Miles continued its season-opening slate of teams from the Gulf South Conference with a three-game series against Shorter on Friday and Saturday at historic Rickwood Field. The Golden Bears suffered their first loss of the season on Friday in a 15-2 defeat. On Saturday, they split two games, beating the Hawks 7-6 in 10 innings in the opener before falling 4-0 in six innings of the nightcap.
GAME 1 – SHORTER 15, MILES 2
Two errors to start the third inning led to five unearned runs against starter Mason Kirby (0-1) as the Hawks broke the game open. Shorter added single runs in the next three innings to take an 8-0 before the Golden Bears got on the board. Miles loaded the bases with two walks and an error before Brandon Leroy smacked one back to the mound and off the pitcher for an infield single to score Anthony Ramos. Unfortunately, Miles was unable to plate any more runs despite having the bases loaded and no one out.
Shorter tacked on four runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth to put the game well out of reach. Miles did plate another run in the ninth as Jordan Govea drove in Jordan Pearson on a ground out. Overall, Miles had just four hits against the Hawks, two of them by Leroy. Connor Whitfield had the only unblemished outing on the mound for the Golden Bears, allowing just a hit and a walk in his single inning of work.
GAME 2 – MILES 7, SHORTER 6 (10)
For the second time this season, Miles earned a come-from-behind win in extra innings to hand the Hawks their first loss of the year.
Miles trailed 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and a runner on second base. A wild pitch sent Max Davenport off to the races, rounding third with no hesitation and sliding safely into home ahead of the tag to tie the game. Pearson, who was on first base, tried to score the game-winner on a bloop single behind second base by Mason McClammy. But he was thrown out at the plate and the game went into extras.
Teams now start each extra inning with a runner on second base but Miles found itself in a more precarious position when Shorter put runners on second and third with no one out. Judson McKinney, who pitched out of a bases loaded, one out situation in the ninth to preserve a one-run deficit, found his way out of trouble again in the 10th. He got a strikeout, then after an intentional walk to load the bases, got another strikeout before forcing a pop up on the infield that was snagged by Davenport.
Miles then started its side of the 10th with a runner on second, which was McClammy. Ramos sacrificed him over to third and Leroy was intentionally walked. Clifton Orr was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Kaleb Priest hit a slow hopper to second base which looked like Shorter had turned into a double play. But the umpire, while calling Priest out at first, said that the shortstop was not on the base at second when he received the throw. That meant Orr was safe and McClammy scored, setting off another celebration for an extra-inning win for the Golden Bears.
McKinney struck out four in 1 2/3 innings to pick up the win. McClammy had two hits, two runs batted in and scored three times while Ramos and Davenport also had two hits each.
GAME 3 – SHORTER 4, MILES 0 (6)
Shorter starter Tanner Folds (2-0) pitched a two-hitter, working around five walks to shut out the Golden Bears in a game that was shortened to six innings because of darkness. Miles starter Kaleb Allen (1-1) pitched well in defeat, allowing just two runs (one earned) in five innings while striking out five in his first start of the season.
Pearson got a single in the third and Ramos added one in the fifth for the only safeties in the game for Miles. The Golden Bears did have a couple of changes to break through. In the third, they had runners on first and second with one out. But Folds, a lefty, picked McClammy off first for the second out. After Leroy walked, Orr popped out to third to end the inning. In the fifth, Pearson led off with a single. With one out, he was thrown out stealing second. Ramos would follow with a single that could have halved a 2-0 deficit at the time. Leroy would fly out to second to end the frame.