HARDEEVILLE, S.C. - The USCB baseball team battled the No. 2 Southeastern Fire on Friday afternoon at Richard Gray Stadium, but the Sand Sharks fell in the doubleheader, 9-1 and 8-6.
INSIDE THE GAME ONE BOX SCORE
Kyran Russ - 2-for-4, two singles, one run
Clint Sellers, Alexander Humphrey, Brian Meyer and Daniel Searles - one single each
Matt Malatesta - five hits, four earned runs, five strikeouts
Cam Mathis - one inning, two hits, no runs
HOW GAME ONE HAPPENED
SEU opened the scoring in the first inning, as Nick Bottari cracked a two-out, solo home run. With the blast, he gave the Fire the 1-0 lead.
Malatesta found a groove on the bump, as he held SEU scoreless for the next three innings. In that stretch, he recorded three strikeouts and left three Fire players on base.
In the bottom of the fourth, USCB knotted the game at 1-all. The run was scored in an unorthodox way, as Russ smacked a single to center. The SEU centerfield misplayed the ball, as he saw the ball roll all the way to the centerfield fence. Without skipping a beat, Russ hustled around the bases to touch home and put USCB on the board.
After seeing its one-run lead disappear, the nationally-ranked Fire plated three runs in the top of the fifth to take a three-run advantage, 4-1.
From the sixth inning-on, Southeastern tacked on five more insurance runs to seal the 9-1 victory.
The Sand Sharks had a runner on base every inning during that stretch too but couldn't capitalize.
INSIDE THE GAME TWO BOX SCORE
Meyer - 3-for-4, three singles, one run
Humphrey - 2-for-4, double, one RBI, one run
Russ - 1-for-4, go-ahead two-run home run
Sellers - 1-for-3, one RBI, two runs
Leandy Castro - 1-for-3, one RBI, one run
Tavaris Terrell and Brock Thibodeaux - one single each
Micah Krieghauser - 5.1 innings, eight hits, five runs, four strikeouts
Tucker Perry - 1.2 innings, one hit, no runs, no walks
Brian Bromley - one inning, one hit, no runs, one walk, two strikeouts
HOW GAME TWO HAPPENED
Similar to game one, the Fire opened the game with runs in the first inning. The Fire plated a pair of runs off Thomas Broyles' bat, as he poked a two RBI single up the middle.
The Sand Sharks took advantage of several SEU miscues in the bottom of the first to make it a 2-1 game. Humphrey reached base off a dropped third strike, and Castro followed with a two-base error. Humphrey touched home on the next at-bat thanks to a wild pitch, which accounted for the lone run in the first.
After the two clubs exchanged solo runs in the third, USCB rattled off three unanswered runs from the fourth to fifth inning. Sellers tallied the game-tying RBI in the fourth off a sacrifice fly, and Russ blasted the go-ahead homer in the fifth to give USCB the two-run lead, 5-3.
The Fire didn't cave, as they plated two runs in the sixth to go along with three runs in the eighth to regain the lead, 8-5.
The Sand Sharks were able to scratch a run across in the bottom of the eight, when Sellers and Humphrey connected with back-to-back singles. Humphrey plated his teammate, as his single went through the right side of the infield.
After leaving two Fire runners on base in the top of the ninth, USCB tried to mount a comeback in the bottom of the ninth. Terrell started the surge with a leadoff single. Unfortunately, he was doubled off, as Meyer lined out to second base. The final Sand Shark grounded out to fall in the night cap by two, 8-6.
TEAM RECORD UPDATES
USCB - 19-16 overall, 6-11 The Sun Conference
No. 2 Southeastern - 34-3 overall, 12-2 The Sun Conference
WHAT'S NEXT?
USCB and Southeastern will conclude its three-game series on Saturday, April 10. First pitch is set for noon at Richard Gray Stadium.
