Pilots Split Saturday's Doubleheader Versus the No. 16 Mobile Rams
March 08, 2008
MOBILE, Ala. - LSUS split Saturday's doubleheader with No. 16 Mobile. The Rams (19-6, 16-1) maintain a three-game lead in the GCAC over the Pilots (17-7, 11-4).
The 16th-ranked University of Mobile baseball team dropped its first conference game of the season to the LSUS Pilots, 5-1, in game one 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 seven innings of three-hit ball, allowing only one run and striking out two.
LSUS 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 two 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 two-run homer for some cushion, as Brad Sheffield finally 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 three runs scored, while Jared Baria, Kevin Orso and Sheffield collected the lone Ram hits.
In game two, Kit Powell allowed only one earned run in seven innings on the mound to pick up the 6-4 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 two innings later with a solo bomb to knot the game at 1-1.
The Rams then put the game away with five runs over the 5th and 6th innings thanks to a three-run homer from Stork in the 5th and a leadoff shot from Romero in the 6th.
LSUS fought back with three runs in the 7th, thanks to a two-out, two-run bloop single from Quenton Shamsabady, but Ira Turner and Mitchell shut the door over the final two 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 nine-inning game Sunday at 1:00.
