Rio Grande Sports Information
RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Who knew that Thursday's 26-run, 3-1/2-hour marathon between the University of Rio Grande and Indiana University Kokomo was nothing more than a preview of what was to come less than 24 hours later in a Senior Day doubleheader at Bob Evans Field.
Waskar Martinez - one of nine Rio players honored earlier in the day - clubbed a leadoff home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the RedStorm a dramatic 14-13 win and a split of the twin bill with the Cougars.
Rio Grande, which dropped a 12-6 decision in the front end of the twin bill, finished the day at 17-26 overall and 8-13 in conference play.
Veteran head coach Brad Warnimont's club also earned their first series win against the Cougars since 2019 and kept their fleeting post-season hopes in the process.
The RedStorm need a series sweep of rival Shawnee State University next weekend in Portsmouth to conclude the regular season, along with a sweep by either Midway or Brescia in their series against each other and at least one loss by WVU-Tech in its series with Indiana University Southeast to claim the sixth and final spot in the upcoming RSC Baseball Championship, which is scheduled for May 1-4 at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.
IU Kokomo dropped to 19-25 overall and 12-11 in league play with the split.
Friday's game two victory saw Rio Grande erase a 7-2 second inning deficit but also cough up a three-run lead after six innings in the scheduled seven-inning contest.
Martinez, a senior from Santiago, D.R., deposited a 3-1 offering from IUK's Nathan Stanley over the fence in left-center to touch off a wild celebration at home plate.
The home run - the fourth and final blast by the four senior honorees who had a plate appearance during the day - came after a brief delay to confirm that Stanley was actually still in the game following a lack of communication by the home plate umpire as to what spot he entered into the Cougars' batting order one inning earlier.
The game-winning circuit-clout made a winner out of junior Hayden Simon (Stouffville, Ontario, Canada) - the last of eight Rio pitchers - who worked one inning of scoreless relief.
Stanley, the last of five IUK pitchers, suffered his second loss in three decisions.
Senior Likeiry Jimenez (Reading, PA) finished 2-for-5 with a home run and three runs batted in, while freshman Gregory Catano (Miami, FL) was 2-for-3 with two RBI and Martinez finished with a pair of runs knocked in.
Freshman Gehrig Cordial (South Charleston, OH) added a double in the winning effort.
Luke Hanson had two hits and three RBI for the Cougars, while Alex Janke, Payton Hankins and Anthony Nino all had two hits and two RBI.
Jacob Medvescek homered, doubled and drove in a run, while Kasey Ross had two hits of his own and Mason Janz also drove in two runs in a losing cause.
Janz and Hankins each homered, Hankins and Ross also doubled and Noah Wolf had a double for IUK.
The opening game saw Rio Grande push across single markers in the first, third and fourth innings for a 3-0 lead, but Kokomo responded with seven runs in the fifth and three runs in the sixth to take control and go on to the win.
Brayden Coffey went 3-for-5 with a double to lead the visitors at the plate, while Janz and Nino were both 2-for-3 with an RBI and Medvescek drove in three runs.
Ross hit a solo home run, Wolf doubled and knocked in a pair of runs and Hanson finished with two RBI in the winning effort.
Brett Huiner started and got the win for the Cougars, allowing eight hits and three runs over six innings.
Senior Gabe Carter (Huntington, WV) started and lost for Rio after giving up three hits, five walks and five runs in 4-1/3 innings of work.
Catano finished 3-for-5 in the loss, while Martinez drove in two runs, Fuentes and senior Braeden Gaul (Huntington, WV) both homered and Cordial had a double.
Rio Grande's series opener with Shawnee State is scheduled for Friday, at 2 p.m., at Branch Rickey Park.
