DII/SIAC/Baseball
Benedict Sports Information
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Robert Troiano III pitched a two-hit shutout in the first game, and the Benedict Tigers rallied from a 9-3 deficit in the second game to sweep a doubleheader from Morehouse College in an SIAC baseball doubleheader on Friday.
Benedict won the first game 5-0, then rallied in the second game for an 11-9 victory. The Tigers improve to 17-14 overall and 8-4 in the SIAC. Morehouse drops to 10-17 overall and 6-11 in the SIAC.
Benedict jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first game, as the Tigers scored all their first-inning runs on three wild pitches by Morehouse starter Malik Zuberi. Benedict added another run in the third on a Morehouse throwing error. The final run came in the sixth inning when Kevin Davis hit a double to score Andrew McCoy.
Troiano (4-6) did not allow a walk and struck out six for the mound victory.
In the second game, Morehouse scored three runs in the first inning after a two-out Benedict error. The Tigers scored one run in the bottom of the first thanks to one of Morehouse’s seven errors in the contest. Davis was hit by a pitch, and a wild throw on a pickoff attempt allowed him to advance to third. He came home on a groundout by John Holleran.
Morehouse made the score 7-1 in the second inning when Patrick Dickerson hit a grand slam. With the bases loaded and two outs, the Tigers made a pitching change and brought in James Roman. Morehouse’s Patrick Dickerson smashed Roman’s first pitch over the left field wall.
Benedict chipped away with a single run in the bottom of the second as McCoy hit an RBI double to score Mitchell Dixon.
In the third, Benedict scored another run as Dixon hit a two-out single to left field to score David White Jr., who had a double and went to third on a passed ball.
Morehouse increased its lead to 9-3 with two runs in the fourth thanks to two Benedict errors.
Three Morehouse errors in the bottom of the fourth helped the Tigers score one run. Then Shomarii Thomas hit a two-out blast to left field with two men on to make it 9-7.
The Tigers tied the game in the bottom of the sixth when Christopher Lail hit a two-run homer. With two outs, Dixon doubled, then Morehouse pitcher Jalen Logan-Givens walked the next four batters, allowing the winning run to walk home. Thomas picked up the save in the seventh inning, striking out the final two batters.
Benedict and Morehouse play the third game of the series on Saturday at 1 p.m.