Albany State baseball splits with Benedict

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Albany State baseball team saw its three-game winning streak end against Benedict College on Saturday, but the Rams recovered to salvage a victory in the doubleheader.

ASU’s comeback fell short in the 8-6 loss in the first game, but it rebounded to win a high-scoring 18-16 duel in the second contest.

The split gave the Rams a 5-17 overall record and 4-1 SIAC mark. ASU is currently in first place in the SIAC East Division.

Benedict dropped to 13-7 and 3-2 in league play.

In the first game, Albany State took an early lead in the first inning. Nic Griggs doubled to score Chasen Roulhac for a 1-0 edge. Benedict scored four runs of its own in the bottom of the inning, added two more in the second and got another one in the third to take a 7-1 lead.

The Rams began to rally in the top of the sixth inning. Ryan McClendon homered to cut the Tigers’ lead to 7-2. Then Bryant Prather’s two-run homer added a pair of runs and ASU trailed 7-4.

Benedict added another run to build its advantage to 8-4.

Albany State made one final attempt for a comeback in the seventh inning. Roulhac scored another run, and Kelvin Wimbish scored on Robbie Feagans’ double for two more runs. However, the visitors could not get any closer.

Roulhac finished the game going 3-for-4, while Griggs was 2-for-3. Feagans went 2-for-4. Tristan Rice was the losing pitcher.

The Rams collected 12 hits in the loss.

In the second game, Albany State again took the lead in the first inning. McClendon hit his second homer of a day, a two-run shot, to give ASU a 2-0 edge.

After Benedict scored four runs in the bottom of the second to take the lead, the Rams answered in the top of the third. McClendon hit a three-run homer over the left field wall to give Albany State a 5-4 advantage. However, the Tigers scored two runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 6-5 lead.

The fourth inning also saw both teams generate points. Lawrence Hyde scored off a an error and Terrence Worthy went home courtesy of a sacrifice fly by Quantico Dodson-Williams to give ASU a 7-6 edge. Benedict added three more runs to its total to regain the lead at 9-7.

Albany State took the lead for good with an explosion in the fifth inning. McClendon, Hyde and Jonatan Galan each hit home runs to ignite a nine-run inning that produced a 16-9 advantage.

Benedict scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth and four in the sixth inning to cut its deficit to 16-15. The Rams added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning to build an 18-15 lead. The Tigers could only score one more run in the inning.

McClendon finished the game 3-for-3 with seven RBIs. Galan was also 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Brandon Pearson picked up the mound win for the Rams, who finished with 11 hits, three errors and left five on base. Eden Payano recorded the save.