The Shawnee State Baseball Team (23-20, 8-8 MSC) easily defeated rival the University of Rio Grande (25-16, 5-7 MSC) in game one of the series 9-1 on Friday afternoon.

The Bears struck first in the bottom of the first. With bases loaded freshman Matt Jones (Greenup, KY) hit a double to left center scoring all three runners to give Shawnee State the 3-0 advantage.

The Redstorm got on the board in the fourth. Kyle Findlay led off the inning with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Vincent Perry.

Shawnee answered extending their lead in the fifth. Leading off the inning senior Cody Morrison hit a base hit through the left side. Senior Danny Gesick (Pickerington, OH) followed with a single through the right side. A Rio error scored Morrison on the play. Gesick then scored on a single by Jones, giving the Bears the 5-1 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, Shawnee plated three more runs. Back-to-back walks on Morrison and Gesick, brought junior Adam Wamsley (Wheelersburg, OH) to the plate. Wamsley's base hit through the right side scored Morrison and Gesick. Wamsley then scored on senior AJ Gomez's (Spring, TX) RBI single, giving Shawnee the 8-1 advantage.

In the eighth with runners on the corners, junior Colin Keim (Clinton, OH) singled through the right side, scoring Morrison to give Shawnee the 9-1 victory.

On the senior Austin Dunfee (Pomeroy, OH) improves to 8-4. The right-handers pitched a complete game allowing one run on seven hits, three walks. He struck out nine batters in the game.

Rio's Michael Deitsch was tagged with the loss. Deitsch started the game and pitched 6.0 innings, allowing six runs (four earned) on eight hits, five walks against three strikeouts.

Shawnee State and Rio Grande will complete their three-game series on Saturday at Branch Rickey Park. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m.