AUM splits doubleheader with Keiser
Behind a four-run outburst in extra innings of game two, the No. 13 Auburn Montgomery baseball team split a twin bill at No. 15 Keiser University Friday evening at Silvester Field.
Playing a pair of scheduled seven-inning games, the Warhawks fell in game one 9-5, before taking the nightcap 5-1 in nine innings.
NOTES
• The Warhawks now stand at 4-2 on the season.
• The Seahawks fell to 4-3 with the split.
• The twin bill marked the first two meetings between the two teams.
GAME 1 STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• Junior Chase Johnson led AUM at the plate, finishing 2-for-3 with a three-run home run.
• Senior Mac Seibert connected on a two-run homer for his lone hit of the game.
• Johnson, Seibert, juniors Jack Folmar and Blake Grill, as well as sophomore Scotty Smith scored runs for AUM.
• Senior James Dean was the most effective of five pitchers for the Warhawks, retiring the lone hitter he faced.
• Steven Bruce scattered four hits and allowed two runs over six innings to earn the win for Keiser. Bruce struck out five and did not walk a batter.
• Keivan Berges had two hits, including a home run, and three RBIs for the Seahawks. Gabby Mundo and Jack Curtis also had a pair of hits for Keiser.
GAME 1 HOW IT HAPPENED
• Keiser took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, when Mundo scored on an error by the Warhawks. The miscue was the second error of the inning for AUM.
• The Warhawks scored a pair of runs in the top of the second, using three hits to take a 2-1 lead. Seibert delivered the big blow, a two-run home run, scoring Folmar. Johnson added a single in the inning.
• The Seahawks regained the lead for good with three runs in the fourth inning. Brandon Crawford plated Casey Mullennix with a sacrifice fly, before Mundo and Berges both plated runs with singles.
• Keiser put the game out of reach with five runs in the sixth inning, with Berges and Carlos Lopez connected both connecting on two-run homers.
• Johnson provided the final margin with a three-run homer in the top of the seventh, plating Grill and Smith. Grill reached on a fielding error, while Smith lined a single to centerfield.
GAME 1 INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• AUM stranded three runners on base, while the Seahawks stranded five runners.
• The Warhawks turned the lone double play of the game.
• The homers by Seibert and Johnson were the first of the season by an AUM hitter.
GAME 2 STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• Folmar led the Warhawks with three hits and a run scored.
• Junior Brandon Davis was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs. He also scored a run.
• Grill, Johnson and Smith drove in runs for AUM.
• Junior Jed Carter picked up the win with 2 2/3 innings of perfect relief, striking out five in the process.
• Senior starter Chance Calloway scattered just three hits and struck out six in 4 2/3 innings.
• Senior Brady Eldridge threw 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
• Brad Myott led the Seahawks with two hits.
• Kyle Keatts allowed just five hits and one run, striking out seven, in eight innings of work.
GAME 2 HOW IT HAPPENED
• After Keiser plated an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning, the Warhawks plated a run on the RBI single by Grill. The hit scored Davis, who started the rally with a two-out double.
• AUM erupted for four runs in the top of the ninth inning off reliever Damian Boyum, with Davis delivering the key hit, a two-run double. Seibert led off the inning with a single, before senior Cody Rush courtesy ran. Rush moved to third on a single by Folmar. Davis followed with a rip to right-centerfield, before coming around to score on a single by Johnson. Grill, who reached on a bunt single, came around to score the final run on a ground out by Smith.
GAME 2 INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• The two squads committed five total errors, three by Keiser and two by the Warhawks.
• AUM left six runners on base and the Seahawks left seven.
• The three AUM pitchers combined for a season-high 12 strikeouts.
UP NEXT
• The Warhawks will return to action Saturday, Feb. 13, when they conclude their Florida trip with a doubleheader at No. 2 Saint Thomas. Game one is slated to begin at 11 a.m.
