HARDEEVILLE – The USCB baseball team ran its winning streak to nine games before having the streak halted when the Sand Sharks split a doubleheader with No. 15 Keiser in Sun Conference play Friday at Richard Gray Sports Complex.
John Gora pitched eight strong innings and Matt Kianka went 4-for-4 to lead the Sand Sharks to a 4-2 victory in the opener, but USCB's ninth-inning rally fell short in a 5-4 defeat in the second game. The series will conclude with a single game at noon Saturday.
Gora (2-0) limited the powerful Seahawks lineup to two runs – one earned – and five hits over eight frames while striking out four. Keiser took advantage of an error in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead on a Casey Mullinix RBI single, but Gora settled in to retire the next 12 batters before Brad Myott's two-out single in the sixth.
The Sand Sharks (10-2, 4-1 TSC) tied it on Josh Reinhart's RBI infield single in the fourth and took the lead when Kianka scored on a wild pitch in the fifth. Miguel Casanueva's RBI single in the seventh tied it at 2, but the Sand Sharks answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles from Kal Davis and Nick Payne, who finished 3-for-4.
Blake Drew pitched the ninth, allowing a leadoff single to Tyler Goff and issuing a one-out walk before nailing down his second save.
USCB outhit the Seahawks 12-7 in the second game, but a pair of unearned runs and a pair of Myott home runs proved to be the difference.
Myott opened the scoring with a solo shot to right-center in the second inning, and the Seahawks made it 2-0 when Brandon Crawford chased a pitch in the dirt to apparently end the fourth inning but catcher Dylan Yankle's throw to first got away from Michael Johnson, allowed a run to score.
The Sand Sharks cut the deficit in half on John Cloyd's RBI double down the left-field line in the fourth, but Myott hit a two-run blast to right in the sixth to make it 4-1. After Max Balter's RBI double cut it to 4-2 in the seventh, an error set up Daniel Arroyo's RBI double in the eighth to help the Seahawks reestablish the three-run cushion.
The insurance run loomed large when USCB's Thomas Estopare belted a two-run homer in the ninth and Kal Davis singled with one out to put the tying run on with one out, but Damian Boyum retired the next two batters to earn the save.
Kyle Keatts picked up the win, allowing two runs on eight hits over seven innings to outduel Jamie Strock (3-1), who was charged with five runs – three earned – in 7 1/3 innings, allowing six hits and two walks while matching his career high with seven strikeouts.
Reinhart was 3-for-5 to lead USCB's offense.
Junior right-hander Julio De Pena (0-1, 1.29 ERA) will start the series finale for the Sand Sharks, likely left-hander Miguel Pena (1-1, 3.52).
