Rams Rally For Series Sweep

MOBILE, Ala-- The 16th-ranked University of Mobile baseball team rallied for a pair of wins Saturday to finish off the series sweep of visiting McKendree University.

In the opening game, the Rams won 5-3 in 7 innings by scoring all 5 runs over the 5th and 6th frames to over come a 2-0 deficit.

Brandon Melliere gave the Bearcats that 2-0 lead thanks to a solo homer and sac fly, then the Mobile offense finally woke up. In the 5th, Stephen Stork ripped a 2-run double and then Kevin Orso followed by chopping a RBI single over the 3rd baseman to chase home Stork for a 3-2 lead.

After Calvin O'Rear retied the game on a solo homer in the top of the 6th, Nelson Curry stepped up to the plate in the bottom half of the frame and jacked a 2-run homer for the game-winning tallies.

Ira Turner picked up the win with 0.2 innings of scoreless relief, while Scott Mitchell notched the save with a perfect 7th.

In the finale, that was scheduled to go 7, but ended up going 9 frames, Mobile again had to rally.

McKendree touched up Justin Bracewell for 10 hits and 6 runs through the first 5 innings of play to take a 6-2 lead, while Mobile was held to a pair of runs through the first 4. In the 5th, the Mobile bats again woke up.

Three batters after Daniel Harper came through with a RBI-single, Daine Solomon ripped a 2-out, 3-run homer to tie the game at 6-6. That's where the score stayed until the 9th, when a pair of singles and hit batsman set a bases-loaded stage for Kevin Orso. Orso delivered by ripping a walk-off single up the middle against the drawn-in infield for the 7-6 victory.

Mobile moves to 23-7 on the season and travels to New Orleans for a 3-game set next weekend at Loyola University.

Game 1:
Rams Roll 10-0

MOBILE, Ala-- The 16th-ranked University of Mobile baseball team stomped visiting McKendree University 10-0 in a 7-inning ball game in the series opener Friday afternoon.

The ball game started out as a pitchers' duel as Rams' Jesse Luker and the Bearcats Cale Johnson put up zeroes through the first 4 innings of play. The Rams finally scratched across a run in the bottom of the 5th when Clint Downey chopped a RBI single up the middle.

Then, Mobile put the game away with 4 runs in the 6th and 5 runs in the 7th on the strength of 4 home runs. In the 6th, Mobile tallied 5 hits and the scoring was capped by a Daniel Harper solo homer.

The Rams then powered their way to 3 homers in the 7th. The first 5 hitters in the inning reach and homers from Nelson Curry, Jared Baria and David Cramblitt provided the scoring and ended the game due to the 10-run rule.

While the 10-0 score seems it was dominated by offense, Luker did enough to win 1-0. The lefty allowed only a 2-out single in the 3rd inning and three walks. He also fanned 10 batters in the brilliant performance. Luker (5-1) retired the final 11 batters in a row.

Mobile moves to 21-7 on the season and hosts McKendree for a 1:00 double header Saturday to finish the non-conference series.