Rams Win Rubber Match With Pilots

MOBILE, Ala-- The 16th-ranked University of Mobile baseball team took 2-of-3 from visiting LSU-Shreveport by hitting their way to a 14-8 victory Sunday afternoon at Ram Field.

Mobile pounded out 16 hits on the afternoon and had 6 batters finish with multiple hits, including the first 5 in the batting order. All of the offense made a winner out of Justin Bracewell (6-1) who went 6 innings, struck out 6 and allowed 6 earned runs. Ira Turner worked 3 scoreless innings for the save.

The game was knotted at 2-2 heading into the bottom of the 4th, and then the Rams took control of the ball game by putting up a 6-spot in the frame. The Rams sent 11 batters to the plate in the inning and started the inning with 4 straight hits, including back-to-back RBI singles from Carlos Romero and Brett Barber.

The Rams then got some 2-out production to finish off the inning has Stephen Stork produced a 2-out RBI single and David Cramblitt jacked a 2-out, 2-run homer, his 8th of the season.

The Pilots made a game of it with 6 runs over the 5th, 6th and 7th innings but the Rams' bats answered with 3 runs in the 6th and 7th frames, highlighted by a 2-run single from Jared Baria and a RBI triple from Nelson Curry.

Baria led Mobile at the plate with a 3-for-5 afternoon, while Nelson Curry, Stephen Stork, David Cramblitt, Kevin Orso, and Brett Barber each added 2 hits apiece.

Mobile (20-6, 17-1) next plays at Auburn-Montgomery Tuesday, March 11th at 4:00.

Game 2:
Rams Take Game 2

MOBILE, Ala-- The 16th-ranked University of Mobile baseball team split Saturday's double header by using some power to take game 2 6-4.

The Rams (19-6, 16-1) maintain a 3-game lead in the GCAC over the Pilots (17-7, 11-4) as Jared Baria, Carlos Romero and Stephen Stork all went deep.

Kit Powell allowed only 1 earned run in 7 innings on the mound to pick up the win and Scott Mitchell got the save for Mobile with a perfect 9th.

The Pilots started the scoring with an unearned tally in the 1st, but Baria answered 2 innings later with a solo bomb to knot the game. The Rams then put the game away with 5 runs over the 5th and 6th innings thanks to a 3-run bomb from Stork in the 5th and a leadoff shot from Romero in the 6th.

LSU-S fought back with 3 runs in the 7th, thanks to a 2-out, 2-run bloop single from Quenton Shamsabady, but Ira Turner and Mitchell shut the door over the final 2 frames.

Nelson Curry went 2-for-5 at the top of the Rams' order and Baria finished 3-for-4 with the homer. The two teams finish the series with a 9-inning game Sunday at 1:00.

Game 1:
Pilots Hand Rams 1st GCAC Loss

MOBILE, Ala-- The 16th-ranked University of Mobile baseball team dropped its first conference game of the season to the LSU-Shreveport pilots, 5-1 Saturday afternoon at Ram Field.

The Pilots got a standout pitching performance from Victor Hernandez and a nice blend of small ball and long ball to pull out the victory.

Hernandez (7-1) took a no-hitter into the 6th inning and finished with 7 innings of 3-hit ball, allowing only 1 run and fanning 2.

LSU-S struck first by plating a pair of runs in the first, when two wild pitches and a passed ball converted a pair of leadoff singles into 2 runs and a 2-0 Pilot lead. The Pilots then got a perfect safety-squeeze bunt from Andrew Blubaugh in the 4th to take a 3-0 lead which would hold until the 7th.

In the 7th, Craig Barnes jacked a 2-run homer for some cushion and Brad Sheffield got the Rams on the board with a pinch-hit solo shot to left.

The first two hitters in the Pilots' order, Quenton Shamsabady and Josh Todd went a combined 5-for-7 with 3 runs scored, while Jared Baria, Kevin Orso and Sheffield collected the lone Ram hits.