Rio Grande Sports Information
RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The first half of Friday's River States Conference baseball doubleheader with West Virginia University Tech didn't end the way that the University of Rio Grande hoped it would.
The back end of the twin bill didn't end at all - at least not officially - until the wee hours of the morning.
Chase Herndon clubbed a three-run home run in the top of the 12th inning to lift the Golden Bears to an 11-9 win in the nearly four-hour-long opener, while the RedStorm were awarded a 6-5 victory in the nightcap.
Game two was originally suspended with the score tied at 6-6 and Rio coming to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning, but league officials made the decision in the overnight hours that the game - which was scheduled for seven innings from the start - would revert back to the last completed inning, thus erasing Tech's game-tying, two-out home run in the top of the seventh.
The split left Rio Grande at 11-13 overall and 4-1 in league play.
WVU-Tech finished the day at 6-13 overall and 2-6 in the RSC.
Herndon's go-ahead homer in game one was his second of the contest and the last of five circuit clouts by the Golden Bears.
Michael Adams led off the game with the first homer for Tech, but Rio Grande scored twice in the home first and again in the second for a 3-1 lead.
The Golden Bears got a two-run home run by Broedy Boyce as part of a three-run third inning to regain a 4-3 lead, while the RedStorm scored once in the bottom of the third and three more times in the home fifth to take back a 7-4 advantage.
Herndon and Will Gray each clubbed two-run homers in the seventh inning to send Tech back in front, but Rio tied the game once again in the bottom of the inning and the deadlock remained intact until the 12th.
The Golden Bears' rally began when Noah Lukas reached on an error and, two outs later, Hunter Fansler followed with a walk to extend the inning. Herndon followed with the go-ahead homer.
Rio got one of the runs back in the bottom of the inning when freshman Gehrig Cordial (South Charleston, OH) reached on a leadoff single, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a two-out double by junior Josiah Devapalan (Brampton, Ontario, Canada).
Freshman Gregory Catano (Miami, FL) then came to plate representing the tying run, but grounded out to second base to end the game.
Herndon finished 3-for-7 with five RBI to lead WVU-Tech, while Boyce had three hits and two RBI and Gray finished 2-for-5 with a home run, a double and two RBI.
Fansler and Jordan Thurmond also had two hits each in the winning effort, while Cameron Lynch - the last of four Golden Bear pitchers - picked up the win after allowing three hits and two runs over six innings.
Junior Hayden Simon (Stouffville, Ontario, Canada) was the hard luck loser for Rio Grande, allowing five hits and three unearned runs over six innings of relief.
Devapalan, senior Waskar Martinez (Santiago, D.R.), senior Likeiry Jimenez (Readking, PA) and Cordial all had two hits in the loss for the RedStorm. Devapalan, Martinez and Beiker Fuentes all drove in two runs each.
Game two saw Rio Grande jump to a 3-0 first inning lead thanks to a solo home run by senior Beiker Fuentes (Crystal Lake, IL), an RBI double by Devapalan and a run-scoring hit by Jimenez.
WVU Tech pulled to within one thanks to a two-run home run by Lukas in the fourth, but the RedStorm got the run back in the bottom of the frame and added another run in the fifth on a second home run by Fuentes.
The Golden Bears tied the game in the sixth when Reece Patterson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Herndon followed with a two-run single, but Rio regained the lead in the see-saw affair with a two-out double by junior Casey Funk (Houston, TX) in the bottom of the sixth.
With darkness fast-approaching, Rio was one out away from wrapping up the win in the top of the seventh before Gray hit a game-tying home run for Tech.
Game umpires suspended the game for darkness before the RedStorm came to bat in the seventh, but a review of the league's bylaws resulted in a late-night decision that the game reverted to the score at the completion of the last completed inning, thus giving Rio the victory.
Like Fuentes, junior Keniel Rosado (Juncos, P.R.) had two hits in the winning effort, while redshirt sophomore Brett Haskins (Evans, WV) also had a double.
Fuentes earned the win in relief, allowing a hit and a walk with a strikeout in one scoreless inning.
Luke Richards, the second of three pitchers for the Golden Bears, took the loss.
Lukas, Spurlock and Herndon all had two hits for Tech.
The two teams will wrap up the series on Saturday, weather permitting, with a single nine-inning contest beginning at noon.
