Hardeeville, SC- The USCB baseball took to Richard Gray Stadium to finish out their three game, Sun Conference, series with Embry-Riddle University on Saturday. After an exciting first game, on Friday night, which saw the Sand Sharks win 7-6 in the bottom of the 11th inning, USCB was hoping to pick up a couple of more wins against the Eagles, #6 in the NAIA national poll.
The first game of the day saw Dexter Price, Jr., Colorado Springs, CO, in a pitching duel with Ryan Vigue, from Embry-Riddle. ERAU scored in the first and seventh inning on the day as Price was strong on the mound, but couldn't get the run support as USCB only managed four hits. The Sand Sharks lost the game 2-0 in a game that took less than two hours to complete. Vigue pitched the complete game to move to 7-0 on the season for the Eagles while Price dropped to 3-2 with a 1.62 ERA for the season.
The second game of the day saw a remarkable pitching performance by
Michael Heesch, Jr., Chicago, IL, as he struck out 12 of 18 batters and, only, allowed five hits in throwing six complete innings. ERAU was able to score three runs, two earned, off those five hits of Heesch. USCB lost the game 10-7 in 10 innings as Embry-Riddle took the Sun Conference series 2-1 from the #18 ranked Sand Sharks.
Weldon Smith, Jr., Beaufort, SC, falls to 1-2 on the season after coming in relief of Andres Castro, Jr., Miami, FL, who gave up three runs in the ninth inning.
David O'Neil, Jr., Ludlow, VT, was impressive at the plate on the day as has been on the field all season long. O'Neil went 5-for-6, reached base six times, scoring two runs, and had one RBI for the Sand Sharks in the second game. In the series with ERAU O'Neil had 15 assists, nine on Friday evening, while playing third base. His 15 assists on the weekend increased his team-leading total to 64, which ranks 21st, nationally, in the NAIA.
USCB will travel to play Savannah State University at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, March 16th before heading to Lakeland, FL, to play Southeastern University in a Sun Conference series. USCB will host Coker College on March 22nd at 4:00 pm at Richard Gray Stadium in Hardeeville, SC.
