine hits with Putnam, Cook and Brayden Hazelwood getting two apiece. Slater Schield drove in two runs, including on a base hit that helped IU Southeast get withiin 5-4 in the fifth.
Rio Grande posted 10 hits with Braeden Gaul going 3 for 4 with an RBI. Trey Carter was 2 for 2 with two RBIs. Andrew Daria scored three runs and stole two bases.
Jacob Napier pitched into the fifth inning as the Rio Grande starter. He gave up three earned runs and handed a 5-4 lead over to the bullpen. Hayden Simon got out of the fifth getting all three outs there to preserve the one-run lead.
Daewin Spence pitched the final 3.0 innings for Rio Grande and was stuck with the loss. He got out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth when he struck out Trevor Campbell to keep the score 5-5. He was not as fortunate in the seventh when an error allowed two unearned runs and gave IUS the lead.
UP NEXT
Saturday begins with No. 1 Midway vs. No. 5 Rio Grande at 11:00 a.m. with the losers out. Likewise with No. 2 Point Park veresus No. 4 IU Kokomo at 3:00 p.m. No. 3 IU Southeast will face the winner of Midway-Rio Grande at 7:00 p.m. with the loser eliminated if their second loss and the winner on to the championship round.
The first game on Sunday will be at 11:00 a.m. regardless with either three or two teams remaining, depending on Saturday's results. That will hinge on whether the Midway-Rio Grande winner goes on to beat IU Southeast.
If IU Southeast wins again on Saturday, there will be just two teams left with the Grenadiers having to be beaten twice on Sunday by the Point Park-IU Kokomo winner. Otherwise, the Grenadiers will have to face the Point Park-IU Kokomo winner Sunday morning to get back to the championship final versus either Midway or Rio Grande on Sunday at 3:00 p.m.