Miles College baseball faces its toughest test of the season this weekend when the Golden Bears travel to Savannah, Georgia to face Savannah State, the No. 1 rank team in Black College Nines Top 10 Small School Poll. Miles is the 5th ranked team in the HBCU Baseball poll. The teams will play a three-game weekend series starting Saturday with a doubleheader at 11 a.m. EDT and Sunday’s finale at Tigers Baseball Field.
Both are coming into the weekend series having earned five consecutive Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) series sweeps. Savannah State grabbed three games from Lane College in Jackson, Tenn. Miles swept three games from Benedict College in Pleasant, Grove Ala. The Golden Bears belted 10 home runs in that series.
The battle will be for Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference top spot.
Savannah State is 21-6 overall and 17-1 in conference. Miles is 18-9 overall and 15-3 in conference).
Examining Team Statistics: Savannah State holds a slight edge in batting average .347 compared to Miles .338 batting average. On the mound, Savannah State has the SIAC best team earn run average of 3.84 while Miles trail far behind at 6.84.
MILES INFO:
Offensively, coming into the season it took the players time to buy into Coach Robert’s game approach. Making adjustments and making sound contact, players like Kody Long are swinging the bat well. Long is the number two hitter and is currently on a 14-game hitting streak. He is batting .406 with 26 hits and an on base percentage of .506.
Freshman outfielder Eli Snelson is Miles’ leadoff batter. According to Coach Roberts, Eli is the fastest player he’s had the pleasure to coach. He runs a sub 6.6 60-yard dash and is getting a feel for stealing bases. Eli is batting .386 with 32 hits, 7 doubles, 4 triples, 2 home runs, 18 runs batted in, and a .505 on base percentage.
Infielder James Bitner hits 3rd in the order. He has started every game this season at 3B and is hitting .389 with 37 hits, 6 doubles, 4 home runs, 35 RBI’s.
Senior catcher Jacob Baharat has played every day for Coach Roberts since 2018. Jacob was Freshman of the Year in the SIAC in 2018 with first team or second team all-conference honors every season. Jacob is a 6′-5” athletic catcher who can also play first base or the outfield. He is currently batting .347, with 10 doubles, 5 home runs, and 23 runs driven across the plate.
The big run producer for Miles is freshman outfielder/DH Michael Archie who is hitting .385 with 8 home runs and 37 runs batted in. The coaching staff stated “Archie is doing a terrific job this season and is arguably putting up player of the year numbers and fits the MLB profile. He is 6’5, 200 lbs with sub 6.8 speed and has been clocked at 94 mph from the outfield.”
Maxwell Davenport, a sophomore middle infielder is the six-hole hitter and is doing a terrific job protecting Archie in the lineup. Max is 100% effort player at all times. Davenport is hitting .386 with 32 hits, 6 doubles 4 triples, 3 HR, 25 RBI’s, a slugging percentage of .663, on base average of .495, and a perfect 19-19 in stolen bases.
Miles pitching has made big improvements since early in the season. The rotation is still making improvements to lower its earned run average. Since the start of the 13 game winning streak the pitching staff is working hard and has slightly cut runs down from earlier in the season.
NOTES:
Miles is one of HBCUs Division II best hitting teams. They will go station to station in a heartbeat with 71 for 82 in the stolen base department.
SAVANNAH STATE INFO:
Offensively, the Tigers returned the entire roster from last season’s Black College World Series team. Savannah State, is led by Joseph Smith, hitting .440 with 2 doubles, 3 triples 6 home runs and 23 runs batted in. Phillip Woullard is hitting .431 with 4 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, and 22 runs driven home.
Champion Robbins is hitting .376 with 7 doubles, 3 triples, 1 home run, 22 runs batted and 22 steals. Duane Franklin is hitting .374 with 4 doubles, 4 homeruns with 15 runs driven in and Cameron Diaz is hitting .371 with 5 doubles, 31 runs batted in and 10 stolen bases. Also, Gabriel Patxot has a .363 batting average with 19 RBI and Andral Wright, with 23 runs batted in, provide strong bats.
On the mound, the Tiger are led by right hander Jared Showalter (6-0) with a 2.37 earned run average and 36 strikeouts, and RHP Jose Santiago (6-0) with a 2.81 earned run average and 55 strikeouts. Enrico Peel is 7-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 42.0 innings pitched and has 38 strikeouts, Reliever Matthew Terrill has recorded four saves. Head coach Carlton Hardy can pick by committee from Jackson Hickox (1-0) and Rahmir Vaughn (1-0) who both will see weekend action if needed.
NOTES:
Savannah State enters into the contest having won its last six ballgames includes 12 of its last 13 games. The challenge for this weekend will be pitching. The Tigers must get through Miles College’s heavy hitters who play long ball and look for the big run producing inning. Miles recently hit ten home runs in the last series against Benedict.
HISTORY:
There’s no prior history between these two baseball team. Savannah State University was an NCAA Division I program playing in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) before it transitioned into Division II and joining the SIAC in 2019.
PREDICTION:
I have no idea which way this series is going to go because these two teams are so evenly matched and both are playing really competitive ball. In my opinion, I think Saturday’s games will dictate the series. I’ll give Miles a slight advantage because of their hitters and say they take two out of three games… but all of them will be close and could go either way.
WATCH/FOLLOW:
Flo Baseball Live Stream Saturday Doubleheader