Portsmouth, Ohio – Shawnee State baseball lost a heartbreaker on Saturday afternoon, falling to Pikeville 5-2 in 11 innings in Mid-South Conference play.
Pikeville would take an early lead on a solo home run by Anthony Roberts in the second inning, but Shawnee State would respond in the bottom of the fourth. Chase Thurber (SO/Andover, Ohio) would lead off the inning with a walk, and Brady Knittel (JR/West Portsmouth, Ohio) would get him to third with a double. Casey Claflin (JR/Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) would then miss a home run by inches, lining a double off the batter's eye in center field to score both runs and give Shawnee State a 2-1 lead.
Roberts would tie the game again in the top of the sixth, mashing a solo home run to straight away center field. Shawnee State would then put the go-ahead runner in scoring position with less than two outs for five consecutive innings, but were unable to score the run.
Pikeville then hit for three in the top of the 11th. With two outs, Justin Beatty would hit a single, and Roberts would bloop a double down the right field line to drive in pinch runner Daniel Sternberg. Alec Barba would reach on an error to drive two more runs in to sink the Bears.
A.J. Carkner would throw 1.1 innings of relief to pick up the win. Brady Knittel would get hit for the three runs in the 11th, throwing 3.0 innings to get the loss. Derek Moore (SR/Wheelersburg, Ohio) pitched eight innings for Shawnee State, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out five in a no decision.
With the loss, Shawnee State fall to 8-27 and are 3-7 in the Mid-South Conference. Pikeville improve to 18-15, and are 2-8 in the league.
Shawnee State and Pikeville finish up their three game set with a doubleheader on Sunday, April 9th at noon.
